State Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens says he has accepted the insurance rate filings for Georgia's health care exchange after asking for a deadline extension from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Hudgens said Thursday that he asked for a 30-day extension to the July 31 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rate filing deadline, and did not receive a response from federal officials.

Hudgens earlier this week said some insurers planned rate increases of nearly 200 percent for certain people, and the companies claimed the increases were justified under the federal health care program. Hudgens has said he asked for the extension so his department and federal officials could analyze the proposed rates.

Hudgens says he urges Congress and the White House to repeal or delay the law's implementation.

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