Legislators in several states have given indications to the government that they have no intention of creating their own health insurance marketplace, leaving it the federal government to set them up. But it wasn't until a considerable amount of tax dollars were spent researching this question that state officials came to this conclusion.
According to Kaiser Health News, approximately $28 million in federal money was spent by 10 states legislatures, analyzing the cost effectiveness of making exchanges state-run or leaving it to the government to assume control.
Don Hughes, health advisor for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, indicated that the spending wasn't without purpose.
"We needed to spend the money to enable the governor to make an informed decision on what is best for Arizona," Hughes told KHN.
Other states that used federal grants for this type of research included Mississippi, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Alabama, according to the source.
The Department of Health and Human Services points out that approximately half of the U.S. has been granted conditional approvals to run their own insurance exchanges, which residents can access if they're not provided with employee benefits.
