Five sweeping health care reform proposals sent to the Colorado legislature Thursday all shared one thing in common: the state can’t afford to pay for them.
That puts the spotlight on two limited but affordable bills now being drafted by state Sen. Bob Hagedorn, the legislature’s “grand old man” on health and social services issues.
The comprehensive plans were drafted by a special 27-member panel called the 208 Commission. The costliest option, universal coverage, would cost an additional $15 billion a year. One plan, requiring all Coloradans to have insurance or pay a penalty on their income taxes, would have cost $1.23 billion, mostly to subsidize insurance for low-income families.
Gov. Bill Ritter and key lawmakers thanked the commission for its work, praised it for giving them food for thought, and quickly admitted they didn’t have a prayer of paying for such ambitious new programs this year. That doesn’t mean the panel’s efforts were wasted.
It also crafted 32 separate recommendations to trim administrative costs, promote preventive care and chronic care management, and otherwise improve efficiency in health care. The legislature will find much in those ideas to boost the effectiveness and reduce the costs of current health programs.
In our view, the only real hope of truly reforming America’s patchwork health insurance system is for states and the federal government to work together as they already do in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That could happen. The commission’s mandated care option resembles Hillary Clinton’s health care plan, which was itself inspired by Mitt Romney’s pioneering efforts in Massachusetts. If either Romney or Clinton becomes our next president, Colorado could have an eager partner in Washington for comprehensive health care reform.
For now, we eagerly await the upcoming efforts by Hagedorn, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services committee, and his House counterpart, Rep. Anne McGihon. One of their bills aims at covering all Colorado children by expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and other measures at a cost of $43 million to the state — a sum that would be heavily leveraged by federal matching funds.
A second bill would expand public health services and implement some of the 208 Commission proposals, at a cost of $23 million.
Neither of those plans will accomplish everything the health reform commission wanted to do — but they will help thousands of Coloradans, especially children, until comprehensive coverage finally arrives.
For Hagedorn, who is term-limited after 16 years of service in the House and Senate, passage of these bills would be a solid capstone to a career dedicated to helping those in need.
