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Tony Ondrusek is founder and publisher of Insurance & Financial Advisor and IFAwebnews.com.

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The Senate version of health care reform would have states regulate an insurance “exchange,” which a USA Today blogger calls the “Travelocity” of health insurance. The House version would have the federal government run the exchange, which would, in effect, usurp states’ current right to regulate the commerce in their state.

Unions seem to favor the House version.

According to a blog post on USA Today, the insurance industry is in favor of the Senate version of health care reform, with states maintaining control and regulation within their own borders.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association released a memo stating that allowing the fed to take over the plans would create “conflicting rules” and would add “unnecessary costs to the system by establishing a new federal bureaucracy.”

They argue that consumers wouldn’t know whether to turn to their states with problems — as they currently do — or turn toward the federal government, just as one would to the efficient and consumer-friendly IRS.