On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded grants worth $185 million to 13 states and the District of Columbia to help with continuing implementation of health insurance exchanges.

The highlights of health reform news from late last week include a report about a consumer benefit that not many people know about, and a report about how Texas – despite the public opposition of Gov. Rick Perry – is moving forward on planning for an insurance exchange.

A bill to establish a state-run insurance exchange has received final legislative passage in Oregon, according to the Oregonian. A surprising number of Republicans voted for the bill, apparently won over by the argument that the state is better off running its exchange than leaving it to the federal government, no matter what one's opinion of the health reform law is.

New York is the latest state selected to be an "Early Innovator" that is having trouble setting up an insurance exchange, according to Politico. Some experts are worried that the Legislature is moving too slowly to get a bill passed in time to take advantage of the federal funds.

Minnesota, a state with one of the most advanced health care systems in the nation, can't get an insurance exchange bill passed because of a complicated disagreement that defies the typical Democrat versus Republican standoff, according to Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post.

Of all the changes taking place under health reform, the one that arguably concerns states the most is the requirement to develop insurance exchanges by 2014. The Department of Health and Human Services will try to relieve the burden on states as a whole by beginning what amounts to a "Race to the Top" for insurance exchanges.