The Verdict Is In: It’s a Federally-Run Health Insurance Exchange for Arizona

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has announced that the state of Arizona will default to a federal health insurance exchange. In describing her decision, Governor Brewer cited the high costs of running the health insurance exchange and lack of clarity and guidance from the federal government. Two weeks ago, Governor Brewer’s health policy advisor, Don Hughes, spoke at the University of Arizona at the invitation of the Arizona Center for Rural Health and at that time, he described the various options available to the state.   Each state is currently deciding whether to default to a federal exchange, have a state-based exchange or to plan for a federal-state partnership exchange, as part of the Affordable Care Act.    

If you are wondering how Arizona’s decision compares to other states, the Kaiser Family Foundation has the latest in state decisions in a map and in a table format.

As of November 28, 2012, according to this website, the decisions are as follows:

• 17 states will default to a federal exchange
• 18 states (including DC) have declared a state-based exchange
• 6 states are planning for a partnership exchange
• 10 states have yet to declare their intentions

For more information on health insurance exchanges, you may want to read this concise summary by the Commonwealth Fund.

What do you think of this decision? Would you have made a similar decision if you were in the Governor’s position?