13 Dec 2012 10:04 am
Pennsylvania Governor Rejects Health Insurance Exchange Pennsylvania will allow the federal government to implement a major part of President Barack Obama's health care reform law without state input, Gov. Tom Corbett {R} announced Wednesday.Pennsylvania won't create a health insurance exchange under the law, making it the22nd stateto leave the authority to the federal government, Corbett said in a press release. These health insurance exchanges will be the online gateways where as many as 30 million people will be able to obtain health coverage and access financial assistance starting in 2014 under Obamacare.Congress intended for the federal government and the states to share responsibility for the oversight and implementation of these new health insurance marketplaces, but nearly half of states, almost all of them run by Republican governors, have rebuffed the plan and ceded control to the federal government ahead of a Friday deadline for states to decide whether the health insurance exchanges will be state-run, federally run or jointly administered.Corbett said the slow pace of federal regulators and a dearth of information about states' rights and financial commitments contributed to his decision to opt out of this central plank of Obamacare, a law he opposes."Health care reform is too important to be achieved through haphazard planning. Pennsylvania taxpayers and businesses deserve more. They deserve informed decision making and a strong plan that responsibly uses taxpayer dollars," Corbett said in the press release. "Therefore, I have decided not to pursue a state-based health insurance exchange at this time.Read more at link in title.So I guess what my governor is saying is that he is incapable of anything other than haphazard planning.