I have an inkling of why health insurance companies want to sell across state lines. Have you heard of "limited liability" or "defined liability" health insurance plans? Unlike the common major medical plans that will start paying 100% of your care costs after you've spent several thousand dollars out of pocket, with these new limited liability plans - very common in the individual market now, when you've used up any one of your benefits under the contract that's all you get - not another dime.

The limited liability plan my husband's employer offered this year says right on page one that it does not meet Massachusetts criteria for creditable health insurance. It really is a cherry picking plan meant to be attractive to young healthy people who don't believe they'll ever have a serious accident or get cancer, and it's got to be a very profitable item for the insurer. Given the way our contract is written it's hard to imaging a scenario where the insurer pays more in benefits than it takes in as premiums.