CHICAGO With fewer than three weeks left until a key launch date for the nations health care law, Illinois residents planning to shop for insurance on an online marketplace still dont know which companies will offer plans or what the policies will cost.

The uncertainty is vexing business owners, self-employers and others who want to create their budgets for 2014.

Heightened speculation and political spin are also in the air, with Republicans stressing increases compared with some current rates and Democrats crowing about subsidies many consumers will get.

Illinoisans arent likely to know more about policies and pricing until the Web-based marketplace opens Oct. 1, according to federal officials who addressed a group of health professionals and other stakeholders this week without explaining precisely why.

More than a dozen states have released their prices, but Illinois is waiting for final word from the federal government. Washington is controlling most of the important aspects of the states marketplace because Illinois didnt move fast enough to set up its exchange.

What concerns me about repeated delays in releasing rates is, will there be a delay in opening the marketplace? said Bill Pocklington, executive director of Employers Coalition on Health in Rockford. That enrollment window is a tight window. Anything that further narrows that would be really unfortunate.

Under President Barack Obamas health law, almost all Americans will be required to have health insurance in 2014 or face fines, and insurers will be prohibited from turning away people because of poor health. The marketplaces, one for each state, are a key part of the law.

The coverage offered on the marketplaces, which are supposed to be one-stop sites for easy comparison shopping and enrollment, will start Jan. 1. About 700,000 Illinois residents will be eligible for aid in paying for marketplace-bought health insurance. An additional 600,000 will be newly eligible for Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor.

Small-business owners and individuals are frustrated with the lack of disclosure. Chicago insurance broker Sean Whaley said his self-employed clients are frustrated that they cant plan ahead for their families health care costs in 2014.

The whole thing is ridiculous, he told The Associated Press. Theyre trying to plan their finances and nothings set in stone at all.

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Health care overhaul: Illinoisans wait for online-marketplace rates