A panel that will make recommendations on how Illinois implements the national health care law is delaying its report to Gov. Pat Quinn by one month. Spokesman Mike Claffey says the Health Care Reform Implementation Council now plans to submit a report to Quinn on Jan. 31. The original target was Dec. 31.

Claffey says the council needs to consider Medicaid overhaul proposals that may come out of the Legislature. Medicaid is a state and federal program for the poor and disabled. The national health care law, the Affordable Care Act, calls for expanding Medicaid to cover more people in 2014.

About 80 comments from the public on health insurance exchanges, a key component of the Affordable Care Act, are posted on the council’s Web site.