States focus on health insurance exchanges

Politico Pro reports on efforts in some states to fight the creation of these health insurance marketplaces. However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia's insurance commissioner, who opposes the federal health law, wants the state to create and run its own exchange.

Politico Pro: GOP State Lawmakers Fight Exchanges
Republican lawmakers have begun to push back against their states' plans to establish health exchanges, setting up a potential showdown that threatens progress on the new marketplaces established by the health care overhaul law. A West Virginia state Senate committee killed legislation Tuesday that would have authorized the state to set up a health exchange. ... Over in Montana, the Senate signed off last week on legislation that would bar the state from establishing a health exchange and require the insurance commissioner's office to return to HHS the $1 million exchange planning grant they received last year (Kliff, 2/23).

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hudgens Said Georgia Should Create Its Own Insurance Exchange
Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said Wednesday that Georgia is moving forward with plans to create and run its own insurance exchange, the new marketplace where most individuals and small businesses will buy insurance starting in 2014. The nation's new health care law requires the exchanges and gives states the authority to create their own or leave the task to the federal government. Hudgens, who strongly opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, said Georgia would run its own exchange if the law is not overturned (Teegardin, 2/23).