Health plans up in air
Panel has 4 ideas for coverage, but vote likely required
Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 22, 2007 at midnight
Four health care proposals chosen by a blue ribbon commission would move Colorado to near-universal coverage by about 2010.
But whatever emerges likely would require voter approval because of increased taxes, officials said Monday.
The state legislature and the governor appointed members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Healthcare Reform. Their task is to recommend three to five plans that would improve access to health care while keeping down costs.
Three plans chosen from the 31 presented to the commission would mandate coverage by requiring that either the individual or the employer prove that coverage is provided.
The fourth would guarantee coverage for those who earn less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level - $30,630 for an individual; $61,950 for a family of four.
The plans drew a sharp rebuke from a free-market advocate, who cited concerns about increased government control.
"We're disappointed," Lin Zen-ser, of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, said at a news conference announcing the four plans. "They take away the freedoms of individuals and doctors."
But the prevailing sentiment among commissioners is that too many Coloradans can't afford health insurance. As a result, they either go without or rely on emergency rooms for routine care, a practice that drives up the costs for everyone.
There are about 770,000 uninsured Coloradans.
Commission chairman Bill Lindsay said the next step is to bring in the Lewin Group, a consulting firm, to assess the options' costs and impacts.
The firm should be able to say how many Coloradans would be uninsured under each of the four plans, and under a fifth plan that the commissioners may carve out from the best ideas of the other four, Lindsay said.
Commissioner Linda Gorman, from the free-market Independence Institute in Golden, disagreed with the four selected plans, and said she doesn't think anyone can estimate with any certainty how many Coloradans would still be uninsured.
The commission's final report, which likely will include a preferred option, is due to the legislature in January.
scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-442-8729
Featured
-
DPS improvements
This interactive shows you how schools will benefit under the bond proposal.
-
2008 Voter’s Guide
Use our Ballot Builder tool to compare your viewpoints to the candidates.
-
Broncos Game Action
Slide shows of the Broncos-Jags quarter-by-quarter photos from Invesco.
-
Bronco Dean's rant
Listen to Bronco Dean's totally biased postgame rant about the Broncos-Jaguars game.
-
A Dozen on Denver
Manuel Ramos' story is featured this week on 'A Dozen on Denver.' Check it out!
-
Peak Picks
Submit your fall foliage photos to our contest and vote on other submissions.
-
Presidential Elections
See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.
-
County election profiles
A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.
-
A dream fulfilled
A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production
Post your comment
Registration is required. Click here to create your free user account, or login below.
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.