States set standards, continue health insurance exchanges fight

State officials in California are moving to define standards for insurers hoping to participate in the insurance exchanges, while a legislative committee in Colorado gives the state permission to continue building its exchange.

California Healthline: Standards Open Exchange Doors For Qualified Health Plans
Exchange board, Executive Director Peter Lee hefted a 263-page tome about qualified health plans in one hand, for effect, and then set it down on the table with a plop. "The qualified health plan issue," Lee said, "is a big issue." Big in many ways: Health care reform experts have said the health plans participating in the exchange are crucial to its success. Andrea Rosen, staff counsel for the Department of Insurance who is on loan to the exchange, helped write the hundreds of pages of rules, requirements and standards that describe just how insurers can participate in the exchange, set to open for business in January 2014 (Gorn, 8/9).

Kaiser Health News: Colorado Pursues Insurance Exchange – But Keeps Fighting About It
A special legislative committee gave Colorado the green light on Thursday to continue working on its health insurance exchange by allowing it to apply for a $43 million federal grant. But first the lawmakers had to fight about it (Whitney, 8/9).