(The Center Square) – A bill requiring study of a universal health care device in Colorado is headed to the ground of the House of Representatives.
House Bill 23-1209, subsidized through Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, and Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder, would offer $306,772 to the University of Colorado’s college of public health to analyze fashion regulation.
“This bill will direct a study of a publicly financed and privately delivered healthcare system in Colorado,” Rep. Boesenecker posted on social media after the bill handed out of the House Appropriations Committee on a 7-4 vote on Friday.
A health care business group that antagonistic the government-backed Colorado Option criticized passage of the bill, stating it might discover getting rid of Colorado’s present health care device and growing “a one-size-fits-all state government-controlled health insurance system.”
“Government-controlled health insurance systems result in consumers and patients paying more to wait longer for worse care, while putting politicians in control of health care,” Colorado’s Health Care Future mentioned in a observation.
Health Care for All Colorado, a gaggle that advocates for a single-payer device within the state, supports the bill. The teams says on its web site that 325,000 Coloradans are about to lose Medicaid protection when the pandemic emergency declarations result in May. It additionally states 350,000 Coloradans don’t have any health insurance coverage and 600,000 are underinsured.
“This study is not meant to prescribe a solution to Colorado’s healthcare crisis, but to holistically study the costs and delivery of healthcare in our state,” in accordance to a record connected from the group’s web site.
The bill would require the college to “gain fashion regulation evolved through a nonprofit to enact a universal single-payer” system, according to the fiscal note. The university must analyze costs, identify potential revenue sources to cover the costs, analyze connections to federal law and confirm the legislation will have the desired results. The report would be due Oct. 1, 2024.
The bill also would create a task force under the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to assist the university.
In 2021, Colorado lawmakers passed the Colorado Option requiring health insurance carriers to offer a standardized plan at reduced prices.
Colorado’s Health Care Future said the Colorado Option is a “test drive of single-payer lite” and is not meeting expectations as it found 85% of plans didn’t meet a first-year target of a 5% reduction in premium costs.
“New research makes clear that the Colorado Option is failing to deliver greater affordability and is contributing to health insurance companies being forced out of our state, limiting Coloradans coverage options,” the group said in a statement. “Nearly each and every county in Colorado continues to be afflicted by supplier shortages, and just about 9 in 10 Coloradans who shopped for particular person protection rejected the state government-controlled Colorado Option. The effects of this state government-controlled health insurance coverage device in Colorado are already in, and just about 90% of Coloradans have rejected it. So will have to the Colorado House of Representatives.”
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