DENVER – Colorado’s Health Care Future (COHCF) submitted a public comment to the state’s Division of Insurance (DOI) on Friday afternoon regarding the Colorado Option rulemaking process.

Read COHCF’s comment below:

Dear Commissioner Conway:

Thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns about the Colorado Option’s unaffordable costs and negative consequences. We strongly believe that every Coloradan deserves access to high-quality health coverage and care, but the facts continue to demonstrate that this state government-controlled health insurance system is falling short of the promises its supporters have made regarding increased affordability and improved consumer choice.

Instead, premiums continue to rise for consumers and Coloradans today have fewer coverage choices than they did before the Colorado Option was implemented. This is the exact opposite of what Coloradans were promised.

While the statute creating the Colorado Option promised consumers that they would see five percent premium reductions by 2023, 10 percent reductions by 2024, and 15 percent reductions by 2025, the Colorado Option has objectively failed to deliver the promised savings. Regrettably, Colorado Option premiums for this plan year rose by seven percent over 2023 rates, following double-digit rate hikes last year over 2022 premium levels. In many Colorado counties, traditional non-Colorado Option health plans remain the most affordable options, meaning residents in those counties would have to spend more to enroll in the Colorado Option.

Perhaps this is why, despite the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) having put its thumb on the scale to boost Colorado Option enrollment, the approximately 80,000 enrollees for 2024 represent less than 1.5 percent of Colorado’s population – far from the number of enrollees needed to achieve any meaningful, sustainable reform within the health coverage market.

In addition to higher premiums, consumers are seeing reduced competition and fewer health plans from which to choose under the Colorado Option. The Colorado Option’s unsustainable price controls have so far driven four health insurance providers from Colorado’s individual or small group markets since its implementation and will make it very difficult to attract any new health plans to the state.

Despite clear evidence that the Colorado Option is failing to deliver on its promises, the DOI continues to portray the Colorado Option as a success. It does so by conflating the policy with Colorado’s reinsurance plan, a separate policy that has successfully generated savings for Coloradans. In reality, the Colorado Option is not responsible for these savings, and DOI’s continued suggestion otherwise only sows confusion and misleads consumers about the efficacy of the Colorado Option.

The rulemaking process DOI is currently undergoing cannot adequately address the larger problem at hand: the underlying policy of the Colorado Option is fundamentally flawed, and this state government-controlled health insurance system cannot deliver the increased access to affordable health care that its supporters promised.

Colorado’s Health Care Future (COHCF) remains committed to solutions that ensure every Coloradan has access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and the care they deserve. Rather than continuing to pursue the failed Colorado Option, Colorado policymakers should come together to build on what is working in our current health care system to improve health care affordability and access to quality care.

Thank you again for the opportunity to share our concerns regarding this important issue.