Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Why Colorado’s state employee health insurance plan just made a pretty significant change

If you are in Colorado and you need treatment for, say, cancer, there are dozens of hospitals and clinics that can provide it for you. But those places are not equal. Some charge dramatically more than others — sometimes twice as much — for the same service. Some have significantly higher quality ratings, as scored […]

Posted inEducation, News

How a Colorado Springs school co-op saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in health insurance costs

Pat Bershinsky has gifted his nearly 220 staff members $1,000 every Christmas for four years and once again gave bonuses this summer. The leader of one of Colorado’s school cooperatives has the extra cash because of a decision he made four years ago on employee health care. Bershinsky, executive director of the Pikes Peak Board […]

Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government

Colorado has added nearly 500,000 people to its Medicaid rolls since 2020. What happens when the emergency order ends?

In normal times, about 35,000 people drop off the government health insurance plan for the needy each month, usually because someone in their household got a new job and they no longer qualify. But since the coronavirus pandemic, and a federal public health emergency declaration more than two years ago, no one has lost their […]

Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government

Colorado health insurance prices set to jump next year — at least for some

Health insurance prices for many Coloradans could rise by as much as 11% next year, the largest jump in five years. That’s the bad news in preliminary rate filings released Tuesday by the Colorado Division of Insurance. The filings are for plans sold in the small group and individual markets — the places where small […]

Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government

Why fixing Colorado’s health care system is becoming more about housing and less about insurance

For years, Colorado lawmakers have worked relentlessly to reform the state’s health care system. But that work has often focused on just one narrow area: health insurance. From expanding access to Medicaid, to setting up a state health insurance exchange, to engineering a complicated reinsurance program to creating the Colorado Option, a government-designed health plan, […]