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Framing the Response to GOP Talking Points re the ACA in 140 Characters or Fewer

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Timmeh7/01/2012 7:20:55 am PDT

re: #1 researchok

I would have much rather seen a phased in program and allow insurance companies to sell across state lines, like they do with car insurance and other kinds of insurance.

The insurance industry lobbied Washington hard because they didn’t want that (competition!) and we’re all going to pay for that.

It seems that in fact insurance companies can sell insurance in multiple states.

The Debate Over Selling Insurance Across State Lines

What currently restricts insurers from selling policies outside of their home states?

States have primary regulatory authority over insurance. As a result, insurers are allowed to sell policies only in states where they are licensed to do business. Most insurers obtain licenses in multiple states. States have different laws regulating benefits, consumer protections and financial and solvency requirements.

How do the health overhaul bills approved by the House and Senate handle the issue of selling insurance across state lines?

The House would allow states to form health care “compacts” in which one state would allow their residents to buy coverage from an insurer based in another state. The states would determine which states’ law applies to coverage sold through the compacts.

The Senate bill also allows states to form “compacts.” But it would require that the coverage would be governed by the laws of the state in which the policies are “issued or written.”

What’s stopping states from forming these “compacts” right now? Conversely, just because states are allowed to form these compacts doesn’t mean they will. It essentially means giving up their own sovereignty to do so.