Lawmaker Says Nebraska Has Time for Health Exchange

A Nebraska lawmaker who has led the push to create a state-based marketplace for health insurance says officials must move quickly and seek public comments as they enact the requirements of the federal health care law.

Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist says Nebraska has time to create the so-called health benefit exchanges, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in its ruling Thursday. The federal government has imposed a Nov. 16 deadline for state proposals on how they plan to run the exchanges.

But Nordquist says lawmakers and Gov. Dave Heineman will have to hash out key details of the law, including a Medicaid expansion that could cover thousands of additional Nebraskans.

Nordquist, a Democrat, says the ruling leaves that decision up to the states.

Heineman didn’t immediately comment on the ruling.