Florida to launch its own health insurance marketplace

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Source: Kaiser Health News

Florida, which is fighting to overturn the federal health overhaul, is preparing to launch an insurance marketplace early next year that looks like a distant cousin of the ones being created under the federal law.

Florida’s version aims to give small businesses — those with 50 or fewer employees — an online tool where they can easily shop for health plans offered in their county. The idea, backers say, is to entice employers who otherwise wouldn’t offer coverage.

Florida will be the third state — and by far the largest — with an insurance exchange, following Massachusetts and Utah. The Florida program is a public-private partnership.

But there are key differences between Florida’s exchange and the type that will be available in 2014 in all states through the federal law:

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/florida-to-launch-its-own-health-insurance-marketplace/2011/10/07/gIQA1Ns8VL_singlePage.html