Five states and the District of Columbia received another round of health exchange establishment grants, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday.
Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Minnesota received an additional Level I establishment grant to continue developing their online insurance marketplaces. The District of Columbia received a Level II grant, multi-year funding reserved for states further along in planning their exchanges. Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington are the other states to receive Level II funding.
So far, 34 states (and Washington, D.C.) have received more than $1 billion in combined federal money to build their exchange. States have until Nov. 16 to submit their exchange plans to HHS for approval. The exchanges open for enrollment on Oct. 1, 2013.
No new states have received funding since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which created the exchanges, in June. For those states that opt not to establish an exchange, HHS will do it for them.