H587: Idahoans Should Let Their Legislators Know

I am told by my contacts in the legislative process that the existing health insurers here in Idaho have so much confidence that they can kill this attempt to allow competition that they did not even publicly speak against it.  It is imperative that Idahoans let their legislators know that this is important.

1. A bit less than 15% of the Idaho population does not currently have health insurance.  Some of these are voluntary: they are young, in good health, and don't want to spend the money.  But there are others for whom the current high cost of health insurance in this state makes it unaffordable.  I have talked to a fellow adjunct at College of Western Idaho who tell me that individual health insurance for her family was about $1000 a month--or about the same as the house payment.  Allowing more competition in health insurance means that some people who are currently not insured would be able to afford it, and some who are struggling to pay for health insurance would have an easier time of it.

2. Small businesses have to buy group health insurance.  Competition would benefit them as well.  Some small businesses could afford to buy health insurance for their employees where they can't afford to do it now; others would be more profitable, or able to offer small co-payments if more competition existed among health insurers in Idaho.

3. There are people who would like to retire, but the cost of individual health insurance makes this unaffordable.  If they could buy individual insurance health at rates typical in some of the neighboring states, this could easily happen, opening up jobs for people that are currently unemployed.

4. Anything we can do to make health insurance more affordable reduces the leftist whining for the government to "do something" about health care.  Right now, the government is doing something: they are preventing out of state health insurers from competing, making health insurance too expensive.  Let's take away the left's excuse.

5. It will be amusing to watch Democrats in our legislature suddenly make excuses for why competition in health insurance would be a bad thing.