Colorado insurance regulators are launching a probe of state healthcare costs, after residents in three mountain counties brought attention to their dubious distinction in the new healthcare economy.
The lowest-price Silver plans in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties, designated as the Colorado Mountain Resort Region, cost $483 per month before federal tax credits. Those are the highest insurance premiums in the country, with the threshold of more than $400 shared with counties in only four other states.
Some Coloradans in those counties say they've been unable to find affordable health plans, especially those receiving few or no subsidies.
For some more middle class residents of the resort towns, the high prices can feel like they've "traded a pre-existing condition for a pre-existing zip code," as one rancher told the insurance commissioner at a public hearing.
In response, the Colorado Division of Insurance is launching a statewide study that among other aims will try to understand insurance and health cost variation across the 11 rating regions for individual and small group plans.
The DOI said the study will not be part of the upcoming review process for the 2015 health plan year, applications for which have to be finalized at the end of this summer; it's also possible those Silver plan prices could fall or at least not be increased in this year's rate review.
In a media release, Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar said she was "pleased so many more people are gaining access to health insurance," but that the department has "heard from many people who were surprised by the differences in premiums in different areas of the state."
"We looked at a variety of different options, but any changes for 2015 would have to be based on new data so we could justify them to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services," Salazar said of the decision not to use the study as part of the rate review process.
It's not clear why consumers in those resort region counties ended up getting quoted such high premiums, but according to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, as many as one third of them may not qualify for any federal subsidies, even if they're earning far less than, say, Aspen's rich and famous
In a review of prices and tax credits available on the state exchange across income groups, the center's researchers found that many Garfield and Summit county residents who receive subsidies will actually see more affordable costs than similar consumers in greater Denver -- but premiums for unsubsidized Garfield and Summit resident may be more than 60 percent higher.