HHS awards federal grants for creation of health insurance exchanges

The New England consortium includes individuals and small businesses in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont. It proposes to build a technology framework at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and share its results with other New England states. 

Several of the states covered by the grants — Kansas, Wisconsin and Maine — have challenged the law in court, indicating that they’re nevertheless moving forward with implementation.

“Everyone wins,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Don Berwick. “This grant program means that states don’t have to waste money reinventing the wheel, and consumers get the best of the best.”

Here’s a summary of Early Innovator Grants: 

• Kansas Insurance Department: $31,537,465;

• Maryland Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene: $6,227,454;

• Multi-State Consortia / University of Massachusetts Medical School: $35,591,333;

• New York Department of Health, $27,431,432;

• Oklahoma Health Care Authority, $54,582,269;

• Oregon Health Authority, $48,096,307; and 

• Wisconsin Department of Health Services, $37,757,266.