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Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) on Friday signed an executive order aimed at loosening ObamaCare rules in the state, saying states need to take action on their own regarding the health-care law. Otter signed the order directing the state’s insurance department to allow insurers to sell health plans that do not meet ObamaCare requirements. (Sullivan, 1/5)

Such a move would be aimed at middle-class uninsured Idahoans, including the self-employed. Otter and other officials believe the market also could include people in Idaho’s insurance gap, who can’t afford insurance but don’t qualify for Obamacare subsidies or Medicaid. Those plans would be sold off of Idaho’s health insurance exchange, at least at first. They are intended to encourage “the young and healthy” to rejoin insurance pools, to then benefit everyone’s overall rates, said Dean Cameron, director of the state Department of Insurance. (Dutton and Poppino, 1/5)