ME gets $6M for insurance exchange
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Maine and 12 other states nearly $220 million to help them create insurance exchanges, despite Maine's ongoing challenge of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Maine's Dirigo Health Agency received a grant of nearly $5.9 million to help set up the exchange, which will allow individuals and small businesses to find private health insurance, according to a DHHS press release. The exchanges are required by 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act made law last year. Last October, DHHS gave Maine $1 million to help set up the exchange. This September, a state advisory panel released its report detailing how Maine should create the exchange, though its recommendations were met with mixed feelings by lawmakers.
Maine is one of 26 states challenging the act, arguing that requiring Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. In February, a Florida U.S District Court Judge ruled the law should be voided, and DHHS appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. According to the Washington Post, six of the states that received the DHHS funding are parties to the challenge, but have positioned themselves to accept federal funding in the event the Supreme Court holds up the law. The Supreme Court will review the Affordable Care Act in March, with a ruling expected in June.
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