Part of the Affordable Care Act requires that all states have a health insurance exchange. The deadline for states that wanted to have a state-based exchange has passed. The Governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, has declared that Iowa will pursue a state-federal partnership health insurance exchange.
Every state is required to have a health insurance exchange. In 2014, individuals and small businesses will use the exchange to find affordable health insurance.
There were three potential options for the way that a state’s health insurance exchange could be. One option was to create a state-based exchange. The deadline for that option has passed. Another option is to create an exchange that is run as a partnership between the state and the federal government. Or, a state can choose to let the federal government create and run their exchange for them.
Iowa was one of the 26 states that was a plaintiff in a case called “Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida”. The case was heard by the Supreme Court in June of 2012. In short, Iowa was among the states that hoped to see the Affordable Care Act overturned. The Supreme Court decided the ACA was constitutional.
Governor Terry Branstad, of Iowa, (who is a Republican), has declared that Iowa will have a health insurance exchange that is a run as a partnership between the state and the federal government. The Sioux City Journal has the full text of his letter to the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, regarding the health insurance exchange for Iowa.
Governor Branstad said that the partnership option was a practical path. He felt it would hold down costs and it would limit federal control over the state’s health system.
Clearly, he didn’t want Iowa to have a health insurance exchange that was run by the federal government. He has also missed the deadline to have a state-based exchange. According to the DeMoines Register, part of what Governor Branstad had to say included:
I continue to have concerns that an intrusive federal exchange would raise costs on individuals and businesses, making it harder for them to create jobs and raise family incomes in Iowa. The state of Iowa intends to minimize the federal government’s intrusion into the regulation of insurance. We will continue to regulate insurance plans in Iowa and retain control over our Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan eligibility.