Manatt’s Joel Ario, managing director of Manatt Health, spoke to InsideHealthPolicy about New Jersey’s recent move from a federal to a state-based healthcare exchange program, and about how other states could soon follow suit.
The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance has looked into a transition, and there have been discussions with legislators. But there has not been a formal proposal for the transition. Nevada is actively working to switch to a state-based healthcare exchange program by 2020, and New Mexico is aiming to have a similar program by 2021.
Ario, a former head of the exchange office of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said many states are interested in a state-based healthcare exchange program because it would give them more control over decision-making, policy decisions for the open enrollment period, and access to key data that could be used to regulate the market. Ario also noted that states with their own exchanges are better able to make large-scale reforms to their markets, such as structural changes to tax subsidies.
Oregon has expressed interest in adopting a state-based healthcare exchange system, but Ario says the state will hold off to see what happens in other states with similar programs, before moving forward with their own.