I saw this in a Washington Post article yesterday and haven't seen any dairies on it yet. I was encouraged by this news.
31 members of congress, led by Jackie Speier, wrote a letter to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid on Tuesday warning that the provisions in the Senate and House health care bills that would allow health insurers to sell their policies across state lines would undermine consumer protections in 17 states, which would negatively impact more than half the population of the United States. The text of the letter is here.
Here is a quote from the letter:
The interstate compact provisions in both H.R. 3962 and the Senate proposal, as currently written, will lead to a race to the bottom in insurance regulation and severely threaten the important and often lifesaving protections the residents of our states enjoy.
Here are a couple more quotes:
The negative impact of these provisions cannot be understated -- they can and will eliminate access to important health care services that so many Americans depend on.
The letter closes by urging that the interstate compact be removed altogether or at least that the language be substantively altered to ensure the strong regulatory provisions that already exist in our states.
The letter was signed by 29 representatives from California and two from Maine.
I have found a couple other articles about this letter, one is here by Brian Leubitz from the California Progress Report. He makes a point that I had to agree with:
Frankly, you would think that if there was one place where even the most strident market-obsessed politician would see the failures of the market, it would be healthcare. But nope, on they trudge, doing their darndest to make sure that everything is guided by Adam Smith's inivisble hand, and hoping for the best.
I found another news article about it in CBS news: Democrats: Health Bill Undercuts Consumer Protections.
One other news article about the letter was in our local newspaper, the San Mateo Daily Journal. The paper contacted Speier's office, and according to this article, if the provisions remain in the bill she may not end up voting for it:
"At this point, if it lets insurance companies bypass our state’s strict consumer protection laws it is safe to say she will not support it," said Mike Larsen, Speier’s communications director in Washington, D.C.
"This is a serious thing for Jackie," Larsen said. "She spent 18 years in the state writing laws on behalf of consumers. She will likely not support a bill that takes away these protections."
At times it seems that no one in Congress is looking out for the interests of everyday people, but to me at least here is evidence that some members of the House are serious about trying to protect the lives and health of the American people.
Let's hope they are successful. It would be disastrous if health insurance became like credit cards where all the companies relocated to the least regulated states and all the regulations in the more strongly regulated states became obsolete. I really do think that would be worse than the status quo. At least with credit cards people have the option not to use them.
Update: Fixed the title so it would fit.