The Honorable Sylvia Burwell
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Burwell,

Please accept this letter as Pennsylvania’s declaration to implement a State Based individual and SHOP Marketplace (“Marketplace”) using the federal platform for plan year 2016.

In this model, Pennsylvania will assume responsibility for running the Marketplace, but will leverage the Federally Facilitated Marketplace’s (FFM’s) existing infrastructure to provide certain services. Pennsylvania will continue to work closely with the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to prepare the State Based Marketplace blueprint application and define the roles and responsibilities of the State Marketplace and the FFM.

The Commonwealth designates the Acting Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Teresa Miller, as the primary point of contact regarding the Marketplace. Commissioner Miller is authorized to formally bind the Commonwealth regarding the Marketplace, complete and sign the Marketplace application, and electronically attest to the facts in the Marketplace application. Pennsylvania acknowledges that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Commonwealth may agree to amend this declaration letter to include additional information necessary to establish the Marketplace.

Pennsylvania is committed to working with HHS, CCIIO, and stakeholders in the Commonwealth to implement a streamlined Marketplace that will be tailored to local needs, run in a fiscally responsible manner, and overseen by state regulators, who can use their decades of experience regulating the Pennsylvania insurance market to build on the FFM’s work improving health insurance access, quality, transparency, and affordability. Pennsylvania supports your efforts to transform payment for health care services from volume to value. The Commonwealth will be working with health insurance companies participating in the marketplace to identify goals that mirror those articulated by the federal government in this area.

Thank you for your continued support in this important undertaking.

Sincerely,

Tom Wolf
Governor