RICHMOND, Va. --

With the theme from "Mission Impossible" playing in the background, a gubernatorial advisory panel inched closer to deciding what essential health benefits would have to be offered in a Virginia-operated insurance exchange.

The panel, appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to help carry out federal health care reform, came just short on Thursday of endorsing a small-group insurance plan offered by Anthem, Virginia's biggest insurer, as the benchmark for competitors in the exchange.

Instead, the Virginia Health Reform Initiative Advisory Council decided to wait for a detailed comparison of benefits currently provided under insurance plans in the state, as well as a better understanding of what services would be covered for mental health, substance abuse and therapies for developmentally delayed children.

"We're almost making it too complicated," said state Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, who has pushed the state to make decisions sooner rather than later on how to establish a health benefits exchange. "It's pretty straight up."

The council debated the benefits issue in its first meeting since making recommendations last September that neither the governor nor the legislature acted upon. McDonnell has not taken a public position on the recommendations, choosing instead to wait until after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

"Our instructions remain: 'prepare,' " said Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Hazel, a former orthopedic surgeon who chairs the advisory panel.

Previous recommendations focused on the governing structure for an exchange, including whether to house it at the State Corporation Commission or create an independent, quasigovernmental entity.

The debate on Thursday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center dealt solely with the package of essential benefits that all insurers competing in an exchange would have to offer individuals and small businesses.

Federal regulators have left the decision to the states, while providing a list of 10 essential services that insurers would have to cover, either through a benchmark benefit plan or additional riders that would be eligible for federal subsidies.

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Health-care reform panel considers exchange options for Va.