Congress Should Allow US Residents To Purchase Health Insurance In Any State

The HealthCare Choice Act, which Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) plans to reintroduce onWednesday, would allow U.S. residents to purchase health insurance in any stateto "create a competitive, 50-state market for health insurance, likelymaking it cheaper," Merrill Mathews, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance and a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, writes in a Wall Street Journalopinion piece.

Mathews writes that the passage of the legislation "should be a no-brainerfor Congress," but Democrats in the past have opposed the bill overconcerns that "it would limit the ability of states to protect theirresidents." He adds, "If states are worried about losing regulatorycontrol over health insurances, they might try making their regulationscompetitive with other states."

The legislation would not "solve every problem" with the health caresystem but would "increase competition and consumer choices currentlydenied to residents in many states," Mathews concludes (Mathews, WallStreet Journal, 12/12).

Reprintedwith permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign upfor email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health PolicyReport is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation.