Federal government to run insurance marketplaces in half the states

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Alvin Tran report: "It's official. The Obama administration will be running new health insurance marketplaces in half the states-; including the major population centers of Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania. The federal government had hoped more states this week would agree to form a partnership exchange-;the deadline to apply was Friday-;but the offer was largely rebuffed. New Jersey, Ohio and Florida, several of the biggest states that had not declared their intentions, officially said no late in the week (Galewitz and Tran, updated 2/16).