CHICAGO (AP) — There’s been plenty of rancor over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. And that turmoil has largely overshadowed some states’ efforts to use the law to help them move quickly to insure more people and increase control over insurance companies.
Minnesota and Connecticut have leveraged more federal dollars to expand coverage of childless adults. Vermont is exploring a single-payer health care system that would phase out most private insurance. Oregon is focusing on preventive care and providing proven treatments.
Time will tell whether these and other leader states see economic benefits from stabilized insurance markets and expanded health care coverage. Or they could be haunted by their strides should the law be weakened by congressional challenges or overturned by litigation making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
