Starting Monday, 1.3 million Georgians who purchased health care through the Affordable Care Act will be able to check plans through Georgia Access, the state's new marketplace exchange.

Open enrollment for Georgia Access begins Friday. For the first time since the ACA was implemented, Georgians will be banned from using the federal website to sign up for health insurance.

“This milestone is the result of the extraordinary work our office has done over the past three years to free Georgia from dependence on the federal government for health insurance,” Georgia Insurance and Fire Protection Commissioner John King said in a statement Press release.

Former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which established government-subsidized health insurance plans called “Obamacare.” More than a dozen states have set up their own exchanges to run the ACA's subsidy program, and Georgia received approval from the federal government to open its own marketplace in August after years of negotiations.

Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said launching a state-run insurance exchange would be one of his top priorities after his election in 2019.

“A state-run exchange will not only make the insurance process easier for Georgians, but will also improve their insurance options and our ability to promote high-quality, affordable health insurance plans,” Kemp said in a news release.

The Georgia Access website should allow Georgians to find health insurance that is both affordable and covers basic needs, just like the ACA website. But some worry that private companies will prioritize their own profits over providing people with good coverage, and that those seeking to benefit from user fees may push for more sign-ups than was the case in the federal system.

The state already makes hundreds of millions of dollars from the site's registration fees that previously went into the federal system.

Unlike other state exchanges, the Georgia Access website emphasizes links that direct people to private web brokers and insurance agents. State officials say many Georgians already use private options and that they would revoke a broker's license if they don't act in the best interests of consumers.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that two of the private web brokers Georgia works with, Benefitalign and Inshura, were temporarily banned from the ACA website after federal investigations and a civil lawsuit found evidence of alleged fraud.

Still, some private web brokers, such as HealthSherpa.com, where 550,000 ACA policyholders in Georgia signed up, received positive reviews.

As with the federal website, federally funded navigators will be available to help Georgia users understand their options. Navigators may suggest enrolling in a Medicaid plan that provides free public health care to some low-income adults.

State officials said they would work to provide consumers with a smooth enrollment process and prevent a repeat of the ACA's chaotic launch over a decade ago.

“Any time you have a big launch like this, unexpected situations are going to arise,” Georgia Access executive director Cheryl Gardner said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But we think we have no imagination. We have imagined almost everything that can happen and we are ready to deal with it.”