John Shadegg has an editorial in the Investor's Business Daily on why his proposal to allow families to buy insurance across state lines, along with a standard deduction or tax credit for health care costs, is a better solution for children (and adults):

People could pick a plan that covers only the services they need and want. They would not be forced to buy state-mandated coverage for services such as hair transplants, acupuncture, or massage therapy that they do not want or need.

This legislation would not only cover the SCHIP population, but millions of others who don't have insurance now.

These choice-focused plans put the patient in charge, not some government bureaucrat. Choice-focused plans will drive down cost and drive up quality. They would create no new government bureaucracy because they aren't government administered programs like SCHIP.

There are no business mandates, no individual mandates, no penalties for noncompliance, and they don't rely on compulsion to work. People would be back in charge of their own health care decisions.

Why aren't Democrats supportive of this plan? Is it because they "hate children" or because the insurance industry, which backed SCHIP expansion, doesn't like it?