In Congress, Colorado representatives push to limit health care losses

Major changes are coming to medical insurance in Colorado over the next two years but members of the state s delegation in Congress are pitching bills that would dampen the impacts of those disruptions to robustness care H R known as the Big Beautiful Bill will reduce the number of people covered by Medicaid by adding work requirements and making enrollees prove their eligibility more frequently It will also limit states ability to expand the services their Medicaid programs pay for starting in The number of uninsured people in Colorado and across the nation will likely start to rise before then Higher subsidies to buy insurance on the individual marketplace put in place during the pandemic will expire Dec In a letter to Colorado s delegation this week Gov Jared Polis estimated premiums for people who previously received the subsidies will double across the state and quadruple in parts of the Western Slope and Eastern Plains Colorado has done everything we can at the state level to blunt the damage of H R and the loss of the tax credit but only Congress can stop these massive premium increases and the resulting loss of coverage for hundreds of thousands of hard-working Coloradans and their families explained the letter which Lt Gov Dianne Primavera also signed The state s delegation split along party lines on H R with all Republicans supporting President Donald Trump s signature piece of provision and all Democrats in opposition Congress faces a busy month If it doesn t pass a spending bill or more likely a short-term extension of current spending the federal executive will shut down Oct The need to avoid a shutdown could make it complex for lawmakers to pass any other bills or create an opportunity for anyone who can fold their bills into must-pass measure While Republicans have majorities in both chambers they need votes from Democrats to get a spending bill through the Senate giving the minority party specific leverage to include its own priorities Republicans can t concede too much however without losing votes from their more fiscally conservative wing Rep Jeff Hurd who represents the rd Congressional District on the Western Slope is one of a group of Republicans sponsoring a bill to extend the expiring subsidies to purchase coverage on the individual marketplace for one more year The backers called for a sustainable plan to end the subsidies without raising costs for customers but didn t offer any details about how they would do so A spokesman for Hurd who declined to be identified reported the group is looking to pass the bill as speedily as attainable to avert an increase in rates and give lawmakers space to come up with a longer-term plan Ideas include gradually reducing the subsidies over time or pairing any further extension with efforts to bring down the overall cost of wellbeing insurance he revealed Rep Brittany Pettersen who represents the th Congressional District in the western Front Range and eastern mountain region reported Democrats would prefer to make the enhanced subsidies permanent rather than create uncertainty about whether Congress will extend them every year Still a short-term extension is better than nothing she declared A one-year extension would mean that any increase in costs would hit after the midterm elections An analysis from August exposed that if subsidies expire at the end of the year premiums could go up by a median of nationwide meaning half would rise by less and half by more The previous year s median increase was according to the physical condition agenda nonprofit KFF Related Articles Colorado s youth suicide rate hits -year low but experts say mental healthcare struggles persist Colorado hospitals provided million in charity care in first quarter up from last year Colorado issues order allowing pharmacies to provide COVID vaccines without prescription CVS Walgreens now require prescriptions for COVID vaccines in Colorado Anthem says it isn t pulling plans from Colorado s individual fitness insurance realm Democrats are trying to chip away at what they consider several of the worst policies in H R Pettersen mentioned She plans to announce a bill that would repeal language requiring that any Medicaid waivers be right now budget-neutral As of now states can add benefits to their Medicaid programs if they show budget neutrality or savings over the long run she noted For example Colorado s waiver allows the state to pay for inpatient care for mental illnesses and addictions which Medicaid doesn t typically cover Pettersen stated Sixteen other states have the same ability to cover inpatient mental robustness care and cover inpatient addiction healing Providing that care can look expensive in the short term but it saves lives as well as money when people enter recovery and stop cycling through urgency rooms she reported We have a long way to go to start picking apart the majority harmful provisions she explained Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get 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