FROM: Carol Blackard, MD (ArapaHope Community Team - ACT - Health Care Team)
Please attend a thoughtful discussion of Senator Aguilar's Health Coop Bill (SB11-168) this Tuesday evening, March 1, at 7 pm at Willow Creek One Clubhouse, 8050 E. Jamison Drive, Centennial 80112 . The senator and other guests will be there.
The essential outline of the bill is as follows:
The bill empowers the hiring of a consultant to design a Colorado system as follows: A universal Colorado tax will fund a member-owned Co-op, a non-profit statewide organization, which pays per member/per month global payments to integrated health systems like Kaiser or Mesa County (not necessarily localized in one building), which would provide comprehensive in-patient and out-patient health services, including dental and vision.
The system would not be implemented until 2014, but would (I believe) take the place of PPACA (The federal health care reform act).
Consumers could move between systems, but might be required to pay the extra charge incurred (but isn't this balance-billing which was made illegal last year?)
Among the many questions the ACT Health Care Team has are:
1) Are doctors and providers ready to form the required alliances to deliver quality and cost-controlled services? Will they be willing to take full risk for a bad mix of very sick patients? Will they have worked out their plan for splitting up the money or will they fight amongst themselves? Can all this be accomplished by 2014?
2) How is the whole thing financed? When is the money collected and will there really be enough to pay for all Coloradans' health care?
3) Is there enough individual responsibility built in? Patients have to care about controlling costs too, or doctors will feel squeezed between pressures from their patients to do more and pressures of their integrated systems to save money.
4) Isn't a looser shared savings system better where doctors can depend on a certain base payment, then the group is rewarded if the systems they devise are cost-effective?
5) Why isn't the money already lined up to pay for the Authority (gifts and donations)?
6) Will there be an economic hit to Colorado if we wipe out all of the insurance companies? What will happen to persons with those jobs? Any plan? And won't retraining cost money?Who pays for that?
7) Would this be a potential second option if the US Supreme Court votes down the individual mandate? Or would it fall prey to the same decision?
8) How would Medicare and Medicaid be handled in the system and what assurances do we have that waivers can be acquired?
The concepts discussed at this meeting have the potential to affect all people in Colorado, consumers and providers alike, as well as the insurance industry and employers. I hope to see you there.
