JACKSON -- Did he or didn't he?

Media reports last week said Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney had reversed course, due to intense pressure from the Tea Party, and was no longer developing a health insurance exchange for the state.

Chaney denied that, but said the final decision would be made after the November elections. Republicans have vowed, if they gain control, to repeal President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which includes the health insurance exchanges.

It should be noted that many prominent Republicans have voiced support for the health insurance exchanges as an easier and less expensive way for people without insurance to shop for the best policy for them.

The free market at its best many, people both sides of the political aisle have said. But the fact the president is for it is reason enough for some to be against it in this unusual political environment.

No doubt, Chaney, as politicians are apt to do, tried to appease the Tea Party with some of his comments, but in the end he made it clear that if the Affordable Care Act is fully enacted in 2014 Mississippi will have its own health insurance exchange.

And with the health insurance exchange a person can click on a web site and compare prices and benefits offered by various companies -- no doubt socialism run rampant.