Examiner.com reports the House Energy and Commerce Committee will vote today on the recommendation of its subcommittee to prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from continuing to grant money to states to work on their own health exchanges.

The subcommittee recently approved a group of bills, one of which involved the defunding of the establishment and implementation of state-run health insurance exchanges.

The exchanges, considered an important part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), have generated different reactions from individual states, which are responsible for setting them up. Though many states have moved forward to implement the exchanges, others have delayed implementation.

Mississippi, for example, has delayed setting up an exchange due to a lack of agreement on who would be responsible for being on the exchange’s board. Oklahoma’s legislature is refusing to consider a bill to create a state-based exchange, while Arkansas has also chosen not to act on implementing an exchange until it becomes more clear how the federal funds will be distributed and what the restrictions attached to those funds will be.

Topping all of this are lawsuits challenging the ACA’s constitutionality. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely hear arguments on this topic during spring 2012.

To tort – or not to tort

In a related story, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has announced a hearing to take place on April 6 that will discuss “The Cost of the Medical Liability System Proposals for Reform, Including H.R.5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare Act of 2011.”

The hearing will focus on medical liability in the U.S., and how it is one of the root problems of the nation’s high health care costs. The subcommittee will examine the current medical liability system and discuss reform options to help lower the cost of health care.

Instant Insights /

House committee to vote on future of state health insurance exchanges

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