This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.
No to interstate exploitation
A few days ago, The Spokesman-Review ran candidate profiles of the people vying for Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ House seat, and I saw something interesting: All the conservative candidates believe allowing us to “shop for health insurance across state lines” is the way to cut health care costs.
No, that’s the way to make health care even more expensive than it already is. If health care companies are allowed to sell to people in any state, there won’t be anything stopping them from all moving to West Virginia – the state with the highest health care premiums in America.
Look what happened in the credit card industry. Congress allowed banks to compete for customers from all 50 states, and the banks responded by finding a state that would repeal its usury laws. Now credit card interest rates are out of control. Expect the same thing to happen in the health care industry.
There are ways to lower health care costs. This isn’t one of them.
Jim Mowreader
Hayden