Dorfler on Mandates

The June 11, 2008 Rocky Mountain News printed the following LTE by Russ Dorfler explaining why insurance benefit mandates are wrong:

More mandates mean more expense for all of us

It is unfortunate that all of Gov. Bill Ritter's 11 health-care bills were touted as a success ("Ritter signs 11 'building blocks' of health agenda," June 4). Most of the bills were mandates to insurers.

Consumers should be aware that when the word "mandate" appears in legislation for health care, it simply raises the premiums. Colorado has more than 45 mandates on the books required for health insurance companies. By comparison, Kansas has six mandates. Based on this fact alone, one might ask which state's insurers could offer the lowest premiums?

Most of these mandates started appearing in Colorado exclusively in the early '90s. Since then, we have seen competition among insurers dwindle in Colorado. How about some significant legislation like hospital transparency, illegals paying for the cost of their care, or reducing the number of Colorado state mandates? Another thought would be to stop government intervention and let the health products be consumer driven; let the market dictate coverages and plans, not politicians and legislators trying to secure their office.

Russ Dorfler, Littleton