By David Olinger
The Denver Post
DENVER (AP) – High country residents who pay high prices for health insurance are seeing a glimmer of hope for relief.
Colorado legislators approved a bill to study whether the entire state should be treated as a single geographic district for health insurance policy purposes. Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign it Tuesday.
The creation of a statewide district probably would mean modest increases for health insurance in Colorado’s largest metropolitan area, where prices are relatively low.
But it could yield a big drop in lightly populated mountain counties, where people pay some of the highest health insurance prices in the United States.
In Glenwood Springs, some advocates of a single district say their insurance premiums rival their mortgage payments.
Chris Neuswanger, an Eagle County mortgage broker, said he pays $744 a month, with a $6,500 deductible and an $8,000 limit on out-of-pocket expenses as a healthy, single, nonsmoker.
Families of four are paying $22,000 to $26,000 for coverage, he said.
He contends that health insurance should be treated more like home insurance. “When there are wildfires in Colorado Springs or hailstorms in Aurora, everyone pays a little more,” he said.
The Division of Insurance has questioned whether a single rate would be fair to people who now pay less.
The legislation directs the insurance commissioner to study the impact and viability of creating a single geographic rating area for health insurance. A report is due in August.
The report will look at five cost areas: prescription drugs, doctor rates, diagnostic tests, surgery and other hospital procedures.
Insurance division spokesman Vincent Plymell said that gives a chance to “get under the hood” and see what is driving medical costs in different areas of Colorado.
“We are happy to get onto the study,” he said. “We want to dig into those health care costs as well.”
