Insurance Exchanges Could Still Be Funded if Government Shuts Down

The state-based insurance exchanges set to open Oct. 1 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will likely have access to funding even if Congress fails to pass a spending bill and the federal government shuts down, exchange officials and health policy experts have told Reuters. The funding that 16 states and the District of Columbia are set to receive to run their new health insurance exchanges is part of a "permanent appropriation," meaning the money is cemented in the 2010 healthcare reform law and isn't subject to annual appropriations, Paul Van de Water, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Reuters.

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