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New York Gov. Introduces Bill for Web-Ready Health Insurance Exchange

BY Nick Judd | Tuesday, June 14 2011

A press release from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, via the New York Daily News, announces that the governor has introduced a program bill to the state legislature that would create the Empire State's own state-run, Internet-enabled health insurance exchange:

The bill also provides critical protections meant to assist individuals in using the Exchange. For example, the bill provides that the Exchange will operate a toll-free telephone line to assist consumers and an Internet website containing standardized comparative information on qualified health plans. The website will also feature a calculator allowing individuals to determine the actual cost of coverage. The bill also requires the Exchange to establish a program to award grants to entities to serve as "navigators" to help educate consumers and facilitate enrollment.

New York would join a growing number of states nationwide that are electing which way to go on insurance exchanges, marketplaces for insurance in each state mandated by the Affordable Care Act and set to launch in 2014. The state is also already listed as a participant in the federal Department of Health and Human Services' early innovator program, which rewards states that pledge to develop technology for insurance exchanges that they will then make available to other states.

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