Ohio weighing options on exchanges

With a deadline for deciding on insurance exchanges set for next Friday, Ohio officials are still weighing their options (Source: "Ohio iffy on health-insurance exchange," Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 9, 2012). 

The Affordable Care Act requires states to notify the Department of Health and Human Services by Nov. 16 of their plans to either operate their own insurance exchanges, cede control to the federal government or develop a hybrid approach where they retain some administrative functions of the exchanges while allowing the federal government to undertake other functions.

“By Nov. 16 we have to send a blueprint indicating our direction, and we’re leaning toward that being a federal exchange with the state retaining some authority to oversee health plans,” Greg Moody, director of the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation, said yesterday at a postelection conference in Columbus. 

Late last month, the Health Policy Institute released "Update on Ohio's options for health insurance exchanges," (pdf, 8 pages), which explores the various facets of Ohio's decision.

To date, 17 states and the District of Columbia have moved forward with running their own exchanges, while nine states have decided against a state-run exchange. More than 30 states remain undecided.