The deadline for states to submit proposals that show how they will operate their health insurance exchanges has been set. Those who fail to do so will have a federal exchange set up for them. A coalition of concerned groups in Illinois are urging Governor Pat Quinn to set up Illinois’ exchange.
Part of the Affordable Care Act requires every state to set up their own health insurance exchange. The purpose of the exchanges are to make it easier for Americans to find an affordable health insurance plan. All exchanges are supposed to be up and running by January 1, 2014, (when all Americans will be required to have health insurance coverage).
Before the exchanges can exist, they have to be built. All states have until November 16, 2012 to release a detailed blueprint of how their health insurance exchanges will operate to the Department of Health and Human Services. States must show exactly how they will meet the legal and operational requirements of the exchanges.
States who fail to win federal approval of their blueprints, or who chose not to set up a health insurance exchange, will have one set up for them. They will get a federally run health insurance exchange. This will allow consumers in every state to be able to access the exchanges, and find affordable health care.
It also means that a state who chooses not to create their own exchange will be stuck with whatever the federal government creates for them, (instead of being able to tailor it to best fit the needs of the people from their state). No state can choose to opt-out of having an insurance exchange.
In May of 2012, the state of Illinois accepted a $32 million federal grant that was for them to use to lay the groundwork for their state’s health insurance exchange. The work has not begun. The bills created have not made their way past the Illinois Congress.
A group of labor, health, and civic advocacy groups, including the AFL-CIO, the League of Women Voters of Illinois, and the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, are about to send a letter to Governor Pat Quinn. They want him to issue an executive order that would create a health insurance exchange in Illinois. Illinois Senator Dave Koehler, who is a Democrat, says that an executive order may be the only way that Illinois gets a state health insurance exchange.
So far, Governor Quinn has not officially stated whether or not he will issue an executive order. However, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Insurance, Kimberly Parker, says that the agency is “moving forward” in designing a state health insurance exchange.
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