(via: NYTimes.com) While the travails of the federally run SHOP exchanges have been widely reported, many of the state-run exchanges — which together could serve about two-fifths of the nation’s small businesses — have faced their own problems in attempting to field a small-business health insurance exchange.

Quote:

In California, which has by far the largest population of businesses with fewer than 50 employees, small businesses could not enroll in an insurance plan until Nov. 25. Prior to that, businesses could register online, but had to contact an insurance agent to get a rate quote…Four other states — Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi, and Oregon — have yet to deploy a functioning SHOP exchange at all….To be sure, businesses in any state that want to offer health insurance to employees — and no company with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees is obliged to provide the coverage — can do so. They can either renew their existing policies or buy new policies that comply with the Affordable Care Act’s various standards on the private market.

Continue reading article at its source: Small Businesses Showing Little Interest in State SHOP Exchanges (NYTimes.com)