Oregon Senate votes to create insurance exchange

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: StatesmanJournal

The Oregon Senate voted today to create an exchange that will make it easier for individuals and small businesses to shop for health insurance coverage and compare benefits and costs.
The 24-5 vote sent Senate Bill 99 to the House, which has shelved its own version.

Several states already have created an electronic marketplace, known as an exchange. All states will have to create one by 2014 under the federal health-care overhaul passed last year, or the federal government will include them in an exchange it creates.

The exchange would be a public corporation with seven members chosen by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, plus designees from the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Consumer and Business Services, which regulates insurance in Oregon. The board would set minimum standards and decide which commercial plans qualify for the exchange.

Critics say two of the board’s seven members could go to insurers or health-care providers, and that the board itself lacks authority to negotiate lower prices based on the number of people it represents.
But Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany, said the bill also requires the governor to name consumer representatives for individuals and small businesses.

Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20110425/UPDATE/110425025/-1