In an effort to help states comply with the portions of the health reform law that mandate the creation of state insurance exchanges, the Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that it will distribute $241 million to state-level agencies for the planning and implementation of the computer system networks needed for the exchanges.
Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin and a multi-state network coordinated by the University of Massachusetts Medical School will share the grant money.
Officials said that the networks developed by these states will be used as models for other states, which will lower the cost of implementation for the later adopters.
"This grant program means that states don’t have to waste money reinventing the wheel, and consumers get the best of the best," Dr. Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Government Health IT.
Officials added that a user-friendly technological interface will play a major role in the success or failure of an insurance exchange, and that investing in state-level efforts to produce high-quality designs is important.