States surrender to health care law, set up exchanges

[Geee]

Washington Times:

President Obama’s signature health care reforms are accelerating into the new year, with a growing number of state-run insurance markets getting the green light from the federal government, even as critics decry the law as a dagger to small businesses and a tea party icon attempts to repeal it for the 34th time.

In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has trumpeted its approval of health care “exchanges” — virtual marketplaces of insurance plans — that state officials will run on their own or in conjunction with the federal government. So far, 17 states and the District have obtained conditional approval for in-house exchanges.

On Thursday, officials provided conditional approval to state-based exchanges in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and Utah, while Arkansas received conditional approval to operate an exchange in a state partnership with the federal government.

Other states, such as Virginia, decided to let the federal government run the exchanges for them, citing problems with the law or an inadequate amount of time to set up a state-based exchange after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in June and Mr. Obama’s re-election dampened critics’ hopes for a repeal.

But Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, appears to be undeterred by the law’s momentum. The former presidential candidate introduced a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” on the first day of the 113th Congress.