Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Chaney finds a way to build a health insurance exchange

Florida Health Insurance

Commissioner Chaney faces down political disparities

Per the Affordable Care Act, all states in the U.S. are required to build health insurance exchanges. For the majority of the country, this is no longer an issue of politics, but one of finance. For the 26 states that sought to dismantle the federal health care law, however, building a health insurance exchange will be a difficult issue to deal with. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Chaney, for example, is facing the problems of establishing an exchange in a state that continues to oppose the Affordable Care Act.

Mississippi continMississippi Insurance Health Care Reform ues to show opposition to federal law

Mississippi is one o the states that participated in a lawsuit against the federal government to have the health care law repealed. Though the U.S. Supreme Court chose to uphold the law earlier this year, Mississippi, as well as other states that opposed the law, is still working on a way to avoid enacting the Affordable Care Act. For Commissioner Chaney, this has created a tense environment in which to comply with federal law.

Commissioner Chaney aims to establish health insurance exchange

Chaney is tasked with the development and implementation of a health insurance exchange in Mississippi. Though Chaney himself is torn on the issue of the Affordable Care Act, he is required by law to comply with the legislation and ensure the state has a fully operational exchange system in place by 2014. The Commissioner’s work, however, has been constantly impeded by Mississippi lawmakers who are not eager to comply to the whims of the federal government and allow an exchange to be built in the state. Commissioner Chaney fears that political disparity could lead to the state losing control of its health insurance exchange and has begun working on a contingency plan.

Behind the scenes efforts prove fruitful

Commissioner Chaney has been working behind the legislative scene in order to get an exchange program working in Mississippi. Thus far, the Commissioner has seen a great deal of success in his work. Late last year, the Mississippi Legislature rejected a legislation that would have established an exchange program in the state. Commissioner Chaney, however, has been working on building an exchange based on laws that already exist in Mississippi, successfully sidestepping lawmakers in order to comply with federal regulations. This sort of contingency plan may help insurance officials in other states manage to comply with federal law as well.

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