Colorado Option healthcare bill advances in state Senate

DENVER (AP) - A bill that would require insurers, hospitals and other healthcare providers to offer a standard health insurance plan to individuals and small businesses and reduce premiums in coming years has advanced in the state Senate.

Colorado Politics reports Wednesday that the bill faces a second Senate floor vote before going to a conference committee that will draft a final version to be approved by both chambers.

The plan, called the Colorado Option, would be developed by the state insurance commissioner. Healthcare providers would be mandated to participate and insurers in Colorado to offer it. Hospitals and healthcare centers could face fines for not participating.

Proposed fines for physicians were eliminated under an amendment offered by Democratic Sen. Kerry Donovan, a bill sponsor. Another amendment reduced the target premium reduction by 2025 from 18% to 15%.

Republican Sen. Bob Rankin objected to requiring lower premiums for initiatives that already have lowered costs. One is the Summit County Peak Health Alliance system, a nonprofit insurance exchange in which employers and individuals negotiate prices with doctors and a local hospital, then use those prices to negotiate with insurers, according to The Colorado Sun.

Rankin said Peak would be required to reduce its premiums even further under the bill. “They have to start over,” he said.