Health Insurance Exchange Update: Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Nevada State Flag

Today, the House will vote on repealing Affordable Care Act. This will not be the first time the House has voted to repeal this according to the Washington Post. This has occurred 32 times already, this will be number 33. There are however those in state offices who are electing to take action or gather all the information to figure out the full implications regarding the exchange marketplace.

The letter sent to 12 Senators and 61 House Members minutes after the health care law was upheld was signed by those who opposed it, Nevada elected not to sign the letter. As one of the 26 states that challenged the constitutionality of the law, Nevada will go ahead and begin to set up health insurance exchanges. Gov. Brian Sandoval moved forward with implemented the law his first day in office back in January of 2011. The governor expressed some concern over the constitutionality of certain parts but he realized that as long as the law is enacted, there were deadlines to meet. Nevada was awarded approximately $24.7 million in grants for to set up the exchanges. Nevada’s exchange is set to be operational by October of 2013. 

Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota sent a letter to Republican legislators to ask them to participate in helping create health insurance exchanges. However, a key senate leader wants to wait until the November election to begin implementing the provisions in the healthcare law. Gov. Dayton wants to urge state officials to act on this provision now or they will be forced to having to use exchanges set up by the federal government. But there are still proponents of the bill who want answers. Sen. David Hann wants to know how this is going to be affordable. Sen. Hann believes that exchanges will cost anywhere from $300 million to $400 million per year. Regardless of the opposition, the governor will be trying to move forward. 

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter wrote an op-ed piece sent out to various media outlets explaining that he will get all the facts about the exchanges before he does anything. He does not want to join other GOP governors who will continue to fight against the law and hope for a Mitt Romney win in November. But as Otter expressed in his piece, he wants to do what’s best for his constituents. 

Maryland’s governor, Martin O’Malley, is on track to establish the state run exchanges according to Youth Today. The early action taken by the governor has led to the creation of Maryland Health Benefit Exchange as a public corporation back in April 2011. Maryland Legislature approved policies for the state run exchanges. 

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!