Delaware forgoes state-run health insurance exchange
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Delaware state officials have disclosed that the state will not set up a health insurance exchange, with eligible state residents continuing to receive coverage through the federal exchange.
Delaware received approval in June from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set up an exchange. The state's interest had been triggered by King v. Burwell, the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which plaintiffs argued that the health care reform law — contrary to Treasury Department regulations — permitted federal premium subsidies only to eligible enrollees in state exchanges, not the federal exchange.
But with the Supreme Court in late June upholding those Treasury Department rules, the threat to premium subsidies provided to Delaware residents obtaining coverage in the federal exchange ended, eliminating the chief reason for Delaware to set up an exchange, according to state officials.
The high court decision in King preserved federal subsidies for Delawareans, resolving one of the state's major concerns, Rita Landgraf, secretary of Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services said Thursday at a meeting of the state's Health Care Commission.
About 25,000 Delaware residents opted for coverage during the 2015 open enrollment season in the federal exchange, with about 84% eligible for federal premium subsidies.
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