It just wasn’t supposed to be this hard. At the beginning of the legislative session, state Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat whose district is home to some of the highest health insurance prices in the country, introduced a bill with a simple, little pilot program included. The experiment would allow 100 people in Garfield […]
Affordable Care Act
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Can Colorado fix high health insurance premiums by forcing hospitals to charge some people less?
Imagine for a moment that you are a 60-year-old making $50,000 a year, living in Glenwood Springs and buying your own health insurance. (Or maybe you don’t have to imagine because you are that person.) Sorry to say it, but you, my friend, are in one of the worst jams in the American health care […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado joins lawsuit against Trump administration’s effort to increase Obamacare birth-control exemptions
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined another lawsuit against the Trump administration, this time challenging its efforts to increase birth-control exemptions under the Affordable Care Act. The legal action was one Weiser, a Democrat, promised in January to join. The lawsuit is currently pending in federal court in California, and includes more than a […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Health care is a number one issue for Colorado voters: Gardner needs to protect their care
In 2017, Republicans led an anti-health care crusade in Congress, but their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed for a reason: people depend on the ACA for quality, affordable health care. Republicans, however, continue advancing a radical anti-health care agenda. After the Affordable Care Act’s failed repeal in Congress, Republicans turned their focus […]
Posted inHealth, News
Here’s how Colorado insurance regulators quietly undermined a Trump administration rule on health coverage
So let’s just get this out there: This is a story ostensibly about health insurance regulations — which normally wouldn’t send a tingle up many people’s spines. But really it’s a story about an ongoing, hidden battle camouflaged in hundreds of pages of regulatory documents. Last summer, the Trump administration fired a shot at the […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s new attorney general plans legal action against Trump administration over health care, citizenship question
Colorado’s new attorney general on Wednesday outlined a list of legal challenges he plans to either join or explore joining against the Trump administration, starting with lawsuits aiming to protect the Affordable Care Act. Phil Weiser said his priority is to sign Colorado onto a challenge with other Democratic state attorneys general appealing a federal […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
What is Medicare-X, Michael Bennet’s big idea to fix the American health insurance market?
Amid rumblings that he might be considering a run for president — and amid his not exactly saying “no” to questions of whether he is — Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is giving a new push to his grand idea for fixing America’s health insurance market. He calls it Medicare-X — “the best name I […]
Posted inHealth, News
Why Colorado’s health insurance sign-up numbers look strong, even as the rest of the country struggles
The conventional wisdom about how health insurance enrollment across the country would go this year went something like this: B-R-U-T-A-L. Major Trump administration changes took effect that were likely to diminish people’s interest in buying plans through an insurance exchange. High prices continued to bedevil consumers. And national numbers so far bear these fears out: […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Health care is Colorado voters’ No. 1 issue. So why won’t the candidates for governor explain their plans?
To read their statements, Colorado’s major-party candidates for governor have dramatically contrasting views on how to lower the costs of health coverage in Colorado. But a closer reading of their plans reveals … well … that there’s nothing to read closely. While both Republican Walker Stapleton and Democrat Jared Polis have offered big ideas for […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Fact check: A look at what’s true (and what’s not) in the race between Mike Coffman and Jason Crow
The 6th Congressional District is one of the most hotly contested races in the nation and key to Democrats’ attempts to retake the U.S. House. The contest between Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and Democratic challenger Jason Crow also is seeing the most advertising spending in the state — and that means plenty of misleading or […]