Why not just allow more competition, like across state lines? Inefficient companies would get beaten in the marketplace, and Congress could stay the hell out of it. The answer to problems caused by regulation is not more regulation.
Oh, and “Execs like this” may or may not be worth $1 million each. Again, the market should decide this, not Congress. In a true free market nobody could “slit the throat of capitalism.” Those who don’t provide a quality service at a fair price wouldn’t last. But we don’t have a true free market (especially with health care), and the screams are always to INCREASE the regulation that causes the problems in the first place.
What is this about competition across state lines? Doesn’t United Healthcare already have a presence across state lines? Is Blue Cross limited to just one states? This makes no sense.
I think what you’ll find is that each state has requirements in order to sell a policy in that state. For example, some state mandates that a woman be permitted to stay in the hospital for at least three days after giving birth. Other states require mental health parity, meaning that the benefits for mental illness have to be as generous as for physical illness. Those extra benefits cost more, so there is price disparity state by state. If you’re in one of the states that requires greater benefits, the state is not going to let you buy a cheaper, less comprehensive policy from another state.
The “competition across state lines” is a canard.