{"id":448788,"date":"2010-03-19T18:28:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T22:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.szone.us\/f95\/interstate-compacts-health-insurance-yet-another-sound-idea-41143\/"},"modified":"2010-03-19T18:28:22","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T22:28:22","slug":"interstate-compacts-for-health-insurance-is-yet-another-sound-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/448788","title":{"rendered":"Interstate Compacts for Health Insurance is Yet Another Sound Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"
On 03.19.10 02:02 PM posted by Richard Sherwood<\/p>\n

Throughout the debate over liberals\u0092 health care proposals, it has become clear that *while Americans want health care reform, they reject the direction of the legislation that will be voted on in the House this weekend.* The current health care bill results in a government takeover of the health care system by imposing strict regulations on insurers, mandates on employers and individuals, and an expansion of costly and inefficient entitlements.* States and citizens alike are rebelling against the bill in a bipartisan manner.* State legislators reject the bill because it significantly reduces their authority over health insurance markets and flexibility in <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/research\/health care\/">managing Medicaid. With only 47 percent believing that it is the federal government\u0092s responsibility to ensure coverage, <ahref="http:\/\/www.aei.org\/docLib\/RoleOfGovernment.pdf">Americans are rightly alarmed by the intrusive nature of the legislation.<\/p>\n

Former Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) recently worked with the Heritage Foundation to outline a solution that promotes individual freedom in health care markets:* <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/Reports\/2010\/03\/Interstate-Competition-and-Choice-in-Health-Insurance-The-American-Way">interstate commerce contracts among states. Interstate commerce for health insurers would create robust competition, lowering costs for the citizens of the allied states .* It is a step towards reform that states can take without action from Washington.* As Rep. Feeney <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/Research\/Reports\/2010\/03\/Interstate-Competition-and-Choice-in-Health-Insurance-The-American-Way">remarks:<spanid="more-29368"><\/span><\/p>\n

The genius of the American federal system provides a natural set of diverse alternatives to centralized system of planning\u0097which would force 300 million Americans into a collectivist straight jacket where all key decisions will ultimately be made in Washington.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Interstate commerce would go a long ways to better America\u0092s health care system.* Interstate contracts are health insurance exchanges across states that create larger insurance markets and enhance competition among insurers.* By allowing citizens of other states to purchase cost-effective plans across state borders, they promote individual freedom to choose among competing plans that offer the best combination of cost and coverage levels.* Done correctly, interstate commerce will reduce bureaucracy, provide simplified one-stop shopping, allow people to get better and more varied health coverage. The nest step is for Congress to enable people to take their plans from job to job <ahref="http:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/thf_media\/2009\/pdf\/StateHealthReform_Handbook.pdf">without losing the tax benefits of employer-based coverage.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that states legislators are currently fully within their constitutional rights to make interstate compacts in the insurance markets.* The Constitution authorizes states to engage in multilateral agreements that support interstate commerce.* It reserves state powers for self governance, including the power to enter into agreement to facilitate interactions between citizens of one state and another.* So long that a state does not restrict commerce in other states, they are not restricted by the commerce clause.* Interstate compacts in health insurance markets expand <\/i>options outside their jurisdiction.* In health insurance markets, states are the supreme authority.<\/p>\n

Health care debate can serve as a catalyst for the rebirth of federalism, and no area is more advantageous for state reform than health care.* States governments and the American people have already voiced their complaints about the perils of the federal *health care legislation.* It is now time for state legislators to take the lead on health care reform.* The best way to do this is by entering into interstate compacts with other states that promote individual freedoms.<\/p>\n

Rick Sherwood currently is a member of the Young Leaders Program at the Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: <ahref="http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/About\/Internships-Young-Leaders\/The-Heritage-Foundation-Internship-Program">http:\/\/www.heritage.org\/About\/Intern…rnship-Program<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/blog.heritage.org\/2010\/03\/19\/…er-sound-idea\/<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 03.19.10 02:02 PM posted by Richard Sherwood Throughout the debate over liberals\u0092 health care proposals, it has become clear that *while Americans want health care reform, they reject the direction of the legislation that will be voted on in the House this weekend.* The current health care bill results in a government takeover of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}