This Hill article tries to obscure the basic problem a bit…

A number of states are quietly considering merging their healthcare exchanges under ObamaCare amid big questions about their cost and viability.

Many of the 13 state-run ObamaCare exchanges are worried about how they’ll survive once federal dollars supporting them run dry next year.

…by going on to present a third-party allegation that states on the federal Obamacare exchange are maybe interested in joining a multi-state exchange as being a fact.  There’s plenty of states contemplating this, by gum!  The guy running the Connecticut Obamacare exchange wants you to know that you’ll be amazed by the names! …But he can’t tell you which states, because no bureaucrat has ever wanted to even slightly embarrass a Republican office holder, ever.

But the real problem – the imminent lack of that sweet, sweet federal subsidy money – is not quite so hard to assess. Basically, when Obamacare was imposed on us back in Obama’s first term the understanding was that states that set up their own exchanges were expected to be self sufficient by… January of this year.  This did not happen. This did not even come close to happening: the state exchanges have largely been awful in their ability to function properly, and that’s with government largess to cover up a multitude of fiscal sins.  Imagine how they’ll be doing when the deadline for self-sufficiency is finally observed – and there’s a real limit to how long this can may be kicked down the road.

Hence the sudden interest in multi-state exchanges.  Combine the infrastructure, cut the overhead – that translates to ‘fire some people,’ by the way – and maybe the new mega-exchanges can survive for a while longer.  Especially if they raise fees in the process, which is already happening in at least some of the state exchanges.  The combination won’t really do anything to fix the situation, but at least it would do something.  To bureaucrats, that’s often enough.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Yes. all of this is just another way of saying that Obamacare was and is a despicable lie – but you probably figured that out already.  If you haven’t… I almost envy you. Almost.