According to the Society of Actuaries, cross-border insurance plans would have little effect on lowering health insurance premiums, a key objective of efforts to drive their creation.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid push to eliminate barriers to the sale of cross-border health insurance plans isn't going to find the answer in federal regulations, say insurers and health care providers.

Instead, as reported by Modern Healthcare, it's the insurance business itself that restricts such cross-border sales.

In March, CMS asked for input on how to take away barriers to insurer cross-border sales, as well as “whether Farm Bureau insurance plans or short-term, limited duration plans could help facilitate the sale of individual market plans.” At present just four states have laws allowing such sales—Georgia, Maine, Oklahoma and Wyoming—but the results have been mediocre.