House Panel Members Clash Over Insurance Sales Across State Lines
The Hill (5/26, Baker) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog that "basic consumer protections that exist in almost every state would be eroded if insurance companies could sell policies across state lines, Democrats said Wednesday." But, Republicans argued "during a House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee hearing that selling insurance across state lines would give consumers more choices and allow people to buy bare-bones policies if they can't afford more comprehensive coverage." Steve Larsen, the director of the HHS office that is leading the implementation of healthcare reform, "said that kind of flexibility would allow lightly regulated states to peel away the young, healthy customers from neighboring states
