Baucus health bill would let private group write rules

Healthcare overhaul legislation moving through the Senate Finance Committee would put crucial rule-making authority in the hands of a private association of state insurance commissioners that consumer advocates fear is too closely tied to the industry. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners currently writes model laws and regulations that individual states are free to accept or discard, reports the Los Angeles Times. Under the bill by Sen. Max Baucus, it would craft a model rule governing "health insurance rating, issuance and marketing requirements" that would become "the new federal minimum standard without any further congressional action."