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Monday, February 22, 2016

The Interstate Health Insurance Compact: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

House Speaker Paul Ryan has appointed six task forces, comprised of Congressional committee chairmen, to develop a governing agenda. One of those tax forces has a mandate to develop (finally) the Republican alternative to Obamacare.

Two of the members, Dr. Tom Price (Chairman of the Budget Committee) and Mr. Fred Upton (Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee) have already sponsored health reform bills that would replace Obamacare. Mr. Upton’s bill includes an interstate compact for health insurance.

An interstate compact is (effectively) a treaty between the states, which is approved by Congress. For health insurance, it would solve a dilemma for Republicans who want a national market for health insurance, without federal regulation of health insurance. The traditional approach to this is federal law compelling states to allow “selling health insurance across state lines.”

Read more at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

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