Pennsylvania will not set up health insurance exchange

Tom Corbett, governor of Pennsylvania, recently announced that his state will not be setting up a state health insurance exchange./ Bloomberg

Pennsylvania will not set up a state health insurance exchange where the uninsured, among others, could use premium subsidies authorized by the health care reform law to buy coverage, Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday.

“Pennsylvania will not move forward with a state-based exchange because there are too many unknowns with too little time, not enough flexibility and too high a cost to our taxpayers,” Gov. Corbett said in a statement.

Gov. Corbett's announcement comes after those made recently by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam that their states will not set up the exchanges.

Under the health care reform law, the federal government can set up health insurance exchanges in states that decline to do so.

States have until Friday to inform federal regulators whether they intend to establish exchanges.

This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has given tentative approval to applications filed by six states to launch health insurance exchanges: Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington.