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run the insurance exchange because a state-run exchange would cost too much. He said he doesn't think the governor's decision not to set up a state-run exchange will affect the hospitals, nursing homes or other facilities that are members of the association.
• Daugaard said Wednesday he still hopes the federal law is repealed because he believes it expands government while doing little to curb the rising cost of health care.
• "In the absence of that, our state must work to ensure that even as the federal government implements this law, the state retains control over the regulation of health insurance," the governor said.
• Tony Venhuizen, the governor's communications director, said when South Dakota submits its plan telling federal officials that the state will not run its own exchange, it also will propose that the state be allowed to manage the plan. The state would decide which companies are eligible to offer insurance policies through the exchange and would continue regulating the licensing, marketing and other aspects of the insurance industry in the state, he said.
• "It allows the state to retain the overall insurance regulation function," Venhuizen said.
• Hunhoff said the governor and other South Dakota officials should accept that the health care overhaul will be implemented.
• "It's going to be the law of the land. We can't just bury our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening," Hunhoff said.
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