Pa. proceeds with creating state-run health insurance exchange

After months of study, the Corbett administration said Tuesday that it was moving forward with a key - and widely supported - option offered by the federal health-care overhaul: a state-run insurance exchange.

Exchanges have gained neither the high-profile status nor the derision aimed at other parts of President Obama's program. But they are expected to transform the arduous process of buying health insurance for millions of people who get coverage individually or are covered by small businesses.

"It is akin to an Expedia-type function, where you go and you are looking for a particular trip and a hotel, and you can look at the different options and what you want to buy - and then you can make your choice and buy accordingly," said Pamela Clarke, a vice president of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, an industry group. People without Internet access will also be able to take advantage of the exchange.

Besides being a one-stop shop for health insurance, the exchange will be the only place where many of the people who will be newly eligible for insurance under the law - those making between 133 percent and 400 percent of the poverty level - can apply for the tax credits that are intended to make coverage affordable.

The exchanges are scheduled to start in January 2014. A report commissioned by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department estimated that at least two million people would participate.

The existence of an exchange was never in doubt. The congressional overhaul known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act gives states a choice between a federal- or state-run exchange. Both Republicans and Democrats tend to support the concept, although some blue states have moved forward quickly, and some red states have held back, largely so that they do not appear to be supporting the overall health law.

Corbett, who as attorney general joined 25 other states in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the individual mandate that is a key provision of the overhaul, appears to be taking a pragmatic approach.

"While the governor believes that the law requiring the purchase of health insurance is unconstitutional, we must be prepared if the Supreme Court does not strike down the law," said Rosanne Placey, state Insurance Department spokeswoman. Plus, she said, "the governor recognizes that doing nothing would result in a federally run exchange, which is not the best option for Pennsylvania."