'Chevy-type' health plan advances in House

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 11, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Rep. Spencer Swalm on Tuesday compared his health care bill to basic transportation - as opposed to a luxury ride.

"This is sort of a Chevy-type product," the Centennial Republican said. "But if the choice now is only between a Cadillac Escalade and walking, why don't we give the people of this state a chance to get a Chevy?"

His argument apparently worked.

One-third of House Democrats teamed with Republicans to pass Swalm's bill, which would allow four health maintenance organizations to offer limited-benefit plans aimed at younger, lower-income residents. They would likely not cover catastrophic events.

Several Democrats said the bill fell far short of the ideal - comprehensive care - but added that tough times have changed the landscape.

"I'm a supporter of the universal single-payer health care plan. We're not going to get there this year," said Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver. "Something is better than nothing."

A year ago, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform offered recommendations on how to provide insurance for a sizable number of the 800,000 Coloradans without it. Gov. Bill Ritter adopted some recommendations as a starting point last year, but cut back many of those steps this year because of budget concerns, leaving a section of the Democratic Party clamoring for major changes.

Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, warned colleagues that passing this stop-gap measure would distract the legislature from finding "a true solution for those who are uninsured or underinsured."

Over two days of debate, however, several people who spoke for Swalm's House Bill 1143 said they were jumping on board because this was the best they could hope for now.

Rep. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, has introduced a bill to begin a study with the goal of transforming Colorado into a government-run, single-payer universal health care system beginning in 2011.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said the intraparty fight Tuesday "suggests they have real problems with the single-payer health care system in their caucus."

But Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, said he thinks the debate was focused on this single plan rather than the issue in general. He said, however, that Swalm's bill "does give cover to people who don't want to move the comprehensive health care debate forward."

Swalm acknowledged that his bill is not comprehensive reform. But the low-cost, low-benefit plans that HMOs could offer will cover expenses for all but the most catastrophic injuries and put more people on insurance rolls, he said.

HB1143 now moves to the Senate.

sealovere@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438

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