Legislative leaders and Gov. Jared Polis have rightly identified increasing competition and improving affordability as core priorities for the proposed public option health insurance program. Whether or not it will achieve these goals could hinge on an important question that has been drowned out in this largely ideological debate: should all health plans in the […]
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Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The public option plan isn’t sustainable for Colorado and jeopardizes access
Everyone has encountered and maybe experienced a problem with their health care. My own family included. Health care is complex and it’s expensive — too expensive. Out-of-pocket costs are crippling for most families. Navigating the health care system is difficult at best. It isn’t transparent like the rest of our shopping lives. Many Coloradans are […]
Posted inHealth, News
A procrastinator’s guide to buying health insurance in Colorado
Note: This story was originally written for the 2019-2020 regular open-enrollment period. But its tips work just as well for any time you are trying to buy health insurance without help from your employer. We’re going to take a guess here and say that if you clicked on that headline, you’re probably scrambling a bit […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s reinsurance program has been lauded as a way to reduce health care costs. Here’s the fine print.
For months, Gov. Jared Polis and state health officials have been talking about how Colorado’s new reinsurance program is going to lower insurance prices across the state for people who purchase coverage on their own. But, as open enrollment kicks off Friday, two new analyses show that tens of thousands of people could end up […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado health insurance rates are set to fall dramatically next year — for some. Here’s what that means for you.
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday stood proudly in the Capitol’s west foyer next to an easel shrouded in a black sheet and announced something no Colorado governor has since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. “It’s the first time in the history of the health exchange that rates are going down!” he declared. And, […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
A Colorado plan to dramatically lower health insurance prices for some now awaits federal approval
Colorado’s reinsurance program — which would lower health insurance premiums for some by using state and federal dollars to help insurance companies pay their most expensive claims — is starting to take shape, but it still faces a significant hurdle: winning approval from the federal government. State regulators last week submitted an application for the […]
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 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: […]