The bad news for those who live in Clark, Carson City and Nye counties is that companies offering ObamaCare-compliant health insurance policies have requested 38 percent premium increases in 2018. The good news for those in the rest of Nevada is that their ObamaCare premiums will not be going up because there are no companies offering such policies.

In pulling out of those counties Anthem stated the “individual market remains volatile” and “planning and pricing for ACA (Affordable Care Act)-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market …”

As libertarian economist F.A. Hayek warned years ago, central planning, such as ObamaCare, which dictates to private companies to whom they must sell their services and at what price, cannot possibly work. There are too many abstract factors that only a free market can account for. Witness the lack of willing ObamaCare insurance sellers in 14 Nevada counties.

Congressman Mark Amodei, who represents six of the counties without an ObamaCare option, said, “Sadly, this news isn’t shocking. It represents another symptom of the sickness that is killing America’s health care system. While there are plenty of arguments on how to fix this, regardless of your political views, it’s clear the status quo isn’t working and is in need of serious repair. Once again, I’m left wondering, when is Congress going to put the issue ahead of the politics? I will continue to focus on the facts and the policy options to be applied in Nevada. As always, my goal is to ensure that any reform package increases Americans’ access to quality and affordable care, while paying respect to rural communities like ours that are being hit the hardest.”

The House version of ObamaCare repeal and replace is currently stalled in the Senate, where Nevada Sen. Dean Heller is balking at supporting it due to the potential reduction in Medicaid funds for Nevada. Gov. Brian Sandoval opted to expend Medicaid under ObamaCare, and Heller is reluctant to retrench.

Apparently Nevadans are of two minds when it comes to deciding what to do about ObamaCare.

According to a recent American Medical Association survey, when asked straightforward whether ObamaCare was a good or bad idea, fully 45 percent of Nevadans say it was a good idea, while 37 percent say it was a bad idea.

But when you get down to whether Congress should change that law, the opinions are more varied. When asked, “As you may be aware, in order for the health care legislation passed by the House to become law, the United States Senate must review and pass the legislation. Do you think the U.S. Senate should …”

Seven percent said pass the House legislation as is; 23 percent said make minor changes to it and pass it; 27 percent said make major changes to it and pass it; 33 percent said Congress should not pass any part of the House legislation, thus leaving ObamaCare in place

So, 33 percent say leave it as is, while 57 percent call for some changes.

But when asked about specific changes being proposed, the Nevadans surveyed largely opposed those changes.

They opposed dropping the mandate to buy health insurance. They opposed dropping various federal subsidies and eliminating the ObamaCare requirement that all health plans sold must provide a standard set of government-established benefits, including mental health services, addiction treatment, maternity care and preventive health services with no out-of-pocket costs.

Nevadans favor providing federal funding for states to cover people with pre-existing conditions, the survey says.

Frankly, Congress should repeal ObamaCare and turn over policing of health insurance to the states, which under the 10th Amendment is the proper jurisdiction for wielding power in this arena. Congress should merely exercise the power of the Commerce Clause to assure health insurance can be sold across states lines.

Leaving the status quo in place is not an option, as rising premiums and deductibles and a lack of willing sellers attests. —TM