Colorado stakes out major health system reforms

Lawmakers are poised next year to consider a wide range of changes, including an individual insurance mandate.

By Doug Trapp, AMNews staff. Sept. 24, 2007.

Washington -- Colorado is attempting to join the few states that have adopted overhauls of their health systems.

A commission created last year by the Colorado General Assembly is more than halfway finished with its examination of health system reforms. The Blue Ribbon Commission for Healthcare Reform has already narrowed 31 proposals from the general public down to four and is scheduled to issue a final report to lawmakers by Jan. 31.

Democrats control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor's office, but it's up for debate whether Colorado can replicate the successes of the three northeastern states that have passed significant packages.

Three of the four proposals under consideration in Colorado would expand Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program in combination with creating affordable health insurance plans. One of those three would require individuals to be insured. The fourth would create a single-payer system. The proposals would cover between 40% and 100% of the state's 792,000 uninsured.

Voters almost certainly will have their say in the matter. The Colorado Constitution requires any new state or county taxes to be approved by a public vote. But before lawmakers offer a referendum, they could pass reforms, such as an SCHIP expansion, that wouldn't require additional taxes, according to Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff.

While the Colorado Medical Society hasn't endorsed a plan, it created the Physicians' Congress for Health Care Reform, in part to develop principles by which to measure proposals. To meet the medical society's muster, reforms must provide universal coverage and uniform benefits; ensure a choice of physicians; be administratively simple, accountable and efficient; and be affordable, transparent and sustainable.