As the governor's health care bill moves through the Senate, there's been a lot of focus on how newly created health care exchanges will work in Vermont. These exchanges were a big topic on Tuesday's Vital Signs Vermont Edition program. The exchanges are mandated by the federal health care law and due to go into effect in January of 2014.

They're designed to act like a marketplace for consumers. Health insurance companies would post prices for a common benefits plan so that consumers can make an "apples to apples" comparison of policy costs.

The exchanges would also be the way that the federal government would provide subsidies to help low and middle income people purchase a policy.

The debate is over how many insurance companies will be allowed to offer their products in Vermont's exchange. It's important because the exchange will be the only way for many businesses and individuals to purchase insurance.

During the program, Anya Rader Wallack, the governor's special assistant for health care, said she wants to limit the number of companies in order to achieve the most administrative savings.

But Jeanne Keller of the Vermont Employers Health Alliance thinks these limits will undermine the state's private health insurance market.

If you'd like to follow how the Senate is proposing to change the House-passed bill, go to the Vermont Legislature's Website: www.leg.state.vt.us and click on the Joint Fiscal Office's link. Select the Draft Mark-up of H 202 by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

The bill should be up for debate on the Senate floor sometime next week.