BOISE Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold contested elements of the health care reform law, Idaho lawmakers are now facing the difficult task of how to move forward.

On Monday, a 14-member panel met in Boise to hear more about the questions Idaho must answer in the upcoming months. States have until Nov. 16 to submit their exchange plans.

The critical components of the Affordable Care Act require states to decide if they will expand Medicaids eligibility requirements and if they should implement some sort of insurance exchange.

For Idaho, these decisions force lawmakers to work with a law they have adamantly opposed ever since it passed in 2010. Highlights of Idahos rocky relationship with the law include Gov. C.L.Butch Otter suing the federal government for passing the law and legislatures refusing to accept the $20 million offered from the feds to help fund the exchange.

Were looking for ways to keep the federal government out of peoples decision when it comes to health care, said Sen. Dean Cameron, co-chair of the Senate-House health care task force, during a meeting Monday in Boise.

In just a few months, Idaho must submit a proposal on how it will go about setting up an exchange. The online marketplace would allow individuals to shop and compare health insurance coverage, an option currently unavailable for consumers.

States have three options when it comes to setting up an exchange. 1) Create and manage a state-run exchange; 2) Let the federal government develop and control the exchange; 3) Come up with some sort of partnership that splits the responsibilities of the exchange with the federal government.

States can also choose to partner with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services until they come up with their own exchange, said Joy Wilson, health policy director for the National Conference of State Legislatures

There are pros and cons to that option, Wilson said. Kind of depends how comfortable you are having HHS having that big of a role in your insurance market.

However, if Idaho declines to set up its own exchange, the federal governments exchange may not be as ideal for the state, Wilson said.

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Panel Discusses Health Care Reform Impacts for Idaho