Health law's insurance exchanges are not mirror image of Mass. version

Some of the state's features that advocates say helped consumers make their insurance-purchasing decisions were not included in the the federal health law.

Boston Globe: U.S. Won't Mirror Mass. On Health Exchanges
When millions of Americans around the country sign up for insurance under President Obama's sweeping health care law in October, the system they encounter will lack some of the key protections and cost controls that Massachusetts consumers receive. Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to implement near-universal health coverage, served as the model for major aspects of the groundbreaking health care overhaul law. But under lobbying pressure from the insurance industry, the Obama administration has decided not to adopt features of the Massachusetts plan that advocates say have helped consumers more easily make cost-effective choices (Jan, 5/20).

In Minnesota, a glitch pushed back the deadline for their online health insurance marketplace --

MPR News: Glitch Pushes Back MNsure Deadline
A computer glitch at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has forced the postponement of a state deadline Friday connected to Minnesota's new online health insurance marketplace, called MNsure. Insurers now have an extra week to submit health insurance policies for approval to sell them on MNsure. The state is already under a tight time crunch to complete the massive project by the Oct. 1 deadline to be up and running. But the state Commerce Department says a computer system problem at the federal level means insurers can't complete all the required steps in time to meet the state deadline (Stawicki, 5/17).

MPR News: MNSURE Board Picks Ex-CEO As Chairman
The former head of a health care software company will lead a powerful board that is playing a major role in shaping the state's new online health insurance marketplace, MNSURE. The seven-member board chose Brian Buetner, former CEO of Minneapolis-based mPay Gateway, to chair the MNSURE board of directors. Buetner is a former executive with health insurance Giant UnitedHealth Group. The board also chose a vice chairman, Peter Benner, a former AFSCME executive director (Stawicki, 5/19).