Sounds Like A Good Idea? Selling Insurance Across State Lines

Presidential candidates like to propose solutions to long-standing problems. Health care is no exception.

This KHN story can be republished for free (details).

But there’s a reason some problems are “long-standing.” They may have no easy solution. Or the solution is not politically feasible. Or there’s a solution that sounds good on the campaign trail but is not likely to actually work.

In this first of a series of videos of health policy promises that “sound like a good idea,” Julie Rovner explores why increasing competition in health insurance by allowing sales of policies across state lines might not be such a good idea after all.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Sounds Like A Good Idea? Selling Insurance Across State Lines</h1>
<div>	<span class="byline">Julie Rovner and Francis Ying</span>
		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2016-05-12T02:00:22-07:00">
			May 12, 2016		</time>
		</div>
<p>Presidential candidates like to propose solutions to long-standing problems. Health care is no exception.</p>This KHN story can be republished for free (<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/syndication">details</a>).<p>But there’s a reason some problems are “long-standing.” They may have no easy solution. Or the solution is not politically feasible. Or there’s a solution that sounds good on the campaign trail but is not likely to actually work.</p><p>In this first of a series of videos of health policy promises that “sound like a good idea,” Julie Rovner explores why increasing competition in health insurance by allowing sales of policies across state lines might not be such a good idea after all.</p><p><em>This story was produced by <a href="http://kffhealthnews.org/">Kaiser Health News</a>, an editorially independent program of the <a href="https://www.kff.org/">Kaiser Family Foundation</a>.</em></p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/sounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/sounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/sounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Sounds%20Like%20A%20Good%20Idea%3F%20Selling%20Insurance%20Across%20State%20Lines&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fsounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/sounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/sounds-like-a-good-idea-selling-insurance-across-state-lines/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact NewsWeb@kff.org.