Obama Will Run Most Health Law Marketplaces as States Step Aside

More than half of the state exchanges to be created under the 2010 U.S. health-care overhaul are expected to be run by the federal government, offering insurers and consumers uniform criteria in those areas.

While a final tally won’t come until at least today, 32 states have said they’ll let the U.S. build all or most of their exchanges or are expected to, according to Avalere Health, a Washington-based consultant. Sixteen and Washington, D.C. said they plan to build their own, with the rest unclear. That puts the onus on the Obama administration to set up the marketplaces at the heart of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to expand medical coverage to as many as 30 million people.