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Senate Committee Kicks Off Health Exchange Hearings in KC

By Elana Gordon

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Missouri Senate committee is kicking off a series of statewide hearings in Kansas City today on whether and how to set up a state health insurance exchange.

The meeting, located at Cerner this afternoon, comes just days after Missouri received a $21 million federal grant to start setting up the online infrastructure for an exchange, and just days after a federal appeals court struck down part of the federal health law.

The idea of an exchange, under the federal health law, is to have an online marketplace where Missourians can easily compare insurance policies and prices.

Senator Scott Rupp is chair of the insurance committee holding the hearings. He says some key issues must first be addressed before delving into the details of an actual exchange.

"The basic question is number one, should we set one up," says Rupp. "And how does creating an exchange work in conjunction with proposition C, which the voters passed in rejecting the health law. And if we don't, then what type of government health care program would be forced upon Missouri in the failure to do so."

States have until next summer to decide whether or not to run an exchange.

Last session, an exchange proposal unanimously passed the Missouri House but didn't make it to a vote in the Senate.

Rupp's committee will also hold hearings in Columbia, Jefferson City, and St. Louis next month.

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