Massachusetts Rejects Federal Health Insurance Marketplace

Officials overseeing Massachusetts' hobbled health care exchange have decided the state should stick with its own software rather than switch over to the federal government's health insurance market.

For the past several months the state has adopted a ``dual-track'' approach calling for buying software that has powered insurance marketplaces in other states while also laying the groundwork for a switchover to the federal marketplace, if necessary.

Massachusetts Health Connector officials announced Friday that Massachusetts will remain a state-based marketplace.

Gov. Deval Patrick said in a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that Massachusetts is ready to offer residents what he called a ``streamlined, single-point-of-entry shopping experience'' in time for the fall open enrollment period.

Patrick adviser Maydad Cohen says the software will deliver ``a smooth consumer experience.''