Frist urges state leaders - both Democrats and Republicans - to move quickly on state-based exchanges

In an op-ed published Wednesday in "The Week," former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who is also a surgeon, suggested that GOP governors rethink their rejection of the online insurance markets called for in the health law. (Frist  is a member of The Kaiser Family Foundation board. KHN is an editorially independent project of the Foundation.)

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Bill Frist To GOP Governors: Get Cracking On Exchanges
A former GOP power player is urging Republicans to rethink their rejection of the health law and to implement state insurance exchanges – and to do it now (Werber Serafini, 7/18).

Los Angeles Times: Bill Frist Calls For GOP To Get Over Opposition To Healthcare Law
As Republicans continue to fight implementation of President Obama's healthcare law, one former party leader is urging them to get over it and embrace a central pillar of the new law. In an op-ed published Wednesday in "The Week," a weekly news magazine, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a surgeon from Tennessee, said state leaders in both parties should move quickly to establish state-based insurance exchanges where consumers who don't get insurance through an employer will be able to shop for health insurance plans (Levey, 7/18).

Also, news outlets report on insurance co-ops and essential health benefits, as well as on the latest developments regarding accountable care organizations -  

CQ Healthbeat:  Utah Co-Op Shrugs Off The Skeptics
"These new private, nonprofit insurers will be run by consumers and are designed to offer individuals and small businesses more affordable, consumer-friendly and high-quality health insurance options," Marilyn Tavenner, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator, said in announcing the loan to Aarches Community Health Care to be headquartered in the Salt Lake City area (Reichard, 7/18).

Modern Healthcare: CMS Names 15 Advance Payment ACOs
Fifteen of the latest Medicare accountable care organizations will receive upfront payments to help with startup costs, the CMS announced. The 15 small ACOs were among the 89 ACOs announced earlier this month as the most recent additions to Medicare's experiment with the emerging payment model (Evans, 7/18).

Modern Healthcare: HHS' Final Rule Sets Data-Reporting Standards For Benchmark Plans
HHS issued a final rule establishing data-reporting standards for health plans that will serve as benchmarks for defining each state's essential health benefits under the healthcare reform law.  The regulations specifically apply to the largest three small-group plans in each state. The rule also established the National Committee for Quality Assurance and URAC as interim accrediting bodies to determine whether plans satisfy the requirements (Blesch, 7/18).