Health Insurance Exchanges Update: Monday, June 25, 2012

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The wait will have to be delayed a little longer. According to The Huffington Post, the ruling on health-care reform has been pushed back by the justices. Which means that you could expect the ruling to come out Thursday according to the report. But you're not alone in the wanting the verdict to come already, your state officials feel the same.

Michigan has gone forward with the idea of starting up the exchanges by passing a bill including two of them that don’t seem to coincide with each other, according to Michigan Capital Confidential.  One of the exchanges dictates if the person will go under Medicaid or government approved insurance policy which will then look at the income and access the amount of subsidies one gets. The other involves individuals to benefit from tax deduction employers are allowed to take for the employee health coverage cost. 

Florida Governor Rick Scott has made it clear where he stands regarding healthcare reform, according to the Miami Herald. He believes that the Supreme Court will ultimately side with them and the 25 other states involved in the lawsuit against the President’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Gov. Scott went on to say that even if this law is, it will be repealed before it goes into action in 2014, sighting that is the reason why the state will not rush to implement the law. The governor is deciding to put all his eggs in one basket, in hopes that Republican nominee Mitt Romney will be elected President this November. And the issue of state-run health insurance exchanges, the governor believes that if it were useful, the private sector would have created it by now.

Hypotheticals are still circulating, awaiting the all-important verdict by the justices. One such hypothetical is the survival of the health insurance exchanges if the law is struck down.

CNN Money writes that the idea of health insurance exchanges could actually survive even if the courts decide to strike down health care reform. Some states have decided to contact Utah, who already had the exchanges set up before the reform passed, to figure out the ins and outs of the state-run exchanges. What’s even more attractive to the states is the idea of taking some of the burden off health-care programs like Medicaid if more people fewer people were insured. 

The Washington Post writes that businesses would not be thrilled if the law went out the window. The millions of dollars they would lose if new people were going to be insured would mean less profit. 

This November, the Health Insurance Exchange Congress will be held November 13-14, 2012 in Chicago, IL.  Here, state officials and health plans with the only opportunity to come together to discuss PPACA and strategize on how to make this a successful opportunity for all.  For more information on this year's agenda, download the program here.  As a reader of this blog, when you register to join us and mention code XP1710BLOG, you'll receive 15% off the standard rate!