State health officials are moving forward with plans to establish an insurance exchange intended to help extend coverage to some 2.8 million New Yorkers without it.
In April, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to establish the statewide exchange, where individuals and small businesses could tap up to $2.6 billion in federal tax credits and subsidies under President Obama’s national health care overhaul.
Under Cuomo’s order, issued after legislation to establish the exchange stalled in the Republican-controlled state Senate, health officials are planning to show by January that the state is ready to participate in the program.
Health Department spokesman Peter Constantakes says the goal is to have the exchange operating on Jan. 1, 2014.
