HHS, Illinois partner on insurance marketplace

Illinois has been conditionally approved to operate a State Partnership Marketplace (Exchange), which will be ready for open enrollment in October. This partnership will allow Illinois to make key decisions and tailor the marketplace to local needs and market conditions.

“I applaud efforts by Illinois to build a new health insurance marketplace,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said.  “Working together, we will be ready in eight months when residents of Illinois will be able to use the new marketplace to easily purchase quality, affordable health insurance plans.”

“Here in the home state of President Barack Obama, we are forging ahead to make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality,” Governor Pat Quinn said. “Access to decent healthcare is a fundamental right. Hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois will gain quality health coverage through the health insurance marketplace. They will also gain the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the care will be there if they need it. We are going to be working very hard between now and October to educate the people of our state about the healthcare coverage options they will have through the marketplace, thanks to President Obama's leadership.”

With this conditional approval of Illinois, 20 states and the District of Columbia have been conditionally approved to partially or fully run a marketplace, with the remaining states having until Feb. 15 to apply for a state partnership marketplace.