Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has not said which direction they plan to take.
Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has not indicated whether Pennsylvania will create a health insurance market under President Barack Obama's healthcare plan.
Gov. Tom Corbett received a one-month extension to tell the federal government whether Pennsylvania will be setting up a health insurance market under President Barack Obama’s health care law.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told governors Thursday evening the administration was delaying a Friday deadline to declare their intentions until Dec. 14. States can still opt to have theirs run by the federal government or join in a partnership with Washington.
Corbett administration officials have not said which direction they plan to take. But they say they have put off development of the online exchange because too many questions about its cost and other operational details remain unanswered.
Asked about it last week, Corbett dismissed talk of a November deadline and said the actual deadline under the law is in January.
“We are still looking at it and you’ve heard me say this before, I’m looking at the cost,” Corbett said. “I’m looking at the cost to Pennsylvania taxpayers and whether we can afford it. I have some ideas of where we’re going, but I’m not ready to announce it right now.”
Some Democratic lawmakers, insurers and hospitals want Corbett to set up a state-run system. The Washington, D.C.-based group Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by billionaire energy executives Charles and David Koch and spent tens of millions of dollars trying to defeat Obama in the election, has urged Corbett and other governors to reject it.
Many states, including Pennsylvania, put off a decision until after the Nov. 6 election, since the Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, had said he would move to repeal the 2010 law known as the Affordable Care Act. With Obama’s victory, Republicans acknowledged that the law would go forward.
Another key decision Corbett must make because of the law is whether to expand eligibility limits for Medicaid, the state-federal program that pays for medical care for the poor and disabled. The federal government would pick up the lion’s share of the cost to expand the limits.
The new insurance exchanges will allow households and small businesses to buy a private health plan, and many will get help from the government to pay their premiums. Under the law, states that can’t or won’t set up exchanges will have theirs run by the federal government.
States considering a partnership have until mid-February to make a decision. The partnership option allows states to handle consumer relations and oversight of health plans, while the federal government does the bulk of the work, including handling enrollment and figuring out how much taxpayer-funded help consumers may be entitled to.