State Mandates Result in High Price Tags

A recent news release from the National Center for Policy Analysis underscores the reason for soaring health coverage costs across the nation: state mandates and no national competition.

The federal McCarran-Ferguson Act permits states to regulate their own mandates and shields them from interstate competition. Some of the mandates include coverage for acupuncture, marriage counseling, and hairpieces.

Without interstate competition, the cost of one type of coverage varies from state to state.

A family purchasing a health insurance policy in Wisconsin would pay about $3,087, but that policy would cost $10,398 in New Jersey.

The answer is not more regulation, but free market competition to allow consumers to shop for the plan that best fits their needs and wallets.