The ability to buy insurance "across state lines"

[SHRED]

Wendell Potter debunking this Repug talkingpoint:

Would insurance companies being able to sell across state lines help consumers?

It sounds like a good idea. Here's the problem. Insurance companies see this as an opportunity to set up business in a state that has the fewest consumer protections and the least regulation. They would be plans with the biggest deductibles and the highest out-of-pocket expenses and they could sell them in any state in the country. It would strip the states from being able to regulate insurance in the way the residents want it to be regulated.

We need to be careful when we're talking about affordable premiums, which the insurance industry wants us to focus on. They already are able to offer us policies with what we would call affordable premiums, but look at what you're buying. You're buying, in many cases, fake or junk insurance and that is what you'd see a lot more of if companies start selling across state lines.

http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2009-10-22-01-56-28-news.php


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[LiberalFighter]

1. And make it more difficult for the insured to file complaints.

And a lot of those fake or junk insurance policies would be sold in connection with churches to make it look legit.

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. Texas is a prime state for Insurance companies to set up business.

There are tons of them there now.

[rucky]

4. Yet they have the highest rate of uninsured.

Not sure what the connection is there, other than it's something you wouldn't expect, with all the "competition" in the state among private programs. Shouldn't that drive prices down and quality up - leading to higher enrollment rates? I guess it doesn't work when all the companies opt to offer the same crap - because the state lets them get away with it.

[rucky]

3. Which makes me think. If Congress fails...

would the next step be to organize and work at the state levels? If we can get something going in several states at once, the Insurance lobby would be spread quite thin, and their influence not so troublesome.

One example of a statewide single-payer effort I've supported for a few years: http://www.spanohio.org/

WHO WE ARE – The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals in Ohio seeking fundamental health care reform in our state and country so that every resident is guaranteed full and comprehensive coverage. This includes the full range of medical services, hospitalization, prescriptions, vision care, dental care, mental health care, home care, long-term care, and care for all injuries and illnesses.

We advocate the establishment of a public fund that would pay all health care bills without co-payments or deductibles. Funding would come from the savings realized by eliminating the administrative waste and profits of the 1,500 private insurance companies and HMOs, savings from greater utilization of preventive medicine, and from additional mechanisms deemed necessary to ensure that the public fund has the necessary financial resources, with adequate reserves. The plan we call for is known as a single-payer health care system.

Their plan to pay for it is simple and practical as well: Since Congress won't remove the SS Cap or roll-back the Bush Tax Cuts, equivalent measures can be done at the state level to pay for a state-controlled/funded single-payer program.

If there were 30-40 more of these under a national umbrella, promoting single-payer (or even public option) as a statewide program, I think we could kick the insurance company's assess.