Health Exchanges

From Yahoo:

"U.S. faces task of running dozens of health exchanges"

Fourteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia so far have told the federal government they plan to operate healthcare exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for at least two-thirds of the country.On the eve of a federal deadline for states to say whether they will run their own exchanges, a top U.S. healthcare policy official told lawmakers that the exchanges will start enrolling eligible families starting on October 1, 2013. "I am confident that states and the federal government will be ready in ten months, when consumers in all states can begin to apply," Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, told a health oversight panel in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cohen, whose agency is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was among federal officials who testified alongside state health authorities at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. In written testimony, Cohen said 15 states have told the administration they will operate their own exchanges. He later explained under questioning that the count comprises 14 states and the District of Columbia. Separately, HHS officials confirmed the count of 14 states but could not immediately explain why Cohen's written testimony contained a higher number. Some experts say the number of states planning to operate their own exchanges could reach 18 by the time the deadline arrives Friday. Still, the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks healthcare issues, says only two states - Utah and Florida - remain undecided. That would leave at least 30 states in which the administration would be required to run exchanges, a challenge that is raising questions about how successfully U.S. officials can implement a key provision of the healthcare reform law, known to opponents and advocates alike as "Obamacare". "I don't envy them for the job that they have," said Dennis Smith, a former federal healthcare official who now heads health services in Wisconsin, a state that has decided not to pursue its own exchange. "At the end of the day, you're trying to connect a buyer to a seller. And the fundamental things required to do that are not yet in place," he said. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which Obama signed into law more than 2-1/2 years ago, is expected to extend health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Those who enroll starting in October would be covered by insurance from January 1, 2014. About half of those newly insured individuals would purchase private coverage from online exchanges at federally subsidized rates. Ultimately, the number of people finding coverage through exchanges is expected to reach 26 million, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The remainder would be covered by expanding the Medicaid program for the poor to cover all adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $15,000 for individuals and $30,600 for a family of four.

             

 ^ I think Obama and the Federal Government should be forced to do all the work since they are forcing Americans to pay for insurance - whether they can or not - or face a fine and/or jail. I don't think Obama those working on this are going to be able to create these health exchanges and in the end health care in the US will be in an even bigger mess than it was before Obama got involved - and then I will tell everyone "told you so" since I have said it wouldn't work from the beginning. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/fifteen-u-states-opt-run-own-health-exchanges-151450661.html