COLORADO: Governor Bill Ritter is expected to sign legislation mandating coverage : EasyToInsureMe

COLORADO Health Insurance : Governor Bill Ritter is expected to sign legislation mandating coverage for autism services and therapy. The legislation would take effect on July 1, 2010 and apply to all group policies, exempting the individual market. Due to an education campaign by health plans, the bill was scaled back from an earlier version. It now includes annual maximums depending on the child's age, licensing or national certification of all autism providers, mandatory treatment plans and no specific prohibitions on the use of utilization review. The bill previously exempted all state-sponsored benefit plans, including state employees' plans, from the coverage requirement. But after hearing the wrath of the business community, only state Medicaid plans were exempted.

COLORADO Health Insurance : EasyToInsureME

COLORADO Health Insurance : The Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act was signed into law by Governor Ritter last week. The legislation will result in a provider fee totaling $600 million to be levied annually on Colorado hospitals. The funds would then be matched by the federal government in the form of grants. By expanding eligibility for Medicaid from 60 percent of the federal poverty level to 100 percent and expanding the state's SCHIP program from 205 percent to 250 percent of FPL, the new law is expected to reduce the number of uninsured Coloradans by 100,000 or more. The Act also will increase the reimbursement rate paid to hospitals for services on Medicaid patients from the current 55 percent to 100 percent, in an effort to reduce cost shifting to patients with private insurance.

COLORADO Health Insurance : reform the state's health care delivery : EasyToInsureME

COLORADO Health Insurance : Legislation that would have required all internal review of claims, independent medical evaluations and utilization review to be conducted by Colorado-licensed health care providers was finally defeated after months of lobbying. The proposal would have prevented health and disability insurers from using out-of-state physicians for review, unless the physicians agreed to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Colorado Medical Board. The bill also would have required that all written denials include the identity of the person on whose opinion the denial was based. In other news, a bill to dramatically reform the state's health care delivery and financing system was introduced last week in the House. Chances of passage are slim given the state's growing budget programs. But the main thrust of the measure is the creation of the Colorado Health Care Authority, which would be a political subdivision of the state, not an agency. It would not be subject to administrative direction or control by any department, commission, bureau or agency. The Authority would be directed to design and submit to the General Assembly a detailed health care system, to direct the implementation of the system, and to administer and oversee both public and private health care activities.