Exchanges will serve as online marketplaces for uninsured people to buy private coverage starting in 2014.

Idaho is among 27 states challenging the health care overhaul in court.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter's administration favors using federal money to help set up an exchange crafted to meet Idaho's needs, rather than leaving it to the federal government if the U.S. Supreme Court eventually upholds the law.

"It's not that we're not going to comply with the basic requirements," Deal said. "But how we do them can be fashioned, established and planned by Idaho, our insurance companies, our Legislature and the Department of Health and Welfare, and the citizens of Idaho."

Deal has been meeting with those stakeholders to help spread the word about why an exchange tailored to Idaho's needs makes sense.

But a fight could come because the federal government awarded the money, but Idaho lawmakers during the 2012 session will still have to sign off on spending it.

And history shows they've been reluctant to do that.

In a 50-15 protest vote last March, for instance, the Idaho House rejected Deal's agency's budget over objections that it included $2.5 million from the federal government to help develop insurance exchanges foreseen by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Representatives refused to pass the spending plan until Deal removed the federal money, and House Speaker Lawerence Denney predicted a similar debate will ensue. "That will be one of the major issues" of the 2012 session, said Denney, R-Midvale.

Overhaul foes who particularly hate provisions requiring people to buy insurance or face a fine contend taking the money undermines Idaho's legal challenge and sets the state up for increasing the size of government. Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, said he'll be pushing for Idaho to reject this latest round of federal money.

"Bill Deal has said he doesn't know how much (an exchange) is going to cost," Barbieri said Tuesday. "Idaho is a relatively small state. Should we be committing ourselves to unknown tens of millions of dollars for a huge, new bureaucracy?"

Other lawmakers who fiercely oppose the overhaul have been undecided on whether Idaho should take the federal money.

In a recent interview, House Majority Leader Mike Moyle said the law signed by President Obama puts states like Idaho in a tough spot: Either develop an exchange itself, or let the federal government do it. Moyle said he's not sure if there would be much difference.

"If you have to do everything the feds want anyway, then why not let the feds run it?" he said.

If the Legislature approves, Idaho would use the federal money to complete necessary exchange planning, research and design, including developing policy goals; hiring staff and consultants; and keeping players in the insurance and medical industries informed about the project's progress.