The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that all states must have a health insurance exchange in place by 2014, otherwise residents of that state will have the opportunity to enroll through a federal health insurance exchange. A health insurance exchange aims to provide competitive pricing and transparency to those who are currently unable to afford health care coverage and to certain businesses. This is seen as a step towards universal health coverage. [1] A predecessor to the Health Insurance Exchange as noted, but PPACA is the Massachusetts Exchange, titled Connector. Connector provides information on brand-name health insurance options as well as information about Commonwealth Care, the free or low-cost health care plan for low-income people who do not qualify for MassHealth benefits. [2] Since the passage of the PPACA, some other states have organized health insurance exchanges for their residents, including California, Utah, and West Virginia. [3][4] Many are also expanding their health insurance exchange programs. This is not to say that every health insurance exchange develops the same way. The Utah Health Insurance Exchange is a collection of websites that a consumer can visit to get health insurance quotes, while the Connector provides comparative quotes that a consumer can view at the same time. The Kaiser Family Foundation has produced a comprehensive health brief. insurance exchange, which lists and explains 5 functions of the health insurance exchange. The 5 functions of a health insurance exchange as outlined by the Kaiser Family Foundation included: Providing potential members with a multitude of health plan options focused on competitive pricingB...... middle of paper .. ....ts 27.21 (2010): 7-9. Commercial source completed. EBSCO. Internet. April 17, 2011.4. Williams, Walt. "W.Va. to launch health insurance exchange." State Journal June 10, 2010: n. page. Internet. April 17, 2011. .5. UNITED STATES. Reality check on health insurance reform. Washington DC: , the web. April 17, 2011. .6. Blumberg, Linda and Karen Pollitz. “Health Insurance Exchanges: Organizing Health Insurance Markets to Promote Health Reform Goals.” Timely analysis of immediate health policy issues. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, April 2009. Web. April 17, 2011. .7. Pickert, Kate. “Behind the health insurance exchanges.” Time August 12, 2009: Web. April 17 2011. .