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Ali Cox / Daily Special
Either way, Governor Jared Polis’ Colorado Option health insurance bill signed on the Capitol Steps in Denver on Wednesday is historic.
The bill creates a state-regulated health insurance scheme, the first of its kind, for each Coloradan in the individual and small group market, which requires private insurance companies to reduce their premiums by 15% by 2025.
A first too? The record amount that industrial groups have spent lobbying to defeat or weaken the measure championed by the two Eagle County state lawmakers.
“This fight was really the industry trying to protect profits instead of trying to find solutions for people,” said Senator Kerry Donovan, a Democrat from Vail who was one of the main sponsors. of the bill with Rep. Dylan Roberts of Avon. “I am really proud that the Colorado General Assembly decided that they are here on behalf of their neighbor, and not on behalf of the top management.”
The bill signed on Wednesday was less ambitious than its original version, the result of 21 amendments who turned the legislation into a “public option” that would have forced the healthcare industry to cut costs by 20% or compete with a government-sponsored plan. The new bill works with and regulates private insurers instead of creating a public option.
Despite concessions to industry groups and Republican lawmakers, no Republican in either chamber voted for the measure that ultimately passed a final vote in the state House of Representatives on June 7.
At Wednesday’s ceremony, Polis also signed a bill creating a state council that will have the power to cap the price of prescription drugs that the panel deems too expensive.
“These are more than nibbling on the margins to save money on health care,” Polis said, as reported by the Colorado Sun. “We are going to give Coloradians more choice when it comes to health care.”
Are we there already?
Roberts and Donovan both insist that the winding path their Medicare Bill took to become law was secondary to its end result. The bill still does what it set out to do: reduce costs and create more choice in the home and small group market for Coloradans.
“I would ask any of them to call anyone facing some of the costliest healthcare in the country and ask them if a 15% cut is the death of 1,000 cuts,” said Donovan in response to criticism of the bill.
“How we ended up there wasn’t as important to me as getting there,” said Roberts. “And so what it is called or how it works is less important to me than what it means to my constituents, because at the end of the day we are talking about people who live in Colorado who are desperate for more affordable insurance to plan so. that they and their families can go to the doctor when they need it. And they can be healthy and they can have that medicare security. And I am very proud of where this bill ended up. because it does these things. It will be a 15% cheaper insurance plan.
Colorado’s Health Care Future, the leading industry group lobbying against the bill, released a statement after Wednesday’s signing, calling the bill “ill-conceived” and saying it “will not improve health. Health care access”.
“We appreciate the work of some lawmakers to improve the bill, for example by removing the ‘public option’ elements,” said Colorado Health Care Future spokesperson Tyler Mounsey. “Yet supporters of the bill have ignored many serious questions and concerns raised by stakeholders, healthcare professionals and community leaders – from rising costs to patients to threats to providers’ ability to provide quality care, with reduced coverage options and communities of color.
A model for other states
The healthcare industry has spent record amounts of money fighting the bill because of the effect it could have on the industry as a whole, Roberts and Donovan said.
Roberts estimated that as much as $ 10 million was spent by black money groups to kill the bill.
“I’m hoping other states will look to Colorado and consider doing it,” Roberts said. “Since Washington, DC is moving very slowly on great things like this, states are where reforms can happen. So I think Colorado will be a model.
“I think Colorado has shown, as a state, that we are known for writing policies that work,” Donovan said. “Health care continues to be a priority for people, not only in Eagle County, not only on the West Slope, but in every corner of this country. Especially since we are coming off the heels of the pandemic. “
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