Implementation of President Obama’s health care law is running behind schedule and it’s unclear whether federal health insurance exchanges will be up and running on time in October, according to two reports from the Government Accountability Office.
The main way Obamacare plans to expand insurance is by creating exchanges in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, on which individuals and small businesses can use government subsidies to purchase regulated but privately administered health insurance plans. Under the law, states can choose whether to set their own exchanges, partner with the federal government, or leave the task entirely up to the federal government. All told, the federal government through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will have a role in running exchanges for individuals in 34 states and for small businesses in 33 states.
