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Monday, October 14, 2013

State-run health exchanges more successful than federal; how many in your county lack coverage?

"While many people have been frustrated in their efforts to obtain coverage through the federal exchange, which is used by more than 30 states, consumers have had more success signing up for health insurance through many of the state-run exchanges, federal and state officials and outside experts say," Abby Goodnough writes for The New York Times.

Rural people are more likely to lack health insurance. Click here to find out how many people in your county are uninsured.

"Individual state operations are more adaptable," Alan R. Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, told the Times. "That does not mean that states get everything right. But they can respond more quickly to solve problems as they arise." Some states don't require potential participants to create an online account before researching insurance and comparing costs, which has contributed to their success.

More than 40,000 people applied and were found eligible for state-run insurance in New York, and successful programs are in progress across the nation in states such as Washington State, California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Rhode Island, Goodnough writes.

Several of these state-run exchanges, including Minnesota, Nevada and Rhode Island, have reported issues because they need the federal marketplace's assistance with verifying an applicant's identity, Goodnough reports.

Daniel N. Mendelson, the chief executive of Avalere Health, a research and consulting company, said, "On balance, the state exchanges are going better than the federal exchange. The federal exchange has, for all practical purposes, been impenetrable. Systems problems are preventing any sort of meaningful engagement."


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