the bistro off broadway

Columbus Dispatch...
States run risk of losing control
From Reuters 

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which represents insurance regulators in all 50 states, says state governments such as Ohio’s that opt for federal health-care exchanges risk losing control of lucrative private health-insurance markets within their borders. 

“If the states do not get ready for this, then they lose the ability to regulate. It’s the whole marketplace, “ Brian Webb, NAIC’s health-policy and legislation manager, told a forum hosted yesterday by the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform. 

“They may get their wish and not be able to do anything in their marketplaces, “ he said. “There’s not an insurance commissioner in the country who wants to say, ‘No, we’re not going to regulate that.’ “ 

However, Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor -- who heads the state Insurance Department -- says Ohio will let the federal government set up the state’s exchange because it would be slightly cheaper. 

The Obama administration has set a Nov. 16 deadline for states to say whether they intend to set up their own exchange, create one in partnership with the federal government or let federal officials establish one for their residents. 

The health-care law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, calls on states to create regulated exchanges where an estimated 16 million uninsured Americans are expected to qualify for private health coverage at rates subsidized according to income via federal tax credits. 

Tax credits would be available for a family of four earning up to $88,000 a year. 

Initial enrollment is due to begin nationwide in October 2013, three months before the law’s provisions come into full force on Jan. 1, 2014. 

Even if the administration of Gov. John Kasich were to change its mind, it already might be too late. 

Tim Jost, a health-law expert at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., warned the same audience that inactive states might already have “missed the boat” for establishing their own exchanges on schedule...

Read the rest of the story at The Columbus Dispatch



 
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