The following is a news release from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that Utah has made significant progress in setting up its own affordable health insurance marketplace, or Exchange. Utah is conditionally approved to operate a State-based Exchange, which means Utah is on track to run the marketplace in 2014.
Today’s conditional approval of Utah’s plan follows the same type of approvals provided to Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington in December and approvals provided to California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Vermont today. To date, 20 states including DC have been conditionally approved to partially or fully run their marketplaces – with the remaining states having until February 15, 2013 to apply for a State Partnership Exchange.
“I applaud Utah’s work to build a new health insurance marketplace,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Utah has made significant progress, and will be ready in ten months for open enrollment when Utahns will be able to use the new marketplace to easily purchase quality health insurance plans.”
Because of the Affordable Care Act, consumers and small businesses will have access to a new marketplace starting in 2014 where they can access quality, affordable private health insurance. These comprehensive health plans will ensure consumers have the same kinds of insurance choices as members of Congress.
Consumers in every state will be able to buy insurance from qualified health plans directly through these marketplaces and may be eligible for tax credits to help pay for their health insurance.
To learn more about Exchange conditional approvals, visit: http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/factsheets/state-marketplaces.html
To view Exchange letters from states, visit:
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/letters/index.html
For more information on Exchanges, visit:
http://www.healthcare.gov/exchanges
