Federal Government Approves Covered California and Other State Exchanges

In a major step forward for health reform implementation, this morning the Federal Government gave the go-ahead for 8 more states to start their insurance Exchanges.  Along with California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and Utah received conditional approval to move forward with state based exchanges while Arkansas received approval for a federal partnership exchange.  19 states and the District of Columbia will be operating their own Exchanges come fall.  Other states will have state and federal partnership exchanges, or will have exchanges that are run by the federal government.
The Exchanges, or new marketplaces where consumers will be able to conveniently shop for quality, affordable health insurance that meets federal guidelines and where many people will be able to receive subsidies to help pay for coverage.  
California’s exchange, Covered California, has been hard at work to ensure that it will be ready to serve the millions of uninsured Californians that will be eligible for Exchange coverage.  To learn more about Covered California, click here or attend a Covered California Board meeting (next meeting will be January 17, 2013 in Los Angeles.  
You can read California’s Conditional Approval letter here.
Health Access California promotes quality, affordable health care for all Californians.