Corbett Decides To Let Feds Set Up Pennsylvania's Health Insurance Exchange

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett has opted not to establish a state-run "health insurance exchange."   All states are facing a Friday deadline to decide on that issue as part of the new federal health care law that is taking effect.

In late November, Corbett said he was frustrated about a lack of detail from the feds about the rules regarding health exchanges, which will be clearinghouses in which people can shop for insurance policies.

"How do you make a decision without the rules? This is not a political decision, this is, What are the rules? Because we have to see what they are. How much is it going to cost?"

With a Friday decision looming, Corbett spokeswoman Christine Cronkright says the governor's office never got complete answers to all of its questions.

"We really did not feel that we got the answers that we needed in time to be able to make that decision," she tells KYW Newsradio.

So Pennsylvania will allow a federally run health insurance exchange, instead of partnering with Washington or setting up its own.

Cronkright says Corbett also continues to seek more information as he mulls another decision related to the federal health care law: whether to expand Medicaid.