Updated: Nevada considered CT exchange software, but didn’t commit

Updated 3:45 p.m.

Nevada’s health insurance exchange board considered using Connecticut’s exchange system but opted to go in a different direction, according to a spokesman.

Access Health CT CEO Kevin Counihan told the Connecticut exchange’s board Thursday morning that Nevada’s exchange had signed a memorandum of understanding this week to take the Connecticut exchange’s software for use in 2016.

But CJ Bawden, a spokesman for Nevada’s exchange, said Thursday afternoon that after signing that document, the board decided to instead use the federal government’s eligibility and enrollment system for the next open enrollment period and then explore its options for other systems for 2016.

Nevada’s exchange, called Nevada Health Link, could choose to use Access Health’s software in 2016, but only after going through a selection process, he said.

After its system proved to be more functional than many across the country, Access Health launched a division called Access Health Exchange Solutions to market services to other states. Counihan has referred to the state’s offering as an “exchange in a box,” a turnkey exchange program that other states could use rather than building a new system from scratch.

Because the Access Health system was developed with federal funds, other states don’t have to pay Connecticut to use it.

Earlier this year, Maryland exchange officials decided to scrap their troubled system and use Connecticut’s platform, and 22 people from that state’s exchange visited Connecticut last week to learn more about it. The federal government is expected to rule by the end of June on whether Maryland can go forward with Connecticut’s system or will have to use the federal government’s exchange.

Several other states have also been in talks with Access Health about using the system for 2016.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the Nevada exchange’s 2016 plans.