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Bill will unlink states, insured

If Congress is intent on reducing the ranks of the uninsured and providing higher quality health care for all, it should let people buy health insurance from any state they choose.

That is what Rep. John Shadegg, Arizona Republican, is asking lawmakers to do in a bill that he reintroduced this week.

Opposition to the bill is stiff. State insurance commissioners contend that consumer protections, such as mandating coverage for certain health conditions, would be wiped out.

But millions of Americans are uninsured because many states impose these so-called protections. New Jersey, for example, requires insurers to provide 41 mandated health benefits, including visits to a chiropractor. Fewer than a dozen health insurers offer policies in New Jersey, and their plans can cost as much as $14,000 a year for a family policy.

Several states — such as Michigan, West Virginia and California — have passed laws that require insurers to accept anyone who applies, regardless of their health.

Either scenario can lead to devastating increases in the price of health insurance, especially as younger and healthier people cancel their coverage, leaving the pool of insured people smaller and sicker.

Mr. Shadegg's bill would dissolve the bonds that keep the insured tied to states with these expensive mandates by allowing them access to insurance policies outside of their states of residence, which is illegal under current law.

"Representative Shadegg's bill is one of the most important changes that can bring down the cost of health insurance and expand coverage to the uninsured," said David Merritt, a project director at the Center for Health Transformation, a nonpartisan think tank in the District.

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