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Source: Pioneer Press, St.儲存倉 Paul, Minn.Sept. 30--The state's new health insurance exchange under the national Affordable Care Act is still scheduled for an Oct. 1 launch, but it won't be an early start.One of the final checks for MNsure, the name of the state's new insurance marketplace, is to make sure it can communicate with a federal data hub that's key to determining whether people qualify for tax credits.The final check of the link won't happen until Tuesday morning, said John Reich, a spokesman for MNsure."Assuming that all goes well, we likely aren't going to be up until later in the afternoon," Reich said in an interview.Minnesota is creating a health exchange to implement the federal Affordable Care Act, which requires almost all Americans to have healthinsurance next year or pay a tax penalty.State-level exchanges will make federal tax credits available to many health insurance shoppers. People who buy individual policies rather than getting insurance through an employer, as well as small businesses with fewer than 50 workers, can start shopping Oct. 1."Generally speaking, people should be able to enroll in insurance, have an eligibility determination, shop for plans and pay their first month's premium," Reich said of the system that's expected to go live on Tuesday.In the days leading up to the launch, MNsure officials have been downplaying the idea that lots of consumers will be purchasing new policies on Oct. 1. At the same time, they've acknowledged that not all health exchange functions will be available immediately.Health insurance shoppers might want to look at the network of doctors and hospitals covered by a particular health plan, as well as the "formulary" of medications covered by an insurance policy. But that information won迷你倉最平t be available within the MNsure website -- instead, there should be links to insurance company websites that have the information, Reich said.Small business owners should be able to shop for coverage right away, Reich said. But their employees won't actually be able to select a plan until later in the fall -- a lag that federal officials last week said also would apply in states where the exchanges are being run by the federal government.It's unclear whether or how many health insurance agents and brokers who often help small businesses buy coverage will be able to close deals through MNsure on Oct. 1. A number of agents and brokers are ready to go from a training perspective, Reich said, but some system checks remain.The federal health law calls for a new group of consumer advisers called "navigators" to be available for consumers, and many will be employed by community groups with expertise in reaching groups where many currently lack coverage. But navigators apparently won't be ready to go on Oct. 1."A number of them have made it through the training, and at this point we're in the final stages of getting contracts out," Reich said. "We could have folks on as early as Wednesday."People also will use MNsure to enroll in the Medicaid and MinnesotaCare public health insurance programs. County-level workers often do the enrollment work, and it's unclear how many will be trained in using MNsure by Oct. 1.A final training module for county workers was scheduled for release Monday, Sept. 30.Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479. Follow him at .twitter.com/chrissnowbeck.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at .twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存