The president’s decision to extend the renewal window for existing health plans won’t work for the millions losing their coverage unless insurers and state insurance regulators give their blessing.

Few state insurance commissioners by Friday had announced support for the Obama administration’s latest Obamacare patch. The state regulators, who were caught off guard by the White House’s Thursday announcement, largely said they needed more time to talk with health plans and evaluate whether the administration’s plan would upend their insurance markets.

Obama himself met with some leading insurance executives Friday for what he said was a “brainstorming” session about the policy.

“We’re going to be soliciting ideas from them,” he said. “There is going to be a collaborative process.”

The initial reaction to the White House “fix” didn’t run along the usual red state-blue state lines. Even a reliable White House ally like Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick couldn’t say whether his state would back the administration’s cancellation plan.

“We share the president’s commitment to assuring that everyone has adequate health coverage, and are working with the industry and our residents to implement the [Affordable Care Act],” said state Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy. “We will assess whether the latitude the president authorized today is necessary or helpful here in Massachusetts.”

And right next door, Rhode Island said “no thanks” to the new options the president offered.

Part of the problem is that the president is trying to layer his fix on top of an already complex set of regulations governed by the states. Each state manages its own markets and writes its own laws and rules. So even some states that are interested in the proposal might be unable to act on it.

State regulators and insurers are also worried that extending existing insurance policies for another year or more could drive up premiums for those in new health plans, which will have to ignore a person’s health status and include more robust consumer protections. Those concerns prompted Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler to reject Obama’s plan just hours after it was announced Thursday.

Those on board with the White House strategy early on range the political gamut, though. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, who’ve taken almost exactly opposite positions on Obamacare, said they support the White House on cancellations.

Kentucky, which is running its own exchange, and Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a fervent Obamacare critic, said they’ll work to help plans to renew if they choose.

Conversely, commissioners Mike Chaney of Mississippi and Ralph Hudgens of Georgia said Obama’s plan isn’t of much use use for their states.

Chaney said Mississippi has seen very few policy cancellations, obviating the need to rewrite the rules. “I do not plan to adjust any state policies/regulations to comply with the White House’s request,” he wrote in an email. “We have very few sub-standard plans in Mississippi. The number of policies cancelled in our state is less than 500.”

Colorado’s insurance regulator pointed out that the state already had given insurers an early chance to renew policies into 2014. Some insurers offered the chance to some customers, so Colorado hopes the new White House policy won’t push insurers to make major changes.

“We’ll work with carriers if they feel the need to make some drastic changes,” said Vincent Plymell, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Insurance.

Montana Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen’s office said the regulator is still studying the White House plan, but her hands may be tied because Obamacare’s insurance market reforms were never incorporated into state law.

“Basically, we’re trying to support the efforts as much as we can,” a spokeswoman for the Montana Democrat said.