IL moves ahead on health insurance exchange

Chicago Tribune / Associated Press, November 6, 2012

Illinois officials are reviewing five bids to build the state's health insurance exchange—a required component of the federal health care overhaul that Gov. Pat Quinn intends to implement regardless of who wins the presidency on Tuesday. By 2014, each state must have a working exchange where people and small businesses can comparison shop online for commercial health plans based on quality and cost. Illinois would take over full management of its exchange in 2015. In the first year, Illinois plans to partner with the federal government, said Colleen Burns of the Illinois Department of Insurance. If the state's plan is approved, the federal government would run the website and a call center. The state would decide which insurance plans qualify to be sold on the exchange and provide in-person consumer assistance.