California receives approval for health exchange

California was among seven states that received conditional approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to operate their own insurance exchanges. Arkansas was approved to operate a partnership exchange with the federal government.

In all, 19 states and Washington, D.C., have been partially or fully approved. Other states have until Feb. 15 to apply for a partnership exchange.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday's action will accelerate development of the health insurance marketplaces, where she said consumers will be able to buy affordable, high quality insurance. Conditional approval "will provide the information states need to guide their continued work."

California was the first state to authorize a health insurance exchange after passage of the federal Affordable Care Act in 2010. State officials say having control allows California to custom build a marketplace that caters to its needs.

The California Health Benefit Exchange board, which now goes by Covered California, submitted its operational plan last month to expand coverage by at least 2 million. The California HealthCare Foundation estimates the state has about 7.1 million people —or about 18 percent of its total population — without health insurance.