Republicans have long championed allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines and told us that this would somehow make insurance more affordable. This makes no sense to me.

In the recent failure of the Republican attempt to repeal and replace to Obamacare this was not included. The Republican plan was to first do the repeal and replace as a budget reconciliation bill which had lesser and follow that with other harder to pass stuff like selling health insurance across state lines. Since the first part could not pass, everthing is on temporary hold.

I’m sure the idea of selling health insurance across state lines will reappear. But it is a bad idea.

States have historically regulated the insurance market for their residents. The state insurance commissioner is usually a political job. In some states he or she is elected directly. In others, the commissioner is appointed by the governor or another part of state government. Or there could be another state-based arrangement. But in all cases, the state office is motivated to help residents.

I live in Pennsylvania. And my insurance is with a company licensed in Pennsylvania. If I was to have a problem with my insurance, I could look for help from the state if I could not resolve it with the company. I’m sure I would have much less luck with a state office in another state.

Insurers can sell policy to multiple states. However they must be licensed in each state where they do business. This allows each state to apply consumer protections and insure adequate coverage for state residents.

A provision in Obamacare does allow sales across state lines if permitted by the state. State A can agree to allow sales from state B or even several states. In this case state A is accepting the standards of state B as adequate.

If the Republicans allow unrestricted sales of health insurance across state lines, are they trampling on states’ rights?