Idaho-Idaho Chooses Life Comes Out Against State-Based Exchange

Idaho Chooses Life (ICL), the largest pro-life group in the Gem State, has formally declared its opposition to lawmakers giving the green light to building a state-based health insurance exchange.

In a statement released to IdahoReporter.com Tuesday, ICL president David Ripley says the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the law through which exchanges are derived, is ripe with questionable policies.

http://www.idahoreporter.com/2012/idaho-chooses-life-comes-out-against-state-based-exchange/
Hat tip: Idaho Reporter

Exchange IT - Tennessee Insurance Exchange Setup Would Hinge on Tech Workers

As states like Tennessee look at creating insurance exchanges under the federal healthcare overhaul, demand is spiking for the information technology or IT know-how to set one up.

It’s still an open question whether Tennessee even sets up an exchange.

...

There’s also plenty of wrangling over guidelines, grant money and deadlines, which falls to one Brian Haile.


http://wpln.org/?p=33606
Hat tip: Nashville Public Radio

Idaho- Health Insurance Carriers Could be Used in Federal Exchange

Proponents of the state-based health insurance exchange may have just had the air let out of one of their main arguments against the federal government creating one for Idaho.

Gov. Butch Otter told the Idaho Chamber Alliance Monday that he received confirmation from the federal government that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would use Gem State insurance carriers in its exchange setup.

Opponents of letting the federal government establish the exchange have argued for months that anything other than a state-based exchange would hurt Idaho’s insurance companies and cost Gem State jobs.

http://www.idahoreporter.com/2012/idaho-health-insurance-carriers-could-be-used-in-federal-exchange/

Hat tip: Idaho Reporter

Exchange IT-Washington Health Care Authority Selects Vendor for Exchange System Design

The Health Care Authority has selected Deloitte Consulting LLP as the Apparently Successful Vendor to design, develop and implement the state's Health Benefit Exchange IT system to create a seamless and easy-to-use system.

The Authority now begins contract negotiations and hopes to begin project activities with the selected vendor in late February. The statewide Exchange is a significant initiative under the Affordable Care Act’s national health care reform. In 2014, it will be an on-line marketplace, making it easier for consumers to choose a commercial health plan that works best for them, and provide access to tax credits and public programs such as Medicaid to make those plans more affordable. Funded by a $23 million federal grant, the state Health Care Authority has taken initial responsibility for development of the Exchange. A nine-member governing board appointed by Governor Gregoire in December will assume governance of the program in March 2012.

http://www.hca.wa.gov/news_release/health-care-authority-announces-apparently-successful-vendor.html

Hat tip: Washington State Health Care Authority

Minnesota- Cavalcade of Coverage

Major Legislative Battle Brewing in Minnesota. Here are the links to major news reports covering the process:

Gov. Mark Dayton says his administration may be unable to build an exchange without legislative approval. But the Republican-controlled legislature is split over whether to support implementation of that provision of the health care law.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/January/31/states-minnesota-exchange.aspx
Hat tip: Kaiser Health News (with links)

Sen. David Hann, the Republican voice of health insurance, disputes that Republicans ever supported something that looks like a health care exchange.He also disputes that Republicans ever were sincerely invited to join the governor’s task force to come up with an exchange. And he disputes that Gov. Mark Dayton or DFLers are serious in an attempt to pass an exchange program through this legislative session.
http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2012/01/30/34711/gop_response_sen_hann_disputes_daytondfls_health_exchange_plan
Hat tip: Minn Post

Governor Mark Dayton today stood with a broad coalition of consumers, businesses, insurers, and health care experts as they announced their recommendations to guide the development of aMinnesota-made health insurance exchange.
http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=327928
Hat tip: Insurance News

Legislators are clashing in Minnesota over recommendations regarding a health insurance exchange program. The recommendations come from a task force that had been commissioned by Governor Mark Dayton.
http://www.liveinsurancenews.com/minnesota-lawmakers-clash-over-recommendations-from-health-insurance-exchange-advisory-task-force/857782/
Hat tip: Live Insurance News

The debate over a key part of the federal health care overhaul heats up again at the state capitol. GOP Sen. David W. Hann opposes the health care law and will hold a committee hearing Tuesday morning to discuss insurance exchanges.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/01/31/health-exchange-debate/

Hat tip: Minnesota Public Radio

A health insurance exchange advisory task force handed its recommendations to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday, stressing the need to find a Minnesota solution in establishing a state insurance exchange.
But the recommendations were drawn without Republican input, the governor explained. “They declined to participate (in the task force),” Dayton said.

http://hometownsource.com/2012/01/30/health-insurance-exchange-recommendations-spark-spat/
Hat tip: Hometown Source

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday acknowledged what Co$t of Doing Business alluded to a week ago: Cooperation is needed from the state Legislature if an effective health insurance exchange is to be set up.

http://finance-commerce.com/bizcost/2012/01/minnesotans-get-some-clarity-on-health-insurance-exchange/

Hat tip: Finance and Commerce/The Co$t of Doing Business/Chris Newmarker

Some Minnesota officials say the race is on to beat the federal government in setting up a marketplace to buy health insurance.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/221439/
Hat tip: Duluth News Tribune

Two DFL legislators on Monday fired the first salvo in the partisan war to shape how upwards of 1 million Minnesotans buy health insurance by 2014.
Within a week, said Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, and Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, they will offer bills to establish a federally mandated "health care exchange," essentially an online marketplace where individuals, families and small businesses can shop for appropriate insurance coverage.
A few hours later, a chief critic of the concept, Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said he and others soon will offer bills to limit what an exchange might do.
Not only are there dueling legislators. Their work is fueled by competing task forces, at work since last fall.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/138368579.html
Hat tip: Star Tribune

Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) said he expects to introduce a bill later this week or early next week that would put Minnesota on a path to developing its own Internet-based health care marketplace for the uninsured, before a federal exchange program would take its place.
Atkins serves on the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Task Force, which released its list of recommendations about how the exchange should work.
Among the recommendations are:
-keeping a level playing field between marketplaces inside and outside the exchange;
-structuring provisions to encourage innovation and competition;
-stimulating participation by small employers;
-pursuing a state-level risk adjustment model; and
to closely follow the risk pools and premium variables.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2012/01/31/health-care-exchange-recommendations-released
Hat tip: Twin Cities Daily Planet

Insurance Industry-State Flexibility on EHBs Could Encourage Exchange Development

Recent clarity about how essential health benefits (EHBs) are likely to be defined could provide a small push to procrastinating states when it comes to building an insurance exchange.

Rather than develop a national EHB standard, which was largely expected, a 13-page “bulletin” issued by CMS’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight on Dec. 16 proposed that states use an existing health plan to define the benefits that must be included in individual and small-group plans beginning in 2014.

...

But some states still might not take action. “As we have seen with the exchanges, some states are more reluctant than others to adopt” reform-law provisions, says Adam Solander, an attorney in the health care practice at Epstein Becker & Green. “I expect that some states will not take action and the default benchmark plan (i.e., the largest plan in the state’s small-group market) will be adopted. However, at the end of the day states will have to choose a plan that balances costs and richness of benefit structure.”


http://aishealth.com/archive/nhex0112-03
Hat tip: AIS(Atlantic Information Services) Health

Insurance Industry- Final Rule Regarding Insurance Exchange Eligibility May Be Near

Federal officials could release a final rule in the coming days implementing key provisions of the 2010 federal healthcare overall on Medicaid and insurance exchange eligibility.

Regulations implementing provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expected to expand Medicaid access by 16 million people and to determine eligibility for state exchanges that will insure another 16 million people were submitted for approval late last week from the Office of Management and Budget. Approval by OMB is usually the final step before rules are publicly released.

...

Other exchange details expected from the rule include the role that tax credits will have in covering the cost of premiums for people in the new state insurance marketplaces. Both the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion will begin in 2014.


http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20120130/NEWS/301309957/final-rule-regarding-medicaid-insurance-exchange-eligibility-may-be
Hat tip: Modern Healthcare

New Hampshire-Industry Group Supports Health Insurance Exchange

A group of health insurers, businesses, chambers of commerce and the Business and Industry Association called Monday for the state Senate to pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Ray White, R-Bedford, to create a state health insurance exchange.

...

Paula Rogers, government relations director for Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield New Hampshire, which supports the bill, said in a telephone interview, “We think it’s crafted in an efficient manner to do the job that would need to be done under the Affordable Care Act,” she said. “It’s minimally intrusive to the competitive market; it can be disassembled in an orderly fashion if the Affordable Care Act provisions that pertain to it were found unconstitutional,” she said.

The bill was tabled by the Senate earlier this month.

This bill establishes the New Hampshire health benefit exchange as a public corporation. The bill also establishes an exchange board to provide procedures to facilitate the exchange’s purpose, which is to assist in the purchase and sale of qualified health plans and to meet the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The insurance commissioner is granted rule-making authority for the purposes of the bill.


http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120131/NEWS02/701319977
Hat tip: New Hampshire Union Leader

Michigan-Health Exchange May Rest on GOP

Creation of a federally mandated health-care exchange in Michigan may rest on GOP lawmakers conflicted about following the federal law while continuing opposition to federal health-care reforms.

The state Senate in November passed Senate Bill 693, which would create the MiHealth Marketplace Act — a nonprofit insurance exchange in which employers and individuals could choose from multiple plans.

On the same day, all 13 Republican senators who voted to create the health exchange also voted for a resolution urging Congress to repeal the federal law that requires it.

...

If the court upholds the individual mandate, however, the state would meet the federal requirement.

"We had experts come in and talk to us, and they said that if you don't show progress in setting up a health exchange, the federal government, under law, will come in and set it up for you, and then the Michigan taxpayers could end up paying double to triple, or a lot more money," he said.

...

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder urged the Legislature to pass the MiHealth Marketplace Act in his recent State of the State speech.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20120130/NEWS01/201300310/Health-exchange-may-rest-GOP?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage

Hat tip: Livingston Daily

Pennsylvania- Seeks Health Care Law Funding

Gov. Tom Corbett believes the Obama administration's health reform law is unconstitutional, but that's not stopping the state from asking the federal government for money to implement it.

State Insurance Commissioner Michael F. Consedine last week announced that the Insurance Department filed its application for about $33 million to complete planning and begin development and design of a health insurance exchange.

"The governor continues to believe that the law requiring the purchase of health insurance is unconstitutional," Consedine said in a statement. "However, it would not be prudent to be caught unprepared. Therefore, we must implement a solution, if necessary, by developing a plan for Pennsylvanians should the U.S. Supreme Court not strike down the law."

...

More than 1.3 million Pennsylvanians — 11 percent of the state's population — were uninsured in Pennsylvania in 2010, according to the latest data available from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

...

The department estimates that 2 million to 2.2 million Pennsylvanians could get coverage through the exchange, although insurance department documents state that all Pennsylvanians, as potential health insurance consumers, will benefit from the establishment of the exchange. 

http://articles.mcall.com/2012-01-29/news/mc-pennsylvania-health-exchange-funding-20120122_1_health-insurance-health-plan-affordable-care-act

Hat tip: The Morning Call

Minnesota- Health Exchange May Need Legislative Approval

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said today that his administration probably lacks the authority to implement a health exchange in Minnesota unless a bill on the subject is passed by the Legislature.

...

Republicans who have control of both houses of the Minnesota Legislature have been split on whether to pass legislation to create a health exchange here. So, the Dayton administration has tapped federal grants to fund planning for a state exchange.

"We believe we have authority...to proceed up to a certain point," Dayton said during a news conference this morning. "We probably don't have the authority to implement (it)."

During the news conference, Dayton and administration officials said that if the state doesn't develop a model for its own health exchange by Jan. 1, 2013, the federal government would impose its own model.


http://www.twincities.com/ci_19852437
Hat tip: Pioneer Press

Virginia-Health Benefits Exchange Pushed in Danville

Business-minded health care providers in Danville would like to see Virginia move forward with a health benefits exchange.

...

Lawmakers introduced several bills in the General Assembly to create a state-run exchange, but Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to wait on developing one until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law’s mandate that individuals buy health insurance.

...

Eleven health plans have expressed interest in participating in the exchange, but would also need time to plan to be ready to go, said Executive Director Doug Gray of the Virginia Association of Health Plans.

http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012/jan/29/health-benefits-exchanged-pushed-danville-ar-1645562/

Hat tip: Go Dan River

Minnesota-Divided GOP has Left Health Exchange Planning to Gov. Dayton

From a drab and windowless office in downtown St. Paul, a group of nine state workers is trying this year to develop a new way for Minnesotans to buy health insurance.

...

The state workers are planning what's called a health exchange, a new marketplace - largely online - for individuals and small employers to purchase insurance coverage beginning late next year.

Last year, Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature couldn't come together to advance a bill that might have created more of a free-market health exchange in Minnesota. That's because some in the party didn't want to pass any legislation that could be construed as aiding the implementation of the federal health care law.

With the new legislative session just beginning, it's unclear whether Republicans will pass a bill on health exchanges this time around, or if planning will simply continue within the Democratic-Farmer-Labor administration of Gov. Mark Dayton.


http://www.twincities.com/ci_19838086
Hat tip: Pioneer Press

Virginia-Administration Stalls on Health Benefits Exchange

What format will a health benefits exchange follow in Virginia?

Both the Democrats and Republicans have introduced bills in the General Assembly to answer that question but Gov. Bob McDonnell wants to postpone any legislative action.

The governor and his administration are adopting a wait-and-see approach until the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, a decision that's not expected until July. The bill also calls for states to have an insurance exchange in place by 2014, or it will default to federal control.

The administration remains unconcerned about the timeline.

...

In Virginia it's [the exchange] expected to extend insurance to an additional 100,000 residents in the first year — in addition to the more than 400,000 who will be added to the Medicaid rolls through expanded eligibility.

The Virginia Health Reform Initiative Advisory Council, appointed by McDonnell, set the exchange wheels in motion last year, and recommended the state proceed with its own program.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2012-01-28/health/dp-nws-health-exchanges-0126-20120128_1_health-benefits-exchange-health-insurance-health-reform
Hat tip: Daily Press

Missouri- Gov. Nixon Taking a Cautious Approach

Gov. Jay Nixon has taken a quiet, careful approach to the controversial measure. While Nixon’s top health appointees have pursued many of the new federal funding opportunities under the Affordable Care Act, the Democratic governor hasn’t put Missouri on the map as an early innovator in transforming health care delivery.

And because of opposition among Republicans in the state Senate, Missouri is at an impasse when it comes to setting up a health care exchange, a cornerstone of the federal overhaul.

Nixon has been “cautiously supportive,” said Ruth Ehresman, director of health and budget policy at the Missouri Budget Project, an advocacy and research group that focuses on helping poor and vulnerable populations.

...

“It appears that he is been actively studying all of the requirements under the law and has been taking steps to meet them in a timely fashion,” said Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act and leader in the effort to block a state-based health exchange.

Schaaf has sponsored legislation that would bar Nixon from creating a state-based health exchange through an executive order. The legislation would also prevent any state agency from setting programs or issuing rules for an exchange unless the legislature has specifically granted that legal authority.

...

Lawmakers in the Missouri state House passed legislation earlier this year authorizing a statebased exchange, but that proposal died in the Senate. When Huff and others tried to move ahead on spending the $20 million federal grant, Schaaf objected, saying the governor was trying to make an end run around the legislature.

“The state is in a bit of a holding pattern,” said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform at Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health research group. That could cause problems down the line, Tolbert said, noting that many states need to dramatically upgrade their computer systems to make an exchange functional.

To make all that happen, Tolbert said, a state’s information technology system will need to be able to communicate with the federal government (to determine, for example, which Missourians are eligible for federal insurance subsidies). 


...

“These (IT) systems are antiquated in a number of states, so you’re talking about building from scratch an eligibility and enrollment system, plus a system to certify health plans and (allow for) transparent, comparable information,” Tolbert said. “So there are a lot of pieces.”


http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120129/NEWS11/120129002/0/COMMUNITIES0201/?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Hat tip: Springfield News-Leader

South Dakota-State Taking Wait-and-See Approach to Healthcare Reform

Earlier this month, Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced that the state would not move forward on creating health insurance exchanges -- one of the mandates of the Affordable Care Act -- until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the current lawsuit.

South Dakota is one of 26 states involved in the suit, which argues that portions of the ACA are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments beginning in March.

Daugaard said he doesn't want to "waste time and money" on creating an exchange if the act is eventually overturned.

...

If states do not develop their own exchange, the federal government can create and operate exchanges for them.

That's something Daugaard never wants to see.

"I don't want to be forced," he said.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/state-taking-wait-and-see-approach-to-healthcare-reform/article_5e6446d6-4a34-11e1-87c4-0019bb2963f4.html
Hat tip: Rapid City Journal

Oklahoma- Study: OK Could Benefit From Health Insurance Exchange

Oklahoma is one of 15 states that has made the least progress toward establishing a health insurance exchange but also one whose people could most benefit from one, a study by the Urban Institute shows.

...

But opposition to the health care law has led some states - including Oklahoma - to do little toward creating an exchange.

...

Three attempts to legislate a basis for an Oklahoma exchange failed last year under pressure from conservative Republicans. Gov. Mary Fallin accepted but later rejected a $54 million federal grant to build an exchange. A legislative task force studying the state's next move has yet to release its recommendations.

The resistance by some of those states, including Oklahoma, is ironic, the study points out, because those states have a great deal to benefit from the health care law in terms of reducing the number of uninsured people and reducing the amount of uncompensated care absorbed by government agencies and medical providers.


http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=17&articleid=20120128_16_A1_Olhmso941488
Hat tip: Tulsa World

Vermont- Lawmakers Turn Attention To Implementing Health Care Law

Lawmakers spent a lot of time last year crafting a new outline for the state's health care system.

This year they have to begin to implement the law. And that's already generating plenty of debate.

...

Last year, lawmakers passed the framework for the Governor's health care initiative. This year they are considering the specific details of the plan and they're also working to bring the state into compliance with the new federal health care law known as the Affordable Care Act.

The new proposal creates a federally mandated health care exchange where individuals and small businesses will purchase policies beginning in 2014.

The goal is to allow consumers to compare policies with the same benefit packages from different health insurance carriers.


http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/93226/lawmakers-turn-attention-to-implementing-health-ca/
Hat tip: Vermont Public Radio

Rhode Island- SBA Summit Focuses on Health Care Exchange

The state should adopt into law provisions for establishment of a health care exchange ... according to two committees that prepared recommendations for the General Assembly Friday morning at the U.S. Small Business Administration Rhode Island Economic Summit.

About 150 small business owners and advocates attended the six-hour summit at the Johnson & Wales Culinary Archives and Museum, including state officials and lawmakers.

...

Ted Almon, president and CEO of Claflin Company in Warwick, who chaired the 11-member health care standing committee, said his group for the second year in a row is urging the legislature to formally incorporate into state law the terms of Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s executive order for creation of a health care exchange.

The executive order remains in effect only as long as Chafee is in office, Almon noted, and committee members decided it is important that the health care exchange be made part of state law to protect its future existence.

http://www.pbn.com/SBA-summit-focuses-on-casinos-health-care-exchange,64891Hat tip: Providence Business News

Exchange IT- California: Health Exchange Awarding Big Bids

The California Health Benefits Exchange is awarding several big contracts within the next three months.

The plum — a contract to build an information technology system — is valued at $27 million through August and much more, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars, after that.

The IT system would handle insurance eligibility, enrollment and retention for millions of Californians who will become newly insured under federal health care reform.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2012/01/27/health-exchange-awarding-big-bids.html
Hat tip: Sacramento Business Journal

Missouri-Sen. McCaskill: Jeff City Lawmakers "Nuts" for Health Care Vote

Sen. Claire McCaskill has one word to sum up actions taken by the Missouri State Senate this week: "nuts!"

That's how Missouri's Democratic U.S. senator described state Senate Bill 464, which seeks to limit the Governor's ability to implement a key portion of the federal health care reform law.

"The irony to me is, while these guys are pounding the podium saying, 'get Washington out of our lives,' they're refusing to set up the very mechanism that get's Washington out of their lives... it's nuts!" McCaskill said during a media conference call earlier this week.

The GOP dominated Senate's actions are in response to a provision in the health care law - derisively referred to by critics as "ObamaCare" - that requires all states to create government run health care exchanges by 2014. These exchanges are designed to be a virtual one-stop shop where consumers can compare and purchase health care plans from private insurance companies. Supporters of the exchanges say it will increase competition among health insurance companies and drive down the overall cost.

http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=594122

Hat tip: Ozarks First

Exchange IT-Building a Health Insurance Marketplace One Step at a Time

"The first challenge for the exchange is to develop some momentum," says Maryland Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein. "Once it grows, we should have more leverage to push for cost containment."

...

Most state officials are in favor of running their own exchanges. So far, however, only 12 have enacted statutes or executive orders establishing their intent to undertake the project, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and some of those are scrambling to make progress. Most states have been stymied by political opposition.

One small group of states -- led by Maryland, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island and California -- is running significantly ahead of the rest. Statutes have been enacted to create the exchanges and the basic decisions about how to run them have already been made.

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=326615
Hat tip: Insurance News Net

Florida-House Looking at Establishing a Health Insurance Exchange

A House health care spending panel will tackle on Tuesday a bill that would limit emergency room services to nonpregnant adults to 12 visits per year and also would limit chiropractic and pediatric services to Medicaid patients under the age of 21 only.

The proposed committee bill, HCAS 2, was filed late Friday and will be heard by the House Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. Tucked into the Medicaid, bill, though also is a proposal that could lay the development for a state or federal health insurance exchange.

...

The Agency for Health Care Administration is directed to develop the Internet site under the proposed bill, though it will be governed by an executive steering committee, comprised of three AHCA staff members and three Department of Children and Families staff members. The site would prove information explaining benefits, premiums and cost sharing available through the various programs as well as any state or federal health insurance exchange.

http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=26265533

Hat tip: The Florida Current

Nebraska-Bills Offer Health Insurance Exchange Plan

Work on Nebraska's own version of health care insurance reform will begin in earnest next month when bills to create the Nebraska Health Benefit Exchange Act come up for debate, two state lawmakers said Tuesday.

Sen. Rich Pahls of Boys Town and Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha each have introduced a bill in hopes of having a state law in place before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform plan this summer.

"The nuts and bolts of the two bills are not really that different, from what I have read," Nordquist said. "We are not dictating a lot in the bills. We are leaving a lot of it up to others to bring their recommendations to us. We are not overly descriptive at this point."


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57365649/neb-bills-offer-health-insurance-exchange-plan/
Hat tip: CBS News

CO-OPs-Massachusetts: May Spell Savings In Health Insurance

For years, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts and small-business members of local chambers of commerce have teamed up with other businesses to use their group purchasing power to buy workers’ compensation coverage, electricity, natural gas and pay for other expenses.

Simply put, when businesses pool together to buy in bulk, they lower their costs.

But until recently, small businesses were not allowed to collaborate to buy health insurance, which Jon Hurst, president of the retailers’ group, said is ironic: That’s the highest cost most businesses have besides salaries.

That is, until the state’s Division of Insurance approved two group purchasing cooperatives in December. As of Jan. 1, small businesses can team up and buy health insurance to get more attractive rates. The retailers’ association and a statewide group representing local chambers of commerce will run the program.

...

“Small businesses have been in the very difficult position of being required to offer and provide health insurance for employees and families, yet their increases have been three times the size that big businesses and government have seen,” said Hurst, of the retailers’ group. “That is a situation that is unacceptable economically, politically and legally.”

In fact, according to a state study, insurance rates for small businesses have risen faster than those of larger businesses. From 2008 to 2009, which is the most recent data the state’s Division of Health Care Finance and Policy has, the small group market saw an average premium increase of 9.5 percent. Meanwhile, the mid-size market saw an average 7.6 percent hike and the large-group market, 5.4 percent.


http://www.wbjournal.com/news50607.html
Hat tip: Worcester Business Journal

Idaho- Feds give until October 2013 to create exchange, not January 2013

At a reporter’s breakfast Wednesday, Gov. Butch Otter said that it’s likely Idaho won’t have enough time to create and implement its own state-based health insurance exchange program.

“The chances are very good that we are not going to have a state-based exchange,” he said. “Quite frankly, the clock is running.” Otter says that the Jan. 1, 2013, deadline for federal exchange certification is coming quickly when looking at the amount of work required for the project.

...

Federal certification is the process the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is using to decide if it needs to step in and create an exchange for a state. Applications for certification can be submitted as early as October and HHS will make its final determination on each state’s situation by Jan. 1, 2013.

Certification does not, however, mean Idaho will have a functioning insurance exchange. That will come much later in the year.

http://www.idahoreporter.com/2012/feds-give-until-october-2013-to-create-exchange-not-january-2013/

Hat tip: Idaho Reporter

Mississippi- Health Exchange Advisory Board to Meet

The initial meeting of the Mississippi Health Exchange Advisory Board will be held Tuesday, January 31, 2012 in Room 145 of the Woolfolk State Office Building in Jackson, MS. The meeting is open to the public and begins at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Mississippi law, the Mississippi Insurance Department is charged with the implementation and regulation of the Health Insurance Exchange for Mississippi.

...

These board members will have input regarding the establishment of the exchange and ongoing exchange operations.

http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/GCNnewsAdvisoryBoardMtg012612.htm

Hat tip: Gulf Coast News

Wyoming- State Officials Explain What Health Exchange Would Mean

If Wyoming fails to create its own health insurance exchange, the federal government will step in and do it, said Elizabeth Hoy, Gov. Matt Mead’s health care policy advisor.

Hoy and consultant Alicia Holmes explained how a health insurance exchange would work in Wyoming during a public forum here Wednesday.

About 70 people attended, with many speaking about their concerns regarding the health-care system. Mead will use their opinions to help create a statewide policy on health-care reform, Hoy said.
The meeting in Cheyenne was one of seven forums across the state.The state Legislature and Mead have not decided whether to move ahead with an exchange.

...

Hoy said it’s not clear whether an exchange would reduce the cost of insurance premiums.

The overall goal is to reducing health-care costs and improve quality, Hoy said.

An exchange would get more people insured. In Wyoming, an estimated 83,000 people do not have health insurance, Hoy said.


http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2012/01/26/news/20local__01-26-12.txt
Hat tip: Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Minnesota: Legislature Behind on Setting up Exchange- Gov.Dayton Developing Through Executive Order

During the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s Session Priorities meeting in St. Paul on Tuesday, the group’s health care policy expert Kate Johansen told members that the exchange adoption is an important issue because 80 percent of Minnesota Chamber members would be able to shop on it.

Johansen lamented that the exchange’s association with the health reform Congress passed in 2010 has gotten it labeled as “Obamacare,” creating a “very challenging” political environment when it comes to Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, reaching an agreement over an exchange with the Republican –led state Legislature.

...

Dayton has had the state developing an exchange through executive order. But Johansen said some aspects, from a governance structure for the exchange to possible funding, need support from the Legislature.

That leaves Minnesota within a group of 22 states that are still in the “studying options” when it comes to exchanges.


http://finance-commerce.com/bizcost/2012/01/minnesota-behind-on-setting-up-insurance-exchange/
Hat tip: Finance and Commerce/The Co$t of Doing Business/Chris Newmarker

Exchange IT: eHealth, Inc. Addresses States, Industry at 2012 Health Insurance Exchange Summit

Sam Gibbs, president of eHealth Government Systems, a subsidiary of eHealth, Inc., joined a distinguished list of state leaders and industry executives at the 2012 Health Insurance Exchange Summit in Las Vegas today. Gibbs and other guests discussed successful strategies for health plans and states as they begin tackling the task of developing state health insurance exchanges.

...

Over the course of the past 12 years, eHealth has pioneered online health insurance comparison and enrollment platforms that have helped insure over 2 million Americans nationwide. Through the company's eHealth Technology and eHealth Government Systems groups, eHealth has been a leading provider of exchange and e-commerce technology platforms for health insurance carriers, brokers, agents and state and federal governments.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ehealth-inc-addresses-states-industry-at-2012-health-insurance-exchange-summit-2012-01-26?reflink=MW_news_stmp
Hat tip: MarketWatch/ Wall Street Journal

Exchange IT:Policy Studies Inc. Unveils Service for Exchanges by "Powered by Oracle"

Policy Studies Inc. (PSI) announced its new business process outsourcing (BPO) service to help states address the requirements—and deadlines—for implementing health insurance exchanges and marketplaces. PSI's new service is "Powered by Oracle," utilizing Oracle's Policy Automation for Social Services and Oracle's Solutions for Health Insurance Exchanges. This latest offering from PSI helps states speed implementations while controlling costs they will incur if they build or transfer and operate exchanges on their own. PSI is a Gold level member in Oracle Partner Network (OPN).

According to PSI CEO Margaret Laub, PSI's BPO offering gives states much more than cost savings and easier implementation of insurance exchanges. "Controlling the ongoing maintenance and operating costs is critical for the success of state exchanges because they are required to support themselves financially by 2015," Laub said. "No one wants to see insurance costs increase to cover the administrative costs for the exchange itself." She stressed that the PSI BPO solution is designed to keep operating costs reasonable and predictable.


http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/24/4210591/policy-studies-inc-unveils-bpo.html
Hat tip: Sacramento Bee

Insurance Industry: Exchanges- The World Small to Rule the Big

A pair of industry experts espoused the benefits of insurance exchanges and small agencies today and in the future during the recent Insurance Industry Roundtable run by the WIAA Education & Research Foundation in Irvine, Calif.

...

Insurance exchanges do provide market access as one of their primary functions, Kerr said, but beyond that, an insurance exchange can help agents “complete a number of issues that independent agents have had to deal with historically that are challenging for them.”

Those issues might be human resources, accounting, management and the “types of things that make it difficult for them to accomplish their primary function, which is to sell insurance,” Kerr said, adding his pitch that an exchange is great for new agencies just starting out.

...

In fact, Kerr thinks exchanges will become so popular, that they will come to rule the industry.

“I think that the exchange concept will replace traditional distribution,” Kerr said. “I do believe that wholesalers and MGAs will need to either affiliate with an exchange or become one in-and-of themselves. The difficulty there is the land grab is on, and either you’ve built the model and you’ve grabbed your piece of real estate or you haven’t, and first mover’s advantage.”


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/01/26/232823.htm
Hat tip: Insurance Journal (with video embed of interview)

Missouri- Bill Offered on Exchanges if ACA is not Overturned

Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa, doesn't object to the Schaaf-Rupp proposal, but he thinks some type of insurance exchange proposal should be in place. That's why he has filed SB608, an exchange framework, co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin.

"I filed the bill to get some discussion started," Wasson says. "It's like an insurance policy in case the Supreme Court does not throw out the (health reform) law. This bill offers 15 to 20 talking points of what should be in the bill."

If the court leaves all or part of the law in place, he said, "the governor could call a special session and we would already have a blueprint of what an exchange in Missouri could look like."

http://www.stlbeacon.org/health-science/health/115623-donut-hole-and-health-exchanges
Hat tip: St. Louis Beacon

Maryland- Health Exchange Council: Brokers Should Market Small-Group Plans

A group tasked with implementing federal health reform in Maryland is recommending that insurance agents and brokers continue to sell small-group health insurance when health exchanges begin operating in the state.

...

The recommendations, contained in a reported required by the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Act, which passed in 2011 and authorized creation of the state’s health exchange, include policy recommendations, including how the exchange should contract with insurance plans; how the exchange should offer insurance to small businesses and their employees; how the navigator program should work; how to set rules to assure a broad pool of risk; how to finance the exchange; and how to educate and inform the public about new opportunities for health insurance.


http://ifawebnews.com/2012/01/06/md-health-exchange-council-brokers-should-market-small-group-plans/
Hat tip: Insurance and Financial Advisor

California- Exchanges Are Not Going Away

Young and Norwood discussed the role of agents and brokers in the new era of health insurance exchanges brought about by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, one of President Barack Obama’s first successes in office, which his opponents like to deem Obamacare.

...

As for California’s health insurance exchange, which the state was the first to implement—27 other states have followed in the state’s footsteps—it’s likely here to stay, despite impending court decisions that could overturn some of the PPACA, because the state has already passed legislation to make it happen, Norwood said.

“Even if the courts overturn this, California’s exchange is not going away,” Norwood added.


http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/01/25/232754.htm
Hat tip: Insurance Journal

Wyoming- Forum Focuses on Health Reform and Exchanges

The forum was notable for the lack of hostility directed at the federal health reform law passed by Congress in 2010. Polls have shown the law is deeply unpopular in Wyoming.

Gov. Matt Mead will use feedback from the meeting to help craft a strategy for reforming health care in Wyoming.

He also wants public input on health insurance exchanges, online marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can buy insurance.

Exchanges are designed with consumers in mind, said Alicia Holmes, a consultant who’s helping the state study options for the program. They’re set up with certain minimum coverage standards, so business owners can meaningfully compare different policies.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/wyoming-forum-focuses-on-health-reform/article_ec004ddd-8c44-5e2d-afc9-8e3d06264dfe.html
Hat tip: Billings Gazette

Virginia: Debate Over Health Exchange May Hit Roadblock

The public debate is under way in the Senate over how to create a health benefits exchange in Virginia, but any legislation appears headed to a dead-end in the House of Delegates.

House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said Wednesday that he would discourage approval of legislation in the current General Assembly session to create an exchange.

...

The speaker's position mirrors that of Gov. Bob McDonnell, who doesn't want the state to take action to establish an exchange until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law that would require its creation.

But key Republican legislators in the Senate say they do not believe Virginia can wait for a ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and meet looming federal deadlines if the law were upheld.


http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=327408
Hat tip: Insurance News

State Action On Exchanges- Dec. 22, 2011

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8213-FS.pdf
Hat tip: Kaiser Family Foundation; Wonkblog; Washington Post

Wonkblog- A Republican Rift on Health Exchanges

An Ezra Klein (one of the best writing on this subject) post that compliments the earlier KHN Capsule about where each state is on their exchange process.


"The report shows what the administration’s spending has purchased: Buy-in on implementation from states that aren’t exactly fans of the Affordable Care Act. Twenty-eight states have received multimillion-dollar “exchange establishment” grants to get started on the heavy lifting of building a health insurance marketplace. Half of those states have Republican governors, a few of whom have embraced the idea of health insurance exchanges enthusiastically."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/a-republican-rift-on-health-exchanges/2012/01/18/gIQAGlY87P_blog.html
Hat tip: Wonkblog; Washington Post

New York - Budget Would Create Health Insurance Exchange

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2012-2013 Executive Budget includes legislation to create a New York Health Benefit Exchange (S.5849/A.8514) as a centralized marketplace for health insurance.

The controversial Health Benefit Exchange would facilitate the competitive purchase and sale of health care plans for consumers, its proponents say, and would allow small businesses to enroll their employees in health care programs in New York state.


http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2012-01-23-81234.113122-Budget-would-create-health-insurance-exchange.html
Hat tip: Legislative Gazette

Michigan - Residents May Get Health 'Marketplace'

With that deadline looming, Gov. Rick Snyder last week during his State of the State speech urged passage of the MiHealth Marketplace Act, which would create the Michigan exchange.


Snyder said the program would give Michiganders a one-stop shop that would offer multiple insurance plans. He compared the health exchange to online services that let users view multiple options for plane tickets.


http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20120125/NEWS01/201250314/Michigan-residents-may-get-health-marketplace-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
Hat tip: Livingston Daily

Wisconsin-Walker to Return $38 Million Earmarked for Health Exchanges

The state will turn down $38 million in federal money that could have gone to implementing the federal health care law in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday.

The Republican governor said he was returning the money because he won't seek to create a health care marketplace that is called for under the federal law. The move followed sustained criticism of Walker by conservatives who oppose the health law passed by President Barack Obama and Congress in 2010.

The governor has consistently opposed the federal law, but for a time last year Walker had said that he wanted the state to develop its own plan for the marketplace so Wisconsin would have more control over how the law is implemented.


http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-to-return-38-million-earmarked-for-health-exchanges-nt3rver-137621263.html
Hat tip: Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel

Minnesota - Health Care Changes: Will State Remain Gridlocked?

One key debate will determine whether Republican opposition to federal "Obamacare" is so intense that the GOP-led Legislature will block a Republican-authored bill to create a statewide health insurance exchange, a one-stop marketplace where more than 1 million Minnesotans could be shopping for coverage in two years.

That's what happened in the Legislature last year, leaving Minnesota in gridlock while many other states began implementing various provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, President Obama's signature health care proposal.


http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/137862478.html
Hat tip: Star Tribune

Kaiser Health News: A Health Exchange Progress Report, Sort Of …

An invaluable resource does a quick blog post on National exchange progress:


They’re making progress! Well, at least 28 of them and the District of Columbia are.

That was the main talking point from the White House this morning during a press briefing revolving around a report stating that 28 states are “on their way” to establishing new marketplaces, called exchanges, where consumers can begin to shop for health insurance starting in late 2013. The report outlines some of the actions taken in those states — run by Democrats and Republicans — to get started on the exchanges.


http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2012/01/a-health-exchange-progress-report-sort-of/
Hat tip: Kaiser Health News

Pennsylvania: Insurance Dept. Requests $33M for Health Insurance Exchange

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has submitted a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services requesting about $33 million to complete the planning and design for a state-run health insurance exchange.

The department used the $1 million exchange planning grant awarded in Sept 2010 to contract with an auditing firm to analyze if a state-run exchange was appropriate for Pennsylvania, spokeswoman Melissa Fox said.

In November, based on the research, public comments and health care reform regulations, Gov. Tom Corbett approved the development of a state-based health insurance exchange.


http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/article/20120125/CPBJ01/120129912/Insurance-Dept-requests-$33M-for-health-insurance-exchange
Hat tip: Central Penn Business Journal

Iowa: Advocates Push for State Health-Insurance Exchange

Iowa should debate a key health reform program in public so the program doesn’t get twisted in favor of the insurance industry, consumer advocates said Tuesday.

Legislators last year failed to reach agreement on setting up a state health-insurance exchange.

...

Gov. Terry Branstad opposes the overall health reform program, but he has said that if the law is upheld, he would prefer a state version of the exchange. His administration has accepted $7 million in grants to help set up an exchange, but his spokesman said the governor does not believe a bill setting the details must be passed this legislative session.


http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120125/NEWS/301250058/-1/LIFE04/Advocates-push-state-health-insurance-exchange
Hat tip: Des Moines Register

Idaho- "Runs Out of Time" for Exchanges says Gov. Otter

And on the forthcoming health-insurance exchanges—mandated by the federal government, for which the state has accepted roughly $23 million to set up, or the Feds will do it themselves—Otter suggested that time had run out.

"I don't know that we have time to put together a state exchange," said Otter. "Just consider the environment that we're in. Idaho was the first, we've now been joined by 23 other states in a lawsuit on state's rights and the individual mandate."


http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2012/01/25/health-insurance-exchanges-out-says-otter
Hat tip: Boise Weekly

Missouri- Senate Backs Measure Blocking Health Exchanges

Missouri's Republican-led Senate endorsed legislation Tuesday aimed at preventing the state from implementing part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

...

If the bill passes both the House and Senate, the legislation would go before the voters in the November election. Schaaf said voters would likely support his legislation, citing the August 2010 elections, in which 71 percent of Missouri voters cast ballots repudiating a key part of the federal health law that requires most Americans to purchase health insurance or face penalties.

Several Democrats opposed Schaaf's measure, saying said it was simply ceding control of a health insurance exchange to the federal government.


http://www.semissourian.com/story/1808335.html
Hat tip: Southeastern Missourian

Hi! The Goal! The Plan! & Fair Use!

Hi. This is my first post. My goal is to try to bring together all of the different news coming out from the various states concerning the Health Care Exchanges to be implemented through the PPACA. Obviously with 50 states and exchanges this will not be fully comprehensive. Readers (other than myself) can submit any link and it will be published as soon as humanly possible. This is more of an academic exercise. I am currently in the SLU Law Health program and tracking these changes intersects my two current interests of politics and policy implementation. This site is not intended to be a political blog. Rather it is trying to be informative and link to local news stories covering important market developments. The Health Care Exchanges can be a innovative market based attempt to bring insurance costs down for consumers and try to bend the overall costs of health care downward. Documenting and tracking the various ways each State handles this program will allow for quicker comparisons and more knowledge about how policy choices affect consumers. Each post will be cross-indexed by State name so that previous posts concerning those States can be quickly brought up for comparison. Hopefully this goes well and is useful to someone other than yours truly.

The use of these articles is for news and academic purposes only. No competition is intended with any source. Every source will have a link to the original article and include a thank you, 'hat tip' to that source.

Each posting will limit excerpts to a limited selection to get the general gist of the news.

All use of copyrighted material is viable under fair use provisions.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter7/index.html

Local newspapers and reporters are only getting more important as our world is becoming more connected and this blog would not be possible without their work.

Thanks!