The law calls for each state to have a health insurance exchange, an online place where people can comparison shop for a policy that best suits their needs.
Friday, November 16th is the deadline for each state to decide whether to set up its own exchange or let the federal government do it for them.
Chris Brock is a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Insurance. He says the state has not made a firm decision:
BROCK: Right now we’re still where we’ve been over the past several months, which is leaning toward letting the federal government run the exchange in Ohio.
State democratic lawmakers have spoken in favor of creating a state-run exchange, citing increased flexibility and greater stakeholder involvement, but others who follow the issue say, for consumers, the decision on a federal versus state run exchange is six of one, half a dozen of the other: it’s a website.
Check out ideastream's past coverage of this issue.
Also see NPR's recent story on the future of healthcare reform.