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Starting this month, state-run insurance exchanges are legally required by the healthcare reform law to be financially self-sustaining. But that mandate is being ignored across the country, and there do not appear to be any immediate consequences for the states. Many of the 16 states and the District of Columbia that run their own marketplaces will continue to rely on leftover federal funds to pay for operations this year. The Obama administration issued a guidance last year that states can continue to use federal grant dollars this year if the CMS grants permission. Some uses of the funds are prohibited, such as for rent and software maintenance. (Tahir and Demko, 1/10)

A multi-million dollar IT system that Colorado officials promised would make signing up for health coverage simple has instead snagged thousands of customers and now will cost several hundred thousand dollars — if not millions — to fix. (Kerwin McCrimmon, 1/9)

Officials with the state's health insurance exchange say they need $322,000 to fix technical problems with the website that have kept thousands of people from enrolling for coverage. Staff plan to make a request for the funding to Connect for Health Colorado's board of directors on Monday. (Draper, 1/9)

The push to get more Washington residents health insurance scored big time with a new public service announcement featuring Seahawks star players Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman. The PSA being released Friday is a no-frills, 30-second production in which Wilson and Sherman make the case for getting health insurance and urge people to act soon. The delivery is flat, but at least spares viewers a slew of bad sports puns. (Stiffler, 1/9)