Most states will continue to defer to the federal government instead of facilitating their own Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges for the 2015 open enrollment period, according to a Kaiser Health News report.
Of the 36 states that didn't run their exchanges for the 2014 enrollment, only New Mexico and Idaho have indicated they plan to launch state-based exchanges for the next sign-up period, which begins Nov. 15. Political pressures, tight deadlines and technical issues with some of the state-based exchanges (such as those in Oregon and Maryland) have discouraged states from establishing their own marketplaces, according to the report.
During their first round, the federal and state-based exchanges enrolled 8 million people through April 15, far exceeding the Congressional Budget Office's projection of 6 million. Still, the federal exchange site, HealthCare.gov, experienced a number of glitches following its launch. Earlier this month, Kathleen Sebelius stepped down as HHS secretary in the wake of the exchange's technical problems and fierce criticism and calls for her resignation from Republican lawmakers.
Although some state exchanges have also experienced technical issues, a report released earlier this month by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute found state-run marketplaces performed better than the federal exchange overall. By March 1, three of the 17 state-based marketplaces — Vermont, Connecticut and the District of Columbia — had already exceeded their projected 2014 enrollment. Meanwhile, none of the 34 states with federally facilitated marketplaces had reached enrollment projections at that time.
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