With the decision in King v. Burwell looming, Delaware has become the second state to commit to starting a state-based online insurance exchange that could sell subsidized policies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to The Hill.
Delaware's announcement comes the same week the Pennsylvania Insurance Department filed a federal application to start a state-based exchange.
"I feel moving to a [federally] supported state-based marketplace is not that heavy of a lift for us," Rita Landgraf, Delaware's director of health and social services, told Talking Points Memo.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, up to 8 million Americans in 34 states that used the federal government's HealthCare.gov site to purchase health insurance could lose their subsidies. Both supporters and opponents of the health reform law agree that a loss of subsidies for people who use the federally run exchange would cause them to lose insurance, as well as a rise in premiums.
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