Colorado regulators last week unveiled their final proposal for a public health insurance option, a program that would, in theory, provide a more affordable choice for people who buy coverage on their own. The final details of the proposal aren’t much different from what was originally offered. But make no mistake: This is a big […]
healthcare
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Here’s why some Colorado families are dropping Medicaid coverage for their kids
The New York Times recently published a piece showing that there are a million fewer children with Medicaid in the United States. This is part of a disturbing trend we’ve been seeing for over a year in our medical offices here in Colorado — immigrant families dropping Medicaid coverage for their children, who are U.S. […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Why both hospitals and insurance companies are so worried about a Colorado “state option” plan
In what is shaping up to be the major health care battle at the state Capitol this coming legislative session, Colorado hospitals and insurance companies both have raised concerns about a proposal to dictate hospital prices for a slice of people with private health coverage. The idea, unprecedented across the country in its precise details, […]
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 inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
In a plan to set hospital prices, Colorado could see the mother of all health care battles
Colorado hospitals and state regulators may be about to launch into the biggest health care fight the state has seen in decades, over a detail in the newly announced plan for a public health insurance option. The plan would let Colorado officials limit what hospitals can charge to people who have coverage through the public […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
As Coloradans struggle to pay for health coverage, cheaper alternatives come with their own perils
The Colorado Division of Insurance receives hundreds of complaints a year from consumers, but few trouble chief deputy commissioner Kate Harris as much as the ones she began hearing earlier this year. They concerned a company called Aliera Healthcare and an organization it administers called Trinity Healthshare. Trinity is a so-called health care sharing ministry, […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s uninsured rate is holding steady, but a new study shows troubling trends in the state’s health care market
Bucking the national trend, the rate of people without health insurance in Colorado has held steady this year, according to a major new study released Wednesday. The every-other-year Colorado Health Access Survey found that a record-low 6.5% of Coloradans are without health coverage, identical to the survey’s 2017 finding and down from the 15.8% of […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s reinsurance program could fall $50 million short next year, according to health insurer estimates
Update on Dec. 4, 2019: Since publication, The Sun has done extensive additional reporting that necessitates an update to this story. As part of reporting this story, The Sun asked Richard Rush, who has worked as an actuary for local insurance companies and who now works as a private consultant, to review the insurers’ filings. […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News
Denver-area hospitals made a record $2 billion in profits in 2018, according to a new report
For 25 years, health care analyst Allan Baumgarten has been studying the hospital market in Colorado, and his new report will show something it never has before: Denver-area hospitals surged past the $2 billion mark in profits in 2018. The 27 metro-area hospitals Baumgarten includes in his report made just over $2 billion in pre-tax […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Critics worried Colorado’s new law capping insulin costs would raise insurance rates. It hasn’t.
When Colorado earlier this year became the first state in the country to cap the price that some people will pay for insulin starting next year, skeptics questioned whether the change would raise insurance prices for everybody else. The answer, according to regulatory filings from insurance companies, is no. The Colorado Sun reviewed the documents […]