Christie said at a news conference Monday in Dover that he has been meeting with policy experts to go over the state's options.
"There's a lot of stuff to figure out, lots of different options," he said. "We can run it ourselves, we can run it in partnership with the federal government, or we can have the federal government run it. There are consequences financially and operational ramifications that come along with that."
The deadline for a decision is Nov. 16 - after presidential and congressional elections that could give a clue about the future of the overall health insurance changes.
The Republican presidential candidate and many of the party's congressional candidates are pledging to repeal the federal law.
This isn't the first time Christie has advocated a go-slow approach on the issue.
In May, he became the second governor in the country to veto a bill to establish an exchange. At the time, he said he wanted to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on the constitutionality of the federal law.
Since then, the court has upheld most of the law, but he says the state should wait to see how November's elections turn out before proceeding.
There wasn't much debate on the state exchange bill that cleared the Senate Commerce Committee on Monday. All four Democrats voted for it; the only Republican present, Sen. Gerald Cardinale, of Demarest, voted no.
Some insurers and business groups oppose the bill.
For the procession of other lobbyists that testified, the main concern was that the interest they represented - be it the pharmaceutical industry, Latinos, mental-health-care providers, or others - have a seat on either the board that runs the exchange or an advisory board.
"A state-run health exchange makes the most sense for New Jersey as it will allow us to provide plans that will best fit our needs," said State Sen. Nia Gill, of Montclair, the bill's sponsor.
