Feb 3 2010
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz writes that Republicans in Congress have proposed this concept in the past "and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embraced it as part of his 2008 presidential campaign. Advocates - including some insurers and small business groups - say it would give the more than 17 million Americans who buy individual coverage a greater choice of plans and the possibility of lower prices. (The measure does not apply to the 159 million non-elderly Americans who obtain insurance through their employers.) But critics -- including consumer watchdog groups and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners -- say the provision would erode many state government consumer protections, leave policyholders with inadequate coverage and could actually lead to higher premiums for some people" (Galewitz, 2/3).
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 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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