REPUBLICANS START CAVING INTO TYRANNY

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah joined a list totaling 17 states and the District of Columbia that have all won conditional approval to establish their own state exchanges, with operations set to begin on January 1, 2014.

A fifth Republican-governed state, Mississippi, applied to operate a state exchange, but has not received approval because of a dispute about how much authority state officials should exercise over the operations of its prospective online marketplace, officials said.

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