After I wrote a blog entry about a proposal in the Connecticut House to herd small business owners into health insurance plans for state employees, Linda Gorman (see the comments in the link above) noted a similarity to "Kentucky Kare," whose chief result might be summed up in the words "disaster ensued."

It looks like Connecticut is moving a step closer to disaster, with the House yesterday passing the proposal. (The headline in the Hartford Courant is warm and cuddly: "Connecticut House passes bill opening insurance to more people.")

Put aside the question of whether having insurance is as important as actually getting care when you need it (it isn't), is this a good idea? One problem is that it could lead to higher expenses for state taxpayers when companies bidding on the right to supply state workers with coverage recalculate their bids.

Eric J. George of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association identified an even more serious problem when he said "This is really the first step to single-payer," with all that implies for consumer (dis)satisfaction.