D.C. Nears Decision on Health Insurance Exchange

The D.C. Council could decide as soon as next week whether to require small-business owners to purchase their employee health insurance through a city-run exchange, highlighting a special implication of the federal health-care overhaul that has been strongly opposed by some business interests.

Council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) said she planned to introduce emergency legislation to be taken up at a May 22 meeting authorizing key policy aspects of the city’s health insurance exchange, which is set to open Oct. 1.

Exchanges are a key feature of the federal health overhaul enacted in 2010, under which states were required to create their own centralized electronic marketplaces or participate in a federally designed exchange.

Read the full story here: http://wapo.st/10uFlB4

Source: The Washington Post