IA moves ahead with benefits exchange plans

The deadline to submit a blueprint for a health exchange is days away, and lawmakers still face a series of uncertainties surrounding the topic.

Previously, Governor Terry Brandstad announced Iowa will create a benefits market in partnership with the federal government. By Friday, states are expected to notify Washington if they need help planning for consumer assistance, health plan supervision and other tasks, according to Quad-City Times.

The benefits marketplace will allow employers and individuals to shop for and purchase healthcare coverage online. The federal government will create and operate the exchange website and information technology platform used to provide users with real-time tax and qualification information.

"We're going to maintain and do the things that basically the state of Iowa has done for a long time: regulate insurance and regulate the eligibility and intake of new people into our Medicaid rolls," said Michael Bousselot, a policy advisor for the governor. "What the federal government is going to do is kind of the stuff that the state of Iowa would have a tough time having ready by Oct. 1."

In Jaunary, Iowa was granted $6.8 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to begin work on the exchange, WOWT news states.