GOP U.S. Senate candidate says he wants to deregulate the health insurance industry

Investment banker Mike McFadden revealed to Minnesotans his most concrete idea for health care to date: he wants to see the health insurance industry “deregulated,” a move that would let insurance companies have free rein to do whatever they want — no matter the human or financial cost.

At a recent press conference, McFadden was asked to get “a lot more specific” on his “solution to health care.” McFadden, who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and said last summer he was “working with a team of [health care] experts,” told reporters he wanted to deregulate the health insurance industry.

MCFADDEN: …The second is there are federal regulations that need to be looked at.  One is insurance, I’d like to see the insurance agency, industry, deregulated.

Watch the video of McFadden’s health care remarks here: http://youtu.be/e_9gV7_pqwg

McFadden isn’t the first politician to call for deregulation of the insurance industry; Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is also a strong proponent for the concept.

Politicians like McFadden and Bachmann who want to deregulate the health insurance industry would allow insurance companies to charge women more than men for coverage, allow them to impose arbitrary annual and lifetime limits, allow them to spend as much or as little of premium dollars on actual health care, and undo requirements that force insurers to cover basic services like mammograms, colon cancer screening, and prenatal care.

“Investment banker Mike McFadden’s idea to let insurance companies do whatever they want might be good for big business, but it’s a disaster for Minnesota families,” said DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “McFadden wants to turn back the clock on commonsense consumer protections that save Minnesotans money and, in some cases, their lives.”

McFadden has also said he wants to let companies sell health insurance across state lines, which according to the Washington Post would “make insurance more expensive for the sick and cheaper for the healthy, and lead to more healthy people with insurance and fewer sick people with insurance. It’s a great proposal if you don’t ever plan to be sick, and if you don’t mind finding out that your insurer doesn’t cover your illness.”

health insurance · insurance deregulation · insurance industry · Mike McFadden · US Senate