Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said Wednesday that Georgia is moving forward with plans to create and run its own insurance exchange, the new marketplace where most individuals and small businesses will buy insurance starting in 2014.
The nation's new health care law requires the exchanges and gives states the authority to create their own or leave the task to the federal government.
Hudgens, who strongly opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, said Georgia would run its own exchange if the law is not overturned.
"We feel we can create an exchange that will meet the needs of the Georgia citizens better than the federal government," Hudgens said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Hudgens said he is meeting with the governor's office this week to decide what the state should do to begin designing its exchange. He said the first step might be to appoint a commission of experts and industry representatives to formulate recommendations.
The insurance exchanges will be geared mostly toward people who buy individual or small group coverage, as well as the uninsured. Under the new federal law, almost every American will be required to have health insurance beginning in 2014. About 1 in 5 Georgians has no health coverage today.
Most consumers will access the insurance exchange online, entering information about their families, incomes and insurance situation. The program will then present a selection of insurance plans offered by private companies, as well as information about government subsidies. The system also will let consumers know if they are eligible for Medicaid, the government health plan for low-income people that will be expanded under the new law.
Most employees of large companies will continue to get coverage at work and won't shop on the exchange.
Designing an exchange will require legislation. Hudgens said it makes sense to develop a well-designed plan for a Georgia exchange before asking state lawmakers to approve the law.
"The tough part is going to be trying to decide what you want," Hudgens said.
While he will work to help design an exchange, Hudgens said he believes the federal law will be overturned on constitutional grounds.
Hudgens said he is preparing to ask the federal government to waive a provision of the law that requires insurance companies with individual policies to spend 80 percent of their premiums' dollars on claims. He said the requirement is difficult considering that agents get a commission, plus it would make it hard for new companies to break into Georgia.
He said he has requested data from Georgia insurers and plans to file the formal waiver request soon.
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