Officials from Rhode Island, Kentucky, California and Washington, D.C., have said their state-based health insurance exchanges are better-equipped to deal with the challenges of healthcare reform than the federally run exchange, according to a report from The Hill.
The state leaders spoke at the National Press Club on Friday, according to the report. Christine Ferguson, director of the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange, told reporters the state-based marketplaces "can be so much more effective" than the federally run exchange. As of Jan. 4, 11,770 people had enrolled in private health plans through Rhode Island's exchange, HealthSource RI, while 19,941 had enrolled in Medicaid and 530 signed up through their small business employer, according to a Providence Journal report.
Audrey Haynes, the secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, also spoke to the effectiveness of his state's exchange, saying state officials know the insurance market and state demographics better than federal officials would.
Meanwhile, the D.C. marketplace had enrolled 20,000 people as of mid-January, according to the report.
However, some of the state-based exchanges haven't been as successful.
Since the federal health insurance exchange website launched last October, various technical issues have plagued HealthCare.gov. However, following repair efforts, the site can support 83,000 concurrent users as of Dec. 23, and nearly 2.2 million people had selected health plans through the marketplaces by Dec. 28, according to HHS.
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