Time for states to decide on health care exchanges
(AP)—Friday is decision day for states to notify Washington if they will run their own insurance markets under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
A check by The Associated Press finds them divided.
Nineteen states have turned down the administration's invitation to set up health insurance exchanges, which will start serving millions of uninsured Americans in less than a year.
That leaves the feds with the huge task of doing it for them, one of the challenges that will define Obama's second term.
On the other side, 17 states and Washington, D.C., say they want to set up their own markets. .
Eight others have indicated they want to pursue a state-federal partnership. Six remain undecided.
Exchanges will be the main way consumers experience the new health care law.
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