DENVER – Proponents of the state government-controlled health insurance system, known as the “Colorado Option,” continue to claim that this one-size-fits-all system is saving Coloradans money on health coverage and care. In reality, the Colorado Option has done nothing but drive health plans out of the market and leave patients and consumers with fewer coverage choices. Now, after the failure of the first year of implementation, Colorado politicians want to double down on this flawed policy through HB23-1224.

RHETORIC: HB23-1224 would make it easier for Coloradans to shop for “high value” health plans.

REALITY: HB23-1224 puts its thumb on the scale for the Colorado Option, giving preferential placement to Colorado Option plans, even when these plans are more expensive for consumers to buy. Choice is essential when shopping for health care coverage, and Colorado patients and consumers must be allowed to make their own decisions on what they find most valuable without the influence or persuasion of the government. 

Even Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance exchange, noted issues with this approach: “In order to attain and retain the best coverage for a customer’s needs and circumstances, the customer must have access to robust shopping tools, regardless of health literacy, benefit design, or plan type preference,” and that HB23-1244 would “limit our ability” to leverage their process of implementing an improved plan display.

RHETORIC: The Colorado Option has increased competition in the market and lowered health care costs for Coloradans.   

REALITY:  The Colorado Option is an objectively more expensive option for most Coloradans. The arbitrary regulations of the Colorado Option forced four prominent health insurers to partially or fully exit the Colorado market, forcing more than one in four Coloradans who bought individual coverage through the exchange to find new plans for 2023 and potentially new doctors for their care. 

RHETORIC:  The Colorado Option is bringing more choice to Colorado consumers.  

REALITY: In just the first year of the Colorado Option program, there are fewer health insurers in the state, less health plan competition and fewer health plan choices for Coloradans. Now, the same Colorado Option proponents working to make the Colorado Option the only option through HB-1224 are also supporting efforts to jump-start interest in a total state government takeover of health care through HB-1209. The Colorado Option is a stepping stone to even more state government control over Coloradan’s health care choices and statewide health system.  

RHETORIC: The first year of the Colorado Option has been a success. 

REALITY: The first year of the Colorado Option has failed to deliver on the promise to save Coloradans money on health care, and proponents are simply trying to put a positive spin on this unaffordable, new state government-controlled health insurance system. Nearly 90 percent of Coloradans who shopped for individual plan coverage chose a traditional health plan – not a Colorado Option plan. 

RHETORIC:  The Colorado Option is an objectively more expensive option for most Coloradans and has failed to deliver on the promise to reduce the costs of health care for Coloradans.

REALITY: All but a few Colorado employers chose non-Colorado Option plans to best meet the needs of their companies and employees. In total, for 2023, just over 140 individuals enrolled in a small group Colorado Option plan coverage – in a market with more than 200,000 fully-insured enrollees. 

RHETORIC: We need HB23-1224 to strengthen the Colorado Option. 

REALITY: The same politicians who have driven the higher costs of health coverage and care in Colorado by creating unaffordable, burdensome regulations want to further disrupt Colorado’s health care system by decreasing competition through HB23-1224. Proponents of the Colorado Option are using this unaffordable, one-size-fits-all system to test drive complete government control over Coloradans’ health care choices. 

Instead of putting politics ahead of the best interests of Coloradans, lawmakers in Denver should work toward building on and improving our current system to expand access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care.

Read more on Colorado’s Health Care Future HERE.