Indications by the Kasich Administration that it will not set up an Ohio Health Insurance Exchange, leaving the door open for the federal government to handle that task, shows the uncertainty that continues to surround the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, pejoratively labeled by its opponents as Obamacare.

Small wonder. The Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, has said he will veto Obamacare his first day in office and this election is so close, according to pollsters, that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may have a short life come January.

Even if Romney wins in November, however, the likelihood is that he and his Republican colleagues in Congress will have to come up with a credible replacement for Obamacare.

The United States is the only modern industrialized nation in the world that does not provide universal access to its health care system. …

In the meantime, the insurance exchange system in Ohio will be handled by the federal government.

An organized marketplace to facilitate competitive bidding of health insurance, the health insurance exchange will be a positive step in curbing health care costs, one that is likely to continue regardless of whether Romney unseats President Obama.

Kent-Ravenna Record Courier