GOP lawmakers unveil health care goals

DENVER - Calling for a cheaper health care solution than has been offered so far, Republican lawmakers Monday rolled out a series of incremental measures that they say will allow more people in the state to purchase insurance.

The six bills unveiled at a news conference fell far short of the comprehensive changes that have been proposed by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform and were criticized immediately by top Democrats.

The chairman of the commission said he supports most of the Republican goals but believes more must be done to significantly reduce the 792,000 Coloradans without health insurance.

Republicans’ health care proposals, similar to plans from the minority party for education and transportation, do not call for tax increases. Some involve designating portions of the annual growth in budget revenue for programs, while others reduce regulations on insurance providers.

“The message we’re trying to send here is that even though we recognize there are some serious problems with our health care system, we don’t need to wreck the whole system that we have,” said Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs. “Some of the proposals that have come forward we think border on being reckless.”

The commission has issued recommendations that the state require all residents to buy insurance, offer subsidies to low-income Coloradans and give incentives to doctors to work in rural area. It will make a formal presentation to the General Assembly on Jan. 31.

The commission also will present four plans submitted by independent groups, including one that would replace private insurance in the state with a government-run, Canadian-style single-payer system. That would cost $26 billion a year to run — though advocates say it would save residents $4 billion from what they pay in private insurance — and has raised the ire of many Republicans.

Some GOP recommendations focus on removing government barriers to health care. One bill would allow individuals to buy insurance policies offered in other states rather than just those approved by the government to be sold in Colorado, while another would grant more authority to specially trained nurses to address basic needs in rural areas.

Rep. Spencer Swalm, a Centennial Republican and insurance broker, proposed two measures to allow unemployed small-business workers to buy a previously unavailable low-cost plan and to urge the federal government to make individual insurance purchases tax-deductible. Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, reiterated a plan to provide $8.6 million to reduce the waiting list of some 4,000 people attempting to get state-funded developmental disabilities services.

The news conference was held inside a Denver Wal-Mart in front of Smart Care Family Medical Center, which provides shots, testing and some minor acute medical care at a lower cost than emergency rooms. The setting was meant to show that government involvement isn’t necessary to make health care affordable and accessible, said Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument.

However, Bill Lindsay, chairman of the blue-ribbon commission, said more government involvement will be necessary if serious systematic changes are to occur. Lindsay saluted the ideas and noted that most of them are in the commission’s recommendations package, but he said all of them fit into the category of incremental reform rather than a cure for ills of the system.

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, also thanked the Republicans for the suggestions but insisted, along with House Health and Human Services Committee Chairwoman Anne McGihon, that it is too early to write off any of the blue-ribbon commission’s work. McGihon, D-Denver, also said she was disappointed at the lack of focus on insuring uncovered children and offering help to uninsured adults.

“My message to Senator McElhany or anybody else who says we’re not ready for comprehensive reform is: ‘Phone home,’” said Romanoff, who added he was in Colorado Springs Friday speaking to business leaders who asked for such reform.