GAO reports indicate federal insurance exchange implementation is running late

Two Government Accountability Office reports released this week warn that the federal government is at risk of missing the Oct. 1 deadline for establishing federally facilitated health insurance exchanges (Source: “Insurance exchanges running late,” Healthcare IT News, June 20, 2013).

The GAO released a report examining the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services efforts to establish federally facilitated health insurance exchanges and a companion report analyzing federal and state efforts to establish health insurance exchanges for small businesses, or SHOP exchanges. 

“Much progress has been made, but much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short amount of time,” the GAO states in both reports.

Although the reports indicate that the Obama administration is running late on setting up the exchanges, Department of Health and Human Services officials said in a response published in the reports they were confident the exchanges would be open and functioning in every state by the target date.