North Dakota Rejects ObamaCare

Brett Narloch offers a view of the health care debate from North Dakota, where he serves as the leader of the North Dakota Policy Council.

According to a survey taken in December, 64% of North Dakota’s residents were opposed to the congressional health reform proposals. “Furthermore,” says Narloch, “Senator Byron Dorgan’s retirement announcement may have had to do with his unpopular support of the health care reform proposal. Earl Pomeroy’s electoral trouble may also have to do with his vote for the health care plan. Clearly, Obamacare is not popular in North Dakota.”

Last year, the Legislature considered but rejected putting the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act into the state constitution. It did, however, endorse a resolution affirming the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Health Freedom and Medical Marijuana in North Dakota

Medical marijuana will be coming to North Dakota, if one of the state’s residents gets his way. Del Snavely, who used to used medical marijuana while living in the state of Washington, is working on securing a ballot measure to enact a similar law in North Dakota.

I’ve never smoked a joint in my life and have no desire to do so, yet I find the med-marijuana campaign–which has succeeded in “more than dozen states,” according to the article–encouraging. First, it’s simply a pro-freedom move. It also expands the scope of health care options by a tiny bit.

Finally, the enactment of state laws is a strike back against the “Congress knows best” attitude that has held sway since the 1930s. “The federal Justice Department has said it won’t target medical marijuana dispensaries if they’re complying with state law,” says the AP article, printed in the Grand Forks Herald. Such a stance gives hope that the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act will have legal as well as political legs.

Breast Implants and a North Dakota Divorce

How much did those breast implants cost? A North Dakota couple is going through a nasty divorce, and the husband wants to advance his financial outcome through counting his wife’s breast implants (presumably paid for out of joint funds) as a marital asset.

A justice on the state’s high court sees trouble ahead: “Do we have any lines to be drawn? Is dental work a marital asset? Is a hip replacement a marital asset?”

North Dakota Collects Unused Prescription Drugs

In what is one of the more benign uses of government power when it comes to health care, the Grand Forks, North Dakota police department will let members of the public drop off unused prescription drugs. Presumably the drugs will be incinerated or otherwise disposed of in a way that doesn’t let them enter the groundwater. Officials are touting it as a way of preventing teens from getting unauthorized access to drugs.

Will Takeover Artists Get Off?

North Dakota’s three-person congressional delegation has voted against the wishes of their constituents.

Will they pay a political price for voting for a government takeover of health care? A NoDak blogger surveys the scene and isn’t encouraged.

Want More Insured? Don’t Tax Insurance

It’s an axiom of economics that if you want to reduce the consumption of something, you tax it. Reduce the number of people who smoke cigarettes? Enact a tax, and then raise it. Reduce alcohol consumption? Tax booze.

Reduce the number of people with health insurance? Tax …. Oh wait. I thought that the High Moral Purpose of the moment is to increase the number of people with health insurance.

In North Dakota, State Sen. Tracy Potter (D-Bismarck) suggests eliminating the state tax on health insurance premiums. Potter wants to make the cut only for policies sold by non-profit companies (read: BlueCross BlueShield), but it’s a start.

Increased Competition Could Cut Insurance Costs in Half

In pursuit of “doing something” about the high cost of health insurance, Congress is set to force millions of Americans to hand over more money to insurance companies, and to government as well. A simpler way would be not to extend favoritism to insurance companies but to make them compete with each other.

Brett Narloch of the North Dakota Policy Council says that consumers could cut their costs by half, or more. The key is to open up the market within a state to more companies, and reduce the influence that politicians have on what insurance looks like. When people buy, one by one, what works for them, lower prices result.

Health Policy Alternatives in North Dakota

With two senators and a population of just 641,000, North Dakota is one of those states with an outsized influence on health care policy at the Federal level. The North Dakota Policy Council will host a public meeting on health care policy, current proposals, and patient-friendly alternatives. This video gives the pitch.

Insurer Plays “Mother, May I?”

Yet more proof that the "free market" in health insurance is anything but free: A South Dakota insurer is merging with a company in North Dakota. It would like to offer insurance in North Dakota.

But first, Sanford Health needs to wait at least two months for the North Dakota insurance department to review its application.

North Dakota to Offer “Create a Mandate” Simulation

North Dakota is taking on an interesting experiment:

This week, the state Insurance Department is starting an experiment: Bring small groups of people together in North Dakota communities, give them a health insurance budget, and ask them if they'd prefer less expensive insurance plans that don't include all the state-mandated benefits.

It sounds a bit like one of those psychology experiments in which researchers give college freshmen $50 to blow in a simulation. It may be interesting to watch in the lab, but will it translate to the real world?

Perhaps. When a group in Montana tried this, it found something that rings true:

"Low-income people generally preferred low deductibles for their medical coverage while higher-income participants wanted high deductibles and emphasized coverage for catastrophic, expensive medical problem."

How you think about risk underpins a large part of the health care debate. That's a challenge for free-market and liberty advocates.