Originally, the deadline for states to show how they intended to operate their health insurance exchanges was November 16, 2012. The federal government decided to extend the deadline to December 14, 2012. The exchanges are going to be ready by January 1, 2014, no matter what.
The health insurance exchanges are part of the rules and regulations set forth by the Affordable Care Act, (which was signed in 2010). The purpose of the exchanges is to enable all Americans, (and some small businesses) to easily find an affordable health insurance policy. People can use the exchange to compare one policy to another, to learn if they are eligible for Medicaid, and to apply for Medicaid (if they are eligible).
States have two options. They can set up their own health insurance exchange, or they can let the federal government set up one for them. States cannot choose to opt-out of the exchanges. Several states have started working on creating their own exchanges. California was the first to begin work. Other states, like Texas, Kansas, Virginia, and Florida, insist they will not create their own exchange.
As I said, the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010. You may recall that several states filed lawsuits about some portions of the Affordable Care Act. To make a long story short, the court cases went to the Supreme Court, who agreed to hear a case regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
Governors of the states who were dragging their feet about beginning work on their health insurance exchange claimed that they were waiting to see what the Supreme Court decided. On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court decided that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional, and would stand.
One would think this would be a clue that the states needed to get working on their exchanges, in order to meet the deadline. Instead, the states that were reluctant to comply with the Affordable Care Act decided to wait until they knew what the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election would be.
As you may recall, Governor Romney said that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act if elected. The deadline for states to provide information to the federal government about how their exchanges were going to operate was originally November 16, 2012. The outcome of the election would be known shortly before that date.
President Obama won his second term in office on November 6, 2012. There are no more excuses left for the states who are procrastinating on their exchanges. The states that chose not to work on their exchanges started asking for an extension to that deadline, saying that they needed more time to prepare.
The Department of Health and Human Services has moved the deadline to file blueprints to December 14, 2012. The deadline has changed, but the requirement to have an insurance exchange in every state remains intact.
Image by Keith Williamson on Flickr