Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies to the Senate Finance Committee in Washington March 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Joshua Roberts

NEW YORK | Wed May 11, 2011 5:24pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most states likely will run their own health insurance marketplaces or partner with neighbors to help expand coverage under the federal health reform law, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday.

“We think that the vast majority of states will choose to either run their own or run their own in conjunction with neighbors” rather than leave it to the federal government, Sebelius told the Reuters Health Summit on Wednesday.

More than half of all states are challenging the law in federal court, focusing largely on a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance or pay a fine.

Sebelius said she believed the requirement was constitutional but there were other ways to expand insurance coverage if it was struck down.

She also said health insurers’ financial reports showed they were “doing well” in the market since the law took effect. Concerns the law would dismantle the market seem “wildly incorrect,” she said.

article from: Reuters.com