It appears that New Jersey legislators are getting concerned about the decline in employer-provided health insurance in the Garden State. And the legislative wizards have decided that the reason is the high cost of health insurance.

The president of a liberal state-based NJ think tank, Jon Shure, believes that the decline in employer-provided coverage "fuel(s) the argument that the federal government must have a role in providing health coverage for all Americans," according to the New Jersey Star Ledger.

Now, if this guy meant that New Jersey regulations had destroyed its individual and small group markets and so the federal government needed to step in to, in essence, save the state from itself, I'd say the guy was on to something. But this being New Jersey, I'm betting that's not what he meant.

The Star Ledger goes on to quote him as saying, "I'm hopeful that this country will finally overcome its irrational objection to having government make sure the job gets done." Would someone please call Jon and tell him that's exactly what New Jersey thought it was doing more than a decade ago when it passed guaranteed issue and community rating laws, over the objections of most insurers? Now New Jersey has some of the highest, if not the highest, health insurance premiums in the country as a direct result.