On October 31, 2011, Governor Dayton issued an executive order calling for the planning and development of a state-run health insurance exchange, a so-called “online marketplace” for individuals and small businesses to purchase health insurance. Among the key objectives, according to Dayton, was creating an exchange that [promotes market competition and affordability] and “maximizes consumer choice”.
Yet just over a year later, Governor Dayton and liberal legislators, working in concert with labor unions, are now pushing legislation that does precisely the opposite. It explicitly allows a state board to arbitrarily and severely restrict the number of insurance plans available on the exchange, even if those providers and plans meet all objective qualifications.
It’s worth noting that even federally-run health insurance exchanges are unlikely to be as restrictive and unaccountable as the “Minnesota model”.
So to summarize, the governor and legislature are creating an exchange that violates every one of their ostensible objectives: Their anti-consumer, anti-choice false marketplace stifles competition, interferes with the market, and drives up costs for everyone.
Welcome to Obamacare.
