The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has come out with an official report on mandated benefits: they add 12% to the cost of every health insurance policy in the state.

That's the conclusion, not of an industry trade group, but of the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, which looked at the effects of the state's 26 mandates.

Expect the advocates of political medicine are going to use the report to further their cause. That is, address the problems created by government intervention to call for even more intervention.