The Illinois Senate Insurance Committee passed a measure Wednesday
that looks to establish a state-run health insurance marketplace for
small businesses and individuals as part of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Some
health care and consumer advocates are pushing for a state-based
insurance exchange, but questions still remain on how to make the
marketplace the best it can be.
"We're walking into a new territory. We haven’t been here yet," said Brigid Leahy, director of legislative affairs at Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
"But at least we know that if we're running things at the state level,
we can fix things, we can make them better, we have better control over
making sure that it works for consumers. If it’s in the hands of the
feds, we don’t have that power."
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