{"id":2443237,"date":"2019-04-21T10:15:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T16:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=304500"},"modified":"2019-04-21T10:15:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T16:15:19","slug":"more-work-needed-on-colorado-health-reinsurance-bill-to-lower-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/more-work-needed-on-colorado-health-reinsurance-bill-to-lower-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"More work needed on Colorado health reinsurance bill to lower rates"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this April 2, 2018 file photo, Colorado Democratic state Sen. Kerry Donovan speaks at the Capitol in Denver. Donovan is a sponsor of a reinsurance bill designed to reduce health insurance premiums on the state’s individual market. Residents in Donovan’s central Rocky Mountain district pay some of the highest insurance rates in the country (AP Photo\/Dave Zalubowski, File)<\/strong>
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DENVER (AP) \u2014 Democrat Kerry Donovan says she thought agricultural and water issues would be her top priority when she was elected a Colorado state senator representing a central Rocky Mountain district in 2015.<\/p>\n

But Donovan says that district, which includes the Roaring Fork Valley, has become the nation\u2019s most expensive individual health care market \u2014 and health care is her constituents\u2019 top concern. She is co-sponsoring a bill designed to have an almost immediate impact on reducing those premiums by having the state help insure the insurers.<\/p>\n

A scheduled Senate committee hearing on the bill was postponed Thursday over concerns its proposed payment mechanism may not yet meet federal rules, Donovan said. She said the bill\u2019s sponsors planned to work over the weekend to find a solution.<\/p>\n

The bill<\/a> would make the state cover some of the most costly medical bills incurred by patients on Colorado\u2019s individual market, or about 250,000 people who buy health coverage directly from insurers.<\/p>\n

Legislative economists estimate the program would cost $237 million in fiscal year 2020-21, including $120 million in state funds and $117 million in federal funds.<\/p>\n

That would allow private insurers to lower market premiums. Residents in Vail, Eagle and Aspen \u2014 as well as the Western Slope, San Luis valley and the eastern plains \u2014 frequently pay $500 a month more than Denver residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I say people are choosing between health care and a mortgage, that\u2019s not exaggerated,\u201d Donovan said this week. She says reinsurance, also a top priority for Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, could deliver an immediate 35% to 40% reduction in individual premiums in rural Colorado and a 15 percent reduction in Denver.<\/p>\n

Statewide, individual market premiums could drop by an average 21 percent starting in 2020, according to a legislative analysis<\/a> of the bill.<\/p>\n

Co-sponsoring the bill are Republican Rep. Janice Rich of Grand Junction, Republican Sen. Bob Rankin of Carbondale and Democratic Rep. Julie McCluskie of Dillon.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Hospital Association opposed the bill until a draft calling for reinsurance payments to hospitals to be set at rates correlating to lower Medicare payments was eliminated.<\/p>\n

A rulemaking process would determine when state reinsurance kicks in for individual patients. As currently written, the program would be partly funded by hospital fees over five years up to a maximum $500 million, federal funds and revenue bonds to be issued by the Division of Insurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our goals this year is to lead by example. If we\u2019re going to tackle affordability, it\u2019s going to take all of us,\u201d said Julie Lonborg, the hospital association\u2019s vice president of communications.<\/p>\n

If the bill becomes law, the hospital association will participate in rulemaking and crafting a state request for federal permission to implement the program. That request is needed because roughly two-thirds of the program will be paid for with federal funds currently used for tax subsidies for patients purchasing insurance under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

Any changes to the bill would have to pass the Senate and be sent back to the House for its concurrence. The legislative session is set to end May 3.<\/p>\n

At least seven states have seen rates drop by as much as 20 percent after adopting reinsurance programs, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. Others are seeking U.S. approval.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this April 2, 2018 file photo, Colorado Democratic state Sen. Kerry Donovan speaks at the Capitol in Denver. Donovan is a sponsor of a reinsurance bill designed to reduce health insurance premiums on the state’s individual market. Residents in Donovan’s central Rocky Mountain district pay some of the highest insurance rates in the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 02:55:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}