TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is at odds with Governor Sam Brownback and other fellow Kansas Republicans over what they deride as “Obamacare.”

She’s trying to preserve a role for the state in a federally mandated online health insurance market.

But the conflict runs deeper than a disagreement over tactics in responding to the health care overhaul championed by Democratic President Barack Obama.

 

Praeger stands out among Kansas Republicans for not condemning the 2010 law with its individual mandate that requires Americans not covered by their employers to purchase health insurance.

Brownback wants to wait on making decisions about an online health insurance market until after the presidential election.

But after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law last week, Praeger praised it as step toward ensuring access to health care for all Americans.