In anticipation of a possible Supreme Court decision that could jeopardize the health insurance of an estimated 382,000 Pennsylvanians, the Wolf administration has applied to the federal government to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace.
The Supreme Court is currently weighing a challenge to the use by some states of the federal health insurance marketplace and the contention of litigants that the Affordable Care Act specifies that insurance subsidies would only be available through state-based exchanges.  If the court rules against the federal government, the insurance of residents of states that did not establish their own exchanges and who instead obtained their insurance and federal subsidies through the federal exchange will be in jeopardy.
The move by the Wolf administration is a contingency plan and does not commit the state to developing its own exchange.
For further information about the state’s application to establish a health insurance exchange, see this Wolf administration news release.