The problem with the current healthcare system is that State regulators have limited the number of companies who are willing to provide healthcare coverage. State regulators dictate terms, conditions, and insurance rates. There has been no free market for the insurance industry, and the industry is in shambles.

        The solution is to deregulate insurance companies. New companies then would compete in a free market. They would develop a myriad of insurance plans for every type of consumer. Competition levels the playing field and will result in the lowest possible cost to the consumer. There can never be too many choices for a consumer who is willing to explore the possibilities.

        There is a role for government. It is to mediate disputes between insurance companies and policy holders, similar to the way workers’ compensation disputes are resolved. In a simplified administrative process a Judge of Coverage would determine if the insurance company is abiding by the terms of the policy, and if not it should be required to pay a penalty to the policy holder, and a reasonable fee to the attorney who represents the policy holder.

        The proposals now being considered in the House and Senate will put private insurance companies out of business and will result in millions of lost jobs. The Wall Street Journal, reported that one provision in the current healthcare proposals provides that after five years, all employer plans must be approved by the Department of Labor and a new Health Choices Commissioner will determine the terms, conditions and rates for all private policies. The power to regulate, as we have seen in environmental and industrial safety regulations, is the power to destroy businesses.

        Almost everyone agrees that the current government regulated insurance industry is broken. I submit that it is broken because the government has captured a private industry, and for many years has misguided and mismanaged the insurance industry, and government has misappropriated tax money in the process. Government bureaucrats should not be allowed to take over another private industry. Does anyone doubt that private healthcare companies can do a better job for less? A government takeover of healthcare has failed in Canada, France and in every other country that has tried socialized medicine.  More government bureaucrats can not fix a problem caused by government bureaucrats. The free market option is the only option that has ever worked.