A scramble to shape the new health insurance exchanges

From insurance companies to drug stores to doctors, just about any industry that touches the health care system has a different opinion on how the Obama administration should shape the new insurance markets at the heart of the health-care reform law. But they all agree on one thing: now is the time to weigh in. Health and Human Services has received thousands of comments on preliminary exchange regulations issued earlier this year, which laid some ground rules for what the new marketplace would look like. Under the health overhaul, every state will have a new health insurance marketplace called an "exchange," which launch in 2014. Often described as state-based "Expedias" for health insurance, the exchanges will serve as online hubs for individuals and small businesses to compare and purchase health insurance plans.