Three more states OK'd to run health insurance exchanges
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has given conditional approval to three states — Arkansas, Delaware and Pennsylvania — to set up public health insurance exchanges.
That approval, given Monday, comes ahead of a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case that triggered the interest of the three states to run their own exchanges.
The case before the Supreme Court, which is expected to hand down a ruling by the end of the month, involves the legality of 2012 IRS rules that authorized federal health care reform law premium subsidies to individuals obtaining coverage in both state exchanges and in the federal exchange. Plaintiffs in King v. Burwell contend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act only permits subsidies in state-run exchanges.
With approval from HHS, Pennsylvania is “now in a better position to provide security to those who may lose their subsidies and, possibly, not be able to afford their health insurance,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday in a statement.
Earlier, Gov. Wolf, a Democrat, said the state only would move to set up an exchange if the high court strikes down the IRS rules.
Nationally, 6.4 million people would lose subsidies collectively worth $1.7 billion per month if the Supreme Court strikes down the IRS rules, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
Pennsylvania residents receiving coverage through the federal exchange would lose more than $79 million a month in federal premium subsidies if the IRS rules are overturned, while Arkansas residents would lose more than $13.6 million a month, and Delaware residents would lose just over $5 million a month in federal premium subsidies, the Kaiser analysis added.
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