ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota House passed a bill early Friday creating an online health insurance marketplace that aims to provide a new way for at least 1.3 million Minnesotans to purchase coverage, a key element of the new federal health care law.

The bill now faces a final test in the Senate before heading to Gov. Mark Dayton, who has promised to sign it. It establishes a new state office, overseen by seven people appointed by the governor, to manage a website where insurance companies can offer their plans for sale.

The House passed the bill on a vote of 72 to 61, with most Democrats supporting it and most Republicans opposed. Several Democrats sided with Republicans, a split stemming from the absence of an earlier House provision that would have barred insurance sold over the exchange from covering abortions.

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