Pennsylvania, Delaware, Arkansas get feds' OK in bids to start running insurance marketplaces

The Obama administration is giving conditional approval to Arkansas, Delaware and Pennsylvania to run state-based insurance marketplaces created under the 2010 health care law.

Monday's approvals come ahead of a high court decision that could wipe out federal health insurance subsidies for millions.

Letters to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, both Democrats, and Arkansas' Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson say the approval reflects the expectation that the states' roles in the marketplaces will start to take effect for the 2016 policy year.

Right now, the federal government operates the marketplaces in three dozen states, including Pennsylvania, Delaware and Arkansas. But plaintiffs in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court say the Obama administration is unlawfully providing subsidies to millions who buy insurance through those marketplaces.