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Rallying for health care reformThird annual action rally at state Capitol yesterdayJoshua Wolpe, DDN Staff WriterTuesday, March 10, 2009 |  | | RALLYING FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM — Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, argues for health care reform yesterday on the steps of the Capitol during the third annual Health Care Day of Action. Denver Daily News photo by Joshua Wolpe. |
During the third annual Health Care Day of Action yesterday at the state Capitol, both Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, and Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, urged immediate reform of the state’s health care system, saying that economic recovery depends on it.
New legislation
The Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act (CHAA), introduced last week as House Bill 1293 seeks to provide health coverage for up to 100,000 underinsured and uninsured Coloradans, as well as attempt to stop the rollover costs placed on small businesses and the privately insured who pay costs resulting from uncompensated care by hospitals that treat the underinsured and uninsured.
“Sometimes we have some bright ideas around here that people like, such as the Health Care Affordability Act” said Rep. Carroll. “In partnership with hospitals, we are going to be able to pump an additional $1.2 billion into healthcare.”
When Gov. Bill Ritter announced the CHAA on Feb. 26, he called it “fiscally responsible,” saying it would not require general fund expense. Ritter explained the legislation would generate an additional $600 million per year, matched by federal funds, by assessing a provider fee on hospitals.
Opposition
But not all lawmakers would agree with Ritter’s fiscally responsible analysis.
“This is another fee that hospitals would have to pay,” said Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs. “This is another move by Democrats to take money from those that can afford it and give it to those that can’t. They are taking from one hand and giving it to another — which is the case with too many things that we’re passing.”
Effect on business
The relationship between healthcare reform and the state of the economy was the main focus of the rally. Sen. Carroll called the need for changes to the health industry a “moral” one.
“Regarding our economic collapse — we can’t talk about the economic situation or the health of the state budget if we don’t take a look at healthcare,” she said. “Economic recovery is tied to health care reforms. Businesses can’t be optimally competitive as long as they have an albatross of skyrocketing healthcare costs around their neck. We have double-digit increases in insurance costs every year — this is a moral issue and an economic issue. We are subsidizing failures of our current healthcare system by doing nothing.”
Jim Helgoth, a member of the Business Health Forum and president of Elward Systems Corporation in Lakewood, spoke of the effect of healthcare costs on his business, which employs approximately 100 people and provides insurance for them as well as their families.
“A large percentage of our budget goes to making sure our employees and their families have access to insurance,” he said. “Our costs are going up another 26 percent this year after our policy is renewed on May 1. Last year, we paid about $700,000 for health care insurance. Our employees and their families share about a quarter of that cost. We have seen a 60-percent increase (in health costs) since 2004 — much of it is a result of cost-shifting as a result of unpaid medical costs from the underinsured and uninsured. We need a system that provides coverage for all.”
Reforming healthcare is a main priority in 2009 because as unemployment goes up, so will the number of uninsured, said Rep. Carroll. The lawmaker added that small businesses would be especially hurt by ballooning health care costs. If health care costs skyrocket because of more uninsured Coloradans, small businesses could either make cuts or go out of business themselves, which would then increase the number of uninsured in a self-perpetuating process, Rep. Carroll argued.
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