It appears the latest iteration of the much-debated reform of Obamacare is going to be an executive order that allows people to buy across state lines. This is supposed to fix the problems with affordable insurance until Congress can figure out a way to pass some version of the most unpopular legislation ever proposed.

For some reason, this “across state lines” bit of fiction is a mainstay in the arsenal of those who believe in a free-market, competitive cure for all things, including the ability to find and afford insurance against getting sick.

I have a hard time understanding how this is supposed to work at all, let alone fix anything. It is especially puzzling that the same people who see “across state lines” as a cure-all for competition are also committed to block grants that let each state “craft the health care that is best for its population.” The two concepts seem contradictory. If each state knows best, why do you need to buy from another state? Does cancer somehow cost a lot less in Arkansas than it does in Kansas?

In reality, no executive action is needed to allow selling insurance across state lines. It is already legal, and it happens all the time in the employer-sponsored world, where corporations bargain with insurers to cover their workers.

One need only call a nationally licensed insurer such as United Health Care, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna or others and inquire about what they offer for individuals. Those companies have to offer plans that meet all the requirements set by each state in which they are licensed.

The way it works is that each state has a commissioner of insurance who is responsible for vetting would-be insurers and making sure that the plans being sold in their state meet the standards set by that state. You can’t buy a policy from a company that is not licensed to do business in the state in which you live. If that sounds a lot like empowering each state to decide what best fits its citizens, it’s because it is.

Allowing you to purchase a policy from an insurer not licensed in your state would leave you vulnerable to getting a policy that doesn’t cover much of anything from an insurer who has no participating providers within 300 miles of where you live.

I have yet to hear how it is that “across state lines” can erase those problems and still leave decisions about what plans are licensed in the hands of each state. So, what do we do? Nationalize health insurance? Establish nationwide standards about what has to be covered? We could even establish a website that would allow residents of every state to shop for policies offered by any company who wanted to participate in their state. Oh, wait, isn’t that what Obamacare does?