Commission wants state to require health insurance
29 01 08 - 11:40
The panel offers the idea of a subsidy for Coloradans who can't afford coverage.
By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Borrowing a page from Massachusetts and other states, Colorado's Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform will recommend that the Legislature require all state residents have at least a basic health insurance policy, even if people need a state subsidy to do so.
That "individual mandate" is among 32 recommendations the commission will give lawmakers on Thursday, although the group says that requiring health insurance would come only after lawmakers had ordered other systematic changes in how health insurance operates in Colorado.
"We decided to base our recommendations on the current system of (private health) insurance," said Ralph Pollock, a business consultant who was among the 27 commission members. Pollock and William Lindsey, president of Lockton Cos., and chairman of the commission, made their comments to The Pueblo Chieftain's editorial board Monday.
"We see all of these recommendations being phased in over time and the 'individual' mandate would not be required until the end of that process," Lindsay said.
According to the commission's research, Colorado residents and businesses are currently spending $30 billion a year on health care and 82 percent of the population has some kind of insurance coverage, either from employers, self-insurance or through the federal Medicare and federal-state Medicaid programs.
Among the 792,000 residents who are uninsured, Lindsay said, about 13 percent make $75,000 a year or more and simply choose not to purchase insurance.
In order to help the others who cannot afford insurance, the commission is recommending a sliding scale of state subsidies. For example, a family of four with an income of $80,000 a year would qualify for some state assistance under the recommendations. The commission estimates it will cost about $1.1 billion to implement all of its recommendations.
Most of the recommendations focus on creating greater efficiency in the current system, requiring insurers to use common forms, records systems and "streamlining" changes to cut duplication.
Other recommendations include:
Require employers to offer pre-tax, premium-only insurance plans to encourage workers to purchase insurance through their employer.
Require that all health-insurance providers in Colorado offer a minimum-benefit plan.
Provide an easy source of information on cost and quality among providers and insurers.
Increase reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers.
Combine the Medicaid and federally subsidized Children's Health Insurance Program and broaden coverage for everyone earning less than 205 percent of the federal poverty level (which comes to $42,000 for a family of four).
Create a new state office to oversee the health care and insurance system to supervise reforms.
The commission makes no recommendations on how to pay for the changes it is endorsing.
"We are making our recommendations as a whole and their effectiveness depends on them being taken as a group," said Pollock.
"What we wouldn't want to see is the Legislature reaching in and saying they like this idea but not that one. We don't believe you can do one part without the other."