The Federal Government Should Do Less, and the States Should Do More, on Health Care and Insurance Policy

“Let states take over health reform from federal politicians” is the headline for my print column today (here’s the version in the Jamestown Sun).

The genesis for the column was my interview with North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread on my radio show earlier this week (full audio below).

“Turn this back over to the states,” he told me of his preferred avenue for reform. “Allow us to manage our marketplace.”

That makes a ton of sense to me.

In Washington all we get is partisan political nonsense. Case in point, as Senate Republicans unveiled their plan for reform, Democratic partisans like Senator Heidi Heitkamp pounced on it, launching talking point assaults while offering little in the way of constructive criticism.

Godfread addressed Heitkamp’s remarks during our interview. He pointed out that the status quo isn’t working, but politicians like Heitkamp seem to prioritize political games over progress toward reform.

“It’s a little disingenuous to rail on this when the cliff is crumbling under us,” he said.

All the more reason to turn this issue back over to the states.

Here’s the full audio:

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