State insurance exchanges: Separating fact from fiction

Georgia Health News asks a state insurance expert to analyze premiums in the new online marketplace -- they dispute predictions of exploding premiums by Georgia's insurance commissioner. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Star Tribune talks to people in that state's high risk insurance pool who could not buy policies in the past because of serious illnesses but who will be able to do so beginning Oct. 1.

Georgia Health News: Exploding Premiums: Real Danger Or False Alarm?
"Massive rate hikes." That's how Georgia's insurance commissioner has characterized the premiums in the upcoming state insurance exchange, being created under the federal Affordable Care Act. Commissioner Ralph Hudgens received national attention recently when he blasted the premiums in Georgia's federally run exchange, or marketplace, which will begin enrollment Oct. 1 (Miller, 8/29).

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Minnesota's Insurance Plan Of Last Resort Nears End Of Line
Donna Devine is tired of being branded as "uninsurable" more than a decade after being treated for cancer. …Until now, Devine's only option has been to buy insurance through a state-run program that helps those with pre-existing conditions or who have been denied traditional coverage. The program, called the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association (MCHA), serves about 26,000 residents, but it will be phased out in 2014 when insurers will be required to take all comers under the Affordable Care Act (Crosby, 8/29).