<i>A few, like No. 1-rated Johns Hopkins in Maryland, are mandated under state law to accept all insurance companies</i><p>That sounds like a totally sane statutory requirement. Why don't more states have it? Collusion between hospital chains and insurers is the crux of the health care cost problem in the US.
This is going to precipitate one of two things:<p>If hospitals get federal money for anything they will be required to accept insurance offered on the exchange that meet some minimum qualification. At least the two that were blessed as the national options.<p>Or insurance companies will be required to put an offering on the exchange...likely both.<p>Like the states refusing to expand Medicaid and set up their exchanges, the hospitals are hastening the transition to a single payer healthcare system by refusing to play ball.