As we reported last week, Obamacare is moving forward post-election, but many questions still remain about the Affordable Care Act’s implementation. At the forefront of these unknowns are health insurance exchanges, and the November 16^th deadline for the states to declare whether they will set up a state-run exchange.

With President Barack Obama’s re-election this week, the hopes of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) biggest opponents have been all but dashed away. Many adversaries of the 2010 bill were hopeful that a Mitt Romney presidency might lead to the ACA’s forthcoming 2014 implementation being overturned.

1. States will not be required to give up control of Medicaid eligibility determination to the federal government; and
    
2. States can defer to the federal government to implement functions of the Exchange that are required under law, but do not fit within the traditional or proper role of the state government, such as enforcing federal tax code provisions.

Click here to read the full memo.

Premium rates for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) have been reduced by up to 40%, and restrictions on enrollment have been removed. 

By the beginning of next year, eligible small businesses in Washington can enroll in a new state health insurance program, the Health Insurance Partnership (HIP).