State insurance chief, Brownback at odds on health care

By John Hanna, Associated Press

TOPEKA -- Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger says the state shouldn't wait until after November's presidential election to move toward complying with a key part of the federal health care law.

Praeger's comments Thursday about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the federal law put her at odds with Gov. Sam Brownback, a fellow Republican.

Brownback said he wants to wait until after the election to decide what Kansas will do about setting up an online health insurance marketplace. The health care law requires each state to have one operating in 2014.

The governor predicted that if GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney gets elected, states won't face the requirement.

But Praeger says the state should still work on an online marketplace so that it has some say in how it's run.

Tagged: Affordable Care Act, Sandy Praeger, Gov. Sam Brownback

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JayhawkFan1985 11 months ago

The legislature couldn't take care of redistricting, now the governor wants to let the federal government set up the Kansas health exchange. Fortunately our insurance commissioner is the voice of reason. Let's not forget that all three branches of the federal government have now approved of the affordable care act. Forget Obamacare, this is Brownbackdontcare...

mikekt 11 months ago

Sooner or later people are going to get it......Like what?

Like that brownback is just throwing another fit about something that he does't personally like or want to do.

He's like a kid that does't want to be reasonable at bed time, when it's room cleaning time or time to do anything the he ( & the koch brothers ) don't choose to do, personally.......and Kansas residents will be getting to pay $ for it all because little sam just threw away 31-1/2 Million Dollars in Federal Funds, which Kansas residents have already paid for in Federal Taxes, which sam choose not to accept, which would have paid to update our system for the new Federal Health Care changes!

That's a 31 & 1/2 Million Dollar......FIT!!!!,..... boys & girls;.....and responsible adults shouldn't behave that way!!!!!

And what's that new Federal system called?.........O'Romney-Care?

That sounds like a Re-Publican plan, to me, that the "brothers" have vetoed!!! ( who could sit around & make this stuff up, to write about? )

Even Romney doesn't like it now & it was basically his own best thinking & Mass. Law, that others picked up on & that Congress passed as a law!!!! HA,HA,HA!!!

Is there any reason that sam couldn't have taken those Federal funds & stalled on doing anything with them until he was sure of "whatever"????

He's a master at not doing what he doesn't want to do, so why didn't he just save us a big 31-1/2 million $ by taking the cash & just sitting on it, until it was obvious how things would go? Couldn't he always just return it, i suppose, if he stalled & got his own way?

Is it the job of Kansas residents, to martyr ourselves, financially, to this mans' 31-1/2 million $ madness?

Alceste 11 months ago

On this singular matter, Alceste is fully supportive of Kansas dragging its feet. Alceste would much rather have Uncle Sam forge the exchange than dimbulb hacks in Topeka, Kansas. You can bet dollars to doughnuts that the one created for Kansas by Uncle Sam shall be far more productive and helpful than ANYTHING Kansas could create for itself. Big government is good government in this matter.

In fact at this point in the history of Kansas, the federal government should revoke Kansas' statehood and make it a protectorate so sensible, albeit arrogant and over paid political hacks of a different ilk, educated, and fairly understanding and compassionate professionals can run the state. The Kansas legislature has demonstrated its collective inability to run the state year in and year out for decades now......