CCHN Applauds Proposed State Option for Affordable Health Coverage

The proposed plan shows innovative solutions to reduce costs

 

Statement attributable to
Polly Anderson
Vice President of Strategy and Financing
Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)

 

DENVER― Today the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) and the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy (HCPF) and Financing released a report that proposes a new affordable state option for health insurance in Colorado. While CCHN is still reviewing and analyzing the newly published report, CCHN supports many principles embedded in the plan.

 

The plan takes an innovative approach to moving the state forward toward reducing overall health care costs and incenting the right care in the right place.

 

CCHN is appreciative of the stakeholder engagement that DOI and HCPF sought around the state through stakeholder meetings, and the comment opportunities provided. Many elements of the plan align with recommendations that CCHN made previously during the stakeholder process, including:

 

  • Providing access to all Colorado residents,
  • Covering Essential Health Benefits including behavioral health treatment,
  • Providing a greater set of high-value primary and preventive services that can be accessed pre-deductible,
  • Taking total out-of-pocket costs and basic self-sufficiency standards into account for the affordability definition, and
  • Protecting the state budget.

 

CCHN also applauds the vision of modernizing the primary care system using this plan in concert with the Primary Care Collaborative (HB 19-1233) and other efforts. CHCs are eager to continue to participate in opportunities to move more investment into primary and preventive care and look forward to further exploration of how these two initiatives can work in concert. We also appreciate efforts to set the stage for expanding the plan for other Coloradans (e.g. small group) and the potential to expand coverage (e.g. dental).

 

CHCs provide a model of primary care that connects patients with medical, behavioral, and oral health care in an integrated setting. The result of this model is most often higher quality care for patients and efficient use of funds for payers. As health care costs across the state continue to rise, CHCs continue to push for further investment in primary care as one method to drive overall health costs down. CCHN and CHCs stand ready to partner on those efforts with the state and with other providers.

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To interview Ms. Anderson, please contact Maureen Maxwell at (303) 867-9530, cell (303)913-9078, or maureen@cchn.org.

View the state news release and report here.