Reinsurance bill advances in Colorado Legislature
House lawmakers -- both majority
It's one of the bills Gov.
The bill divides the state into three groups. Currently, the highest insurance costs are being paid on the Western Slope and state analysts have said a reinsurance program could lower those premiums as much as 35 percent.
Across
In the first group, around the
According to the bill crafted in the House, the reinsurance fund would be paid for by fees on many hospitals in the state, as well as federal money.
Also, the program will be limited to those people who are paying their own insurance costs and not getting coverage from an employer. That amounts to about 8 percent of workers in
"This will have a meaningful reduction in health insurance rates on the individual market across the state," bill sponsor Rep.
The biggest sticking point has been hitting hospitals with a fee to cover the reinsurance fund. Smaller and rural hospitals in particular opposed the bill, protesting it would jeopardize their ability to stay in business.
A spokesman for the
"We were able to change our position from opposing the bill to being neutral," the spokesman said.
As currently written, the state's
For example, the state could set that line at
Those details would be determined by the insurance division in time to have the program available next year.
Twitter:@RoperRoper
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