Health Insurance Exchange Update: Monday, August 6, 2012

Missouri State Flag

Despite the fact that a fight is waged against the new health care law, there are measures insuring what will be done on creating health care exchanges. Some states are voting for a consensus among the people, others want to get going but they do not have an idea of what the exchanges run by the government will entail and how much money will be used for the program. While others are standing, arms folded and refusing to play. Regardless, one way or another, the exchanges are going to be set up.

Missouri is so divided on the measure that there will be a vote to see if they should set up the exchanges or not. Though this news is a few months old, they are not even fighting over the exchanges anymore; they are still fighting over the wording of the referendum. The Washington Post reports that back in May, the General Assembly approved a ballot measure to set up the exchanges. The Republican-controlled legislature wanted to try and block Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, from establishing the exchanges by executive order. But Nixon stated that he does not plan to do that. Now the language used on the ballot was deemed biased and inaccurate by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder supposedly within minutes of its publication. So now not only will the people be voting for a president in November but also whether to set up exchanges. But the legislative body may be forgetting one thing: the federal government will set up their own exchanges.

With the bickering happening back and forth in Missouri, there are some states that are moving on in case the president remains in office.

The New York Times reports that the federal government will be covering more states than it had anticipating. The government will not have a one-size fits all exchange program set up, this will vary from state to state. But the article makes it clear that the federal government is not so transparent as other states. California, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Nevada have websites that show documents pertaining to their exchange marketplace. These documents show cost estimates, minutes of public meetings and information about goods and services.

The government, however, is vague about financing the exchange program and they have disclosed little information about their plans. This leaves officials like Thomas M. Hate, president of Landmark Benefits in New Hampshire, says that they have no idea what the federal government’s exchange will look like. He goes on to say that they have not been much communication between the state and federal officials.

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!