Gov. Paul LePage is right.

The people of Maine ought to be able to buy health insurance just the same as any other product or service they buy, in a competitive market from the best company at the best price.

And that means we must have the option of purchasing health insurance, as individuals and as corporations, from any company doing business in any state in this union.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which takes a for-profit form here in Maine while operating as a nonprofit elsewhere, is against the proposal because it could create an uneven playing field among insurers.

That’s the argument of monopolies, not the argument of the more consumer-friendly competitive marketplace.

The Maine Medical Association is also against this idea of allowing Mainers to buy health insurance across state lines because interstate competition could drive up rates for older, sicker Mainers. How so?

Being able to purchase insurance from larger, more competitive companies that carry deeper risk pools can lower rates, which is what older, sicker Mainers need and want.

Andrew MacLean of Health Care for Maine testified before the Insurance and Financial Services Committee Tuesday that across-state-line health insurance proposals make good campaign rhetoric, but “they don’t stand up to a careful insurance market analysis.”

Really? Mainers have the option to purchase life insurance, vehicle insurance, property insurance and other insurances across state lines within a competitive market. Adding health insurance options to the mix is not going to destroy that structure, but would arguably enhance it.

LePage campaigned on this promise, and it wasn’t just rhetoric. It was a genuine offer to ease the cost of health insurance, making it possible for more people to buy insurance and effectively improving the health of Maine people.

We’ve been calling for this shift in health insurance for more than a decade.

In February 2000 we reported that between 13 and 14 percent of Mainers did not have health insurance because they were self-employed or not employed and simply couldn’t afford to buy individual policies. It was a problem for 38,000 Mainers, and a growing problem for thousands more who were in danger of finding themselves without insurance as employers became unable to continue paying steadily increasing insurance premiums for workers.

On this page, we called for state government to expand health insurance purchase options, allowing consumers to purchase across state lines. That never happened, and now 25.2 percent of Maine people under 65 years old are uninsured.

So, by doing nothing, the number of uninsured has nearly doubled in just 10 years. That inaction has created tremendous pain for thousands of older, sicker Mainers.

A decade ago, the governors of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont vowed to fix the health care system, even if the federal government wasn’t willing to help. One of the first steps, they said, would be to create a three-state partnership, or buying groups, for health insurance policies.

As we reported then, the population of these three states would create a larger risk pool than is present in any of these single states. A more diversified risk pool would lower rates as the option to buy health insurance becomes more attractive to the thousands of people who had previously decided to do without.

If that across-state-lines partnership worked, it could be expanded throughout New England and eventually across the country. Health insurance wouldn’t be such an exclusive in-state industry anymore, and policies would be more affordable. And, as more and more people bought policies, the end result would be better coverage for patients and greater profits for insurance companies.

It’s basic common sense, which is something Maine people are known for.

We have been talking about “fixing” the prohibitive cost of health insurance for decades, discussing and debating the facets of this argument while health insurance premiums continued to rise and health care costs skyrocketed.

Maine’s current Legislature has the political power, with the backing of the governor, to finally fix this problem and improve the health — physical and financial — of Maine people.

What exactly are we waiting for?

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.