DENVER – A new federal report released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is the latest evidence signaling the negative consequences and costs of a new government-controlled health insurance system, known as the public option. 

As Colorado lawmakers continue to push for a similar proposal at the state-level, the CBO report warns of:

• Disruption Of Coverage & Increased Premiums For Currently Insured Americans: “The public option might have a larger effect on sources of coverage for the currently insured than the currently uninsured. If the benchmark premium fell but private premiums did not, subsidized enrollees who remained in their current plan would face a reduction in premium subsidies and an increase in net premiums.”
• Fewer Coverage Choices:“It would probably also cause some private insurers to exit the market entirely, thereby reducing coverage options.”
• Less Access To Care For Seniors & Low-Income Families: “Consequently, providers would be more likely to opt out of Medicaid and Medicare if participation in the public option was tied to those programs.” 

Dr. Terri Richardson, an internal medicine specialist in Denver, reacted to the CBO findings, stating, “I’ve warned about the dangers of a public option on at-risk communities. Now the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has confirmed that a public option would have negative consequences impacting access and quality of care for low-income families. All Coloradans deserve access to reliable high quality health care.”

For Colorado, these findings echo a recent report by FTI Consulting that a state government health insurance system could financially impact 78 percent of all Colorado hospitals, leading to $112 Million in losses annually… “Over 40 percent of hospitals at higher risk for closure as a result of reimbursement cuts under the state government option serve racial and ethnic minority communities, many of which already contend with significant disparities in health status, access, and outcomes,” the report finds.

Colorado’s integrated health care system is already working to provide patients with access to high-quality health coverage and care and lawmakers should build on and improve Colorado’s health care system – not start over with a new state government-controlled health insurance system.

Today, 83 percent of Colorado counties have two or more health coverage options on the individual health insurance marketplace. The Colorado Division of Insurance reports, “For 2021, the reinsurance program will save consumers across Colorado an average of 20.8 percent over what premiums would have been without the program. On the Western Slope and Southwest Colorado, the program will save Coloradans nearly 38 percent.”

A recent analysis by the Common Sense Institute (CSI) found “The 28 percent decline since 2019 means Colorado now has the 6^th least expensive average benchmark premiums in the country. At $351 per month, Colorado’s benchmark premium in 2021 is also 22 percent lower than the national average of $452 per month.”

Additionally, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) made new funding available for Colorado to build on what’s working in health care and increase federal subsidies to broaden eligibility and increase affordability.

It’s clear lawmakers should work together to build on and improve what’s working in health care – not start over by creating the state government option.

• To read the full report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), CLICK HERE.