Health policy experts say that when governments impose costly mandates on insurers, the prices of policies increase, leaving more and more people unable to afford coverage. A simple economic law says when a product or service becomes more expensive, fewer people buy it. That certainly applies to insurance.

The federal government, as well as the states, is guilty of such practices.

• In 1965, there were only eight health care mandates nationwide.

• Today, there are more than 1,000 -- and the number is rising.

• Laws that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions mean higher premiums for all.

• After New Jersey passed just such a law, the price of a modest policy purchased individually by a family in that state shot up to $27,000 a year -- compared to a national average of $5,000.

Experts say that if lawmakers would stop imposing more mandates and restrictions on health insurance, the growth in insurance costs would decline -- and so would the number of uninsured.

Source: Merrill Matthews Jr. (National Center for Policy Analysis), "Government Rules Are to Blame," USA Today, October 1, 1998.