I still don't get the Republican obsession with "allowing competition across state lines". Can't they already do that all they want, as long as they comply with the states' regulations. All the Republicans really mean is they want to eliminate the states' rights to regulate health plans.
This is going to be a disaster for my sister & family. They are in the individual market, and make just a little too much to qualify for subsidies.
Anyway..Charlie Dent-(R) was just on CNN saying that from here on, the GOP will have to own it.
The rationale, near as I understand it, is that some states have "less burdensome" regulations on the insurers thus those insurers' costs are less in those states thus they can offer insurance for cheaper. To which I say total hogwash.
Insurance, especially health insurance, is something that needs to be highly regulated. Even as a lawyer, I have never read a health insurance policy through and hopefully never will have to. The explanatory materials sent along are burdensome enough, and frankly beyond most peoples' ability to fully understand them.
Health insurance is a totally different beast than say life insurance, or auto insurance. It's easy to tell if someone died or not. Health policies can contain all sorts of provisions to weasel out of coverage, stuff you would never expect or anticipate until weeks after your treatment when the insurer denies coverage.
My state (CT) I'm sure, is a "burdensome" insurance regulator. But I'd much rather have a policy written under and enforced under those regulations than some state where the regulators are owned by the insurers.
The bad policies will drive out nearly all the good ones, as they will appear far cheaper. Consumers will greatly lose under this moronic plan. To apply free enterprise and free market solutions to health insurance is a fallacy.