By Susan K. Livio and Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger

TRENTON — Distancing himself from past comments about the health care law the Supreme Court upheld last week, Gov. Chris Christie said today he would let the Obama administration create an online marketplace for coverage if it saved the state money.

Christie also said it might not be necessary for the state to expand Medicaid as the federal law envisions.

"Medicaid is pretty well expanded ... in New Jersey already because of the legacy of previous Democratic governors," he said. "I don’t think there is all that much to do."

Christie’s comments suggested he planned to follow the lead of other Republican governors, who say they’ll refuse to implement any voluntary components of the law.

"We are going to consider what is the most cost-effective option for the citizens of New Jersey," Christie said on the televison program ‘Fox & Friends.’ "If it’s more cost-effective to let the federal government set this up, we may consider going that route. I don’t want to spend any money than I have don’t have to spend of taxpayer dollars."

The exchange is a marketplace, accessible online and by telephone, that would provide information to help consumers shop for state-approved health coverage and apply for subsidies and tax credits.

Christie vetoed a bill in May that would have created an exchange, saying he wanted to delay any unnecessary action until the high court decided whether the law was constitutional.

But even in the statement attached to his veto, Christie wrote that his administration "stands ready to implement the Affordable Care Act if its provisions are ultimately upheld."

Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University, said there might be some savings if New Jersey takes the federal government’s offer "to run some exchange functions that are common to all states while leaving others functions that are more state specific," like informing consumers about market rules and plan benefits.

"This so-called ‘partnership’ or ‘hybrid’ model might well end up being the most efficient, Cantor said.

But John V. Jacobi, a professor at Seton Hall law school, said New Jersey had experience creating insurance markets, noting that state regulators have managed individual and small group insurance plans since 1992.

"Business, insurance, and consumer groups in New Jersey would have more input into exchange design and management if it were done by the state rather than the federal government," Jacobi said.

Princeton University Professor Uwe Reinhardt, an expert in health care economics, said he agrees with Christie's view.

"I think it is a smart move to rely on a federal exchange, unless its regulations were viewed as onerous. To have every state set up its own exchange with its own structure and rules may quickly become a nightmare," Reinhardt wrote in an email.

"But creating regulatory nightmares in health care is an American speciality. Every piece of legislation seems designed to create employment for consultants," he added.

Regardless of whether the exchange is operated by the state, the federal government or a partnership of the two, consumers in every state will be able to shop and enroll in private health insurance" on January 2014, according to a statement from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), in a wide-ranging interview with The Star-Ledger editorial board, called the governor’s comments "the company Republican national line."

Now they’ve lost the court battle and want to distance themselves," Sweeney said.

Referring to Christie’s notion of rejecting a Medicaid expansion — which would insure an 450,000 on top of the one million already covered, according to one estimate — "is playing to a national audience and not the people of the state of New Jersey," he said.

In what has become a routine for Christie — hitting a string of radio and television shows after making news in Trenton – the governor’s appearance on "Fox & Friends" was one of several today in the wake of a special legislative session he called to press for a tax cut.

After months of trading blows with the Democrat-controlled Legislature, Christie signed a $31.7 billion budget last week. He didn’t get a bill to cut taxes that he wanted, however, so he summoned lawmakers to the extra session. Democrats again resisted, saying they needed to see a speedier economic recovery in the next six months.

Next Monday the governor — whose name is mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential nominee — plans to take his economic message to the Brookings Institution, a liberal-leaning research organization in Washington. He plans to discuss jobs, taxes and the budget.

Related coverage:

• Gov. Christie says he disagrees with health care law but will meet deadline

• Gov. Chris Christie vetoes 'health exchange' bill tied to federal health care reform law