DENVER – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis urged lawmakers Thursday to join him in combating income inequality in a state where an economic boom has left too many behind, and he placed a particular emphasis on health care costs as crucial to that fight.
Polis declined to back a single, statewide risk pool that economists estimate would provide savings on health insurance policies on the Western Slope at the cost of slight increases in policies on the Front Range, during a conference call with reporters after the state speech.
Instead, Polis touted benefits to rural Colorado from a reinsurance program he backed in the last legislative session that allows the state to cover the most expensive medical claims, allowing private insurers to lower rates for lower-risk individuals participating in the state’s individual health system, Connect for Health Colorado.
“The savings from reinsurance are largest in rural Colorado, the Western Slope, Eastern Colorado, Southern Colorado. We highlighted someone from Western Colorado who saved $7,000 on his health care,” Polis said of the reinsurance program.
The governor also touted expansion of a program in Summit County that allows individuals and small businesses to pool together in an effort to negotiate better health insurance rates.
The premise behind what’s dubbed “The Alliance” model is that employers could get a better deal on health care prices if they banded together and negotiated directly with doctors and hospitals – rather than taking the prices that insurance companies have negotiated individually for them.
The plan in Summit County is seeing an 8% to 15% reduction of health care costs in the county, Polis said.
One problem with the model is that no insurance company has stepped forward to say it would participate in a statewide effort modeled on the The Alliance approach now seen in only a single county.
Polis said he would like to expand The Alliance idea to La Plata, Archuleta, Dolores, San Juan and Montezuma counties in Southwest Colorado as well as Eagle and Jackson counties in 2021.
Delivering his second State of the State address to a Legislature in the control of fellow Democrats, Polis challenged a hospital industry that is lobbying against a public option long before any tangible legislation has been introduced.
Denver metropolitan-area hospitals, Polis claimed, reap some of the nation’s highest profit margins – and are spending those dollars “from overcharging patients to run ads against legislation that would save families money.”
“We won’t let that work,” he vowed.
Polis declared his support for Democratic lawmakers who are reviving an effort to institute a prescription drug price transparency plan. Last year’s efforts met intense opposition from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and Colorado’s largest business chambers. Their lead argument was a threat to the industry’s trade secrets they need to stay competitive.
He also committed to creating a paid family medical leave plan that doesn’t strain the state’s fiscal resources. Colorado business chambers fended off efforts to create a paid family leave program last year, questioning the cost to employers and workers and the fiscal soundness of the proposal. Democratic lawmakers intend to pursue a plan this year. Preliminary cost estimates surpass $2 billion.
Polis committed to achieving universal preschool access by the end of his first term, building upon his efforts to make kindergarten accessible to all last year. He’s long maintained early education investment is crucial to the state’s prosperity.
For college students, Polis backed a legislative proposal to provide partial student loan debt relief for new graduates under certain conditions.
A successful tech entrepreneur and former U.S. congressman, Polis renewed his commitment to lowering corporate and personal income taxes. He said a study group will deliver proposals by the end of his first term.
Democrats are pursuing legislation to strengthen air and water pollution monitoring and increase penalties against violators. It’s a continuation of Polis’ ambitious climate and renewable energy agenda that calls for a drastic reduction in Colorado greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.
He stressed Thursday that the private sector is driving change on renewable energy. He applauded Thursday’s announcement by Tri-State Generation, an electric utility, that it will replace coal power plants in Colorado and New Mexico with renewable power sources by 2030. He also backed efforts to allow local municipalities to contract their own renewable energy sources.
Denver police and state patrol officers detained several protesters who tried to disrupt the proceedings inside the Capitol by chanting anti-fracking slogans. Polis’ administration has placed new regulations on, but not banned, Colorado’s multibillion-dollar hydraulic fracturing industry.
Citing climate change, Polis, a science fiction fan, closed with a quote from “Lord of the Rings” protagonist Gandalf when Frodo, the main character, complains of having to save the world.
Gandalf responded “with a charge that applies to us here in this chamber today,” Polis said: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.’”
Herald Staff Writer Patrick Armijo contributed to this report.
