States May control final shape of new health insurance

Excerpts from Washington Post Oct 30,2009

The debate over whether to let states opt out overlooks a key facet of the health-care measures : the shape of any new health-care system is likely to be finalized in Lansing and Boise and Baton Rouge.

"The fact is that state programs are going to look different," said Judith Solomon, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. "Where some people might be expecting national health reform, we're facing the real possibility that what you get is going to depend heavily on where you live."

The health-care package unveiled by (the)House comes closer to national reform. It would create a national marketplace where those who lack insurance could shop for policies. States would play a supporting role, helping to design the largest expansion of Medicaid in 40 years and to develop high-risk insurance pools for people in immediate need of coverage. read whole article

Comment: It would seem that we are getting closer to some kind of different(hopefully better) health care system. We can only hope that whatever comes out of Congress can be handled by the states that it seems will be administrating the new system. It could take years to resolve all the new Federal rules.