Healthcare deadline passes

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A major deadline passes and sets the affordable care act back by a month now the deadline for states to set up their health care exchanges has moved because states did not act fast enough.
    
It has survived Congress, the Supreme Court, and the 2012 general election.  With few road blocks ahead, the Affordable Care Act looks to keep moving forward.
    
But on Friday, an important deadline for sates to decide who would set up their health care exchanges came and went.

"The problem was a lot of governors delayed their decision under the assumption that Mitt Romney would be elected president, and, ultimately, the federal health care reform wouldn't be implemented,” Dr. Nathan Myers of Indiana state explained.
    
So what you're wondering is, what does this mean for you?
    
Starting with the most basic: the health care exchanges are to be set up for each state's citizens to find affordable health care through a government resource.
    
The question posed Friday was: who would each state want to run the health care exchange?
   
Would they want individual states to run it?  Or would they leave it up to the federal government? That was each governor’s choice.

"They've now extended the deadline so states now have until December 14 to decide,” Myers said.
    
So what has governor Mitch Daniels decided?
    
During the election, he said he would leave it up to the winning governor of the 2012 election.
   
Since Mike Pence won, it appears his choice to leave the exchanges up to the federal government will be Indiana's answer.

"The federal government would fund it, would staff it. But, they would also establish all of the rules in terms of what health plans would be allowed to offer coverage," Myers said.
    
That means come next year the federal government will likely decide how Indiana gives out health coverage.