Introduction

I'm starting this blog as a venue for exploration of this interesting topic as it develops over the next eighteen months. As a technologist with experience in the insurance industry and resident of Maine, the mandate for Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) in the federal PPACA (ObamaCare) legislation is both interesting and confusing - hence the deeper dive. A great primer/overview for what the federal legislation actually is showed up on Reddit lately as "What exactly is Obamacare and what did it change?" in the "Explain like I'm 5" subreddit.

I will say up front that while I have personal beliefs and opinions on ObamaCare and other topics, I will keep the conversation to the facts and refrain from politicizing the dialogue (monologue?). By focusing on the technology around HIX compliance, hopefully this will not be overly onerous.

Finally, as of this writing, it would seem the points to be made are largely moot as Maine has indicated it will not be establishing it's own state-based HIX. The assumption is that the Federally-Facilitated Exchange (FFE) will be leveraged in Maine on the January 2013 deadline. This may change in the future (making this a fascinating topic!) but it would appear that much of the discussion around a Maine HIX is largely academic at this point.