In terms of regulating health insurance, Ohio is relatively good about letting the market work compared to other states. For instance, some states have fifty or sixty procedures that they mandate insurance to cover. Ohio only has twenty-five. As a result of lower levels of regulation, Ohio has relatively affordable rates for its health insurance policies. According to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, the average cost of an individual health insurance policy is $2304 a year and the average cost of a small group policy (used by small businesses for their employees) is $3399 a year. These are lower than the cost of similar policies in most other states.

Unfortunately, legislators from both parties are teaming up to make Ohio like other states, with more regulations being imposed on health insurance. While this is coming at the behest of certain special interest groups that say regulation will help consumers, the likely result is that health insurance will cost more and that fewer people will have such insurance.

The desire to meddle with health insurance through imposing legislative restrictions is understandable. People do not feel they have enough choices and that government mandates are the only way health insurance companies will respond to them.

These people are half right: they do not have enough choices. However, using government to "fix" this problem is misguided. Government's heavy involvement in health insurance is the reason consumers do not have enough choices. The real way to help consumers is to lessen the burden government currently imposes on health insurance.

If people bought their health insurance directly, instead of through their employers, consumers would have many more options. However, because the government gives businesses a tax break if they provide health insurance, it makes little sense for people to buy such health insurance themselves. And while it may be a foreign idea that health insurance should not come from your employer, consider any other insurance. Do you buy your car insurance or homeowners' insurance through your employer? There is no reason health insurance should be any different.

As mentioned earlier, another thing contributing to the lack of choice in health insurance is the heavy regulation that is placed on health insurance. For example, you cannot buy health insurance from a company outside of your state. States take advantage of this by imposing a variety of mandates on health insurance. While Ohio has some of the fewest mandates, this may not last long. Members of both parties teamed up to pass the mental health parity bill and impose restrictions on co-payments and deductibles.

The distortions in the insurance market caused by these subsidies and regulations mean that consumers are only indirectly in charge of their health insurance purchases. Because of this government intervention, they have little power to choose insurance that will meet their needs.

Instead of increasing the government interference in the health insurance market, Ohio lawmakers should look at ways they can reduce the distortions caused by government and give power back to health insurance consumers. Letting consumers have freedom to choose the insurance they want is a better alternative than increasing regulations that wil force all Ohioans to have nearly identical policies.