Health Insurance Panel Rejects Federal Law, Recommends Limited Exchange

This week a panel appointed by Governor Deal to explore a state-based health insurance exchange released its final recommendation to lawmakers.

According to the Affordable Care Act, every American will be required to own health insurance by 2014.

To make sure that happens, the federal government is setting up an online system to pool together the uninsured and connect them to the most affordable policies. This system, or exchange, is also where individuals will go to use government-issued tax credits.

In its final recommendation, the 25-member exchange panel rejected the federal law outright and calls for a limited exchange solely for small businesses.

Panel member Julianne Thompson, who works as a Tea Party coordinator, says the report provides a road map for lawmakers who are seeking free market solutions.

"I believe we came up with a viable alternative that would be able to be used in place of a government-run healthcare exchange in Georgia.- and the solution could make Georgia a model," said Thomspon.

She says acting before the law is decided in court would be essentially conceding defeat. Next summer the Supreme Court is scheduled to decide the case.

Still, panel member Cindy Zeldin of the health nonprofit Georgians For A Healthy Future says as long as the law is in effect, Georgia should be preparing for the 2014 deadline.

She says the recommendation ignores work done by the committee to develop an exchange for the nearly two million Georgians who are currently uninsured - the ones who don't have a job, or can't afford insurance.

"It was our responsibility to craft a recommendation for an individual exchange. To have the recommendation be so weak is disappointing," says Zeldin.

Zeldin says that if Georgia doesn't move ahead with a state-based exchange, Georgians will be left dealing with a one-size-fits-all federal system.

University of Georgia professor and panel member David Bradford felt the report's omission of the individual exchange reflected not only the ideological views of the appointees but also of statewide Republicans.

"If anything I would say the committee may have been too representative," says Bradford. "It would have been nicer to have had a group of people who might have been more pragmatically-oriented toward saying, well, the ACA [Affordable Care Act] is there for now, it's a reality and we need to devise the best set of exchanges that we can for Georgia."

Bradford says even though a plan is now in place for a limited small business exchange, he thinks legislators will steer clear of the issue until the Supreme Court decides the case.

In the event the Affordable Care Act is upheld, Bradford says even the hardliners will have to re-examine the prospect of a Georgia individual exchange.