Don Brunell-Association health plans work

Sometimes Plan B turns out to be better than Plan A. Case in point: our state’s association health plans.

In 1993, Gov. Mike Lowry (D) wanted to help small employers offer health insurance. Too many could not afford coverage for their employees and their families.

His idea — which was a template for President and Mrs. Clinton’s national health reforms — was a government mandate requiring all employers to offer a plan with the same benefits for all workers. It didn’t work for three fundamental reasons.

First, the unions got the Democrat-controlled Legislature to exempt them from the new health...