Yet another state has selected to have a state-based health insurance exchange. Surprisingly, the state is Idaho, which has a Republican governor and was among the states that sued to overturn the Affordable Care Act. Idaho’s plans for the state-based exchange have yet to be approved.
The relationship between the Affordable Care Act and the state of Idaho has been contentious. Idaho was among the 26 states that were plaintiffs in the case heard by the Supreme Court in March of 2012 regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
The governor of Idaho is Butch Otter. He is a Republican. Many of the states that have Republican governors have openly declared that they will not have a state-based insurance exchange.
Governor Otter was one of the governors who delayed working on a health insurance exchange until after the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election was determined. The hope, of course, for those governors was that Mitt Romney would win and “Obamacare” would be repealed.
Despite this, Governor Otter has announced that Idaho will have a state-based health insurance exchange. Make no mistake, though, he has not suddenly changed his mind about the Affordable Care Act, and he is not embracing it now. According to Insurance Journal, Governor Otter said:
There will be a health insurance exchange in Idaho. Our options have come down to this: Do nothing and be at the federal government’s mercy in how that exchange is designed and run, or take a seat at the table and play the cards we’ve been dealt. I cannot willingly surrender a role for Idaho.
Idaho needs to send an official letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that says it wants a state-based exchange. The state also needs to send a blueprint that includes the composition of the board that will oversee the health insurance exchange. According to Insurance Journal, that blueprint was still being finished on December 14, 2012.
Governor Otter’s decision to have a state-based exchange was seen as a positive thing by some. Heidi Low, the executive director of the Idaho Health Insurance Exchange Alliance said:
A state-based exchange will help Idaho have more control over Idaho’s health insurance costs and keep Idaho in the driver’s seat on health insurance issues.
House Minority Leader John Rusche, who is a Democrat, said:
The fact is, Congress passed the law, the president signed it and the Supreme Court upheld it. After going through, trying to find the truth in the matter, he (Otter) sees it the way I do: It’s Idaho’s best bet.
On the other side of the issue, Wayne Hoffman, who is from the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a Conservative group, said:
Governor Otter’s decision makes the national effort of resistance much more difficult and more likely the law will remain in place, at great cost to Idaho families, businesses and our nation’s economic vitality.
Image by Amy the Nurse on Flickr