Hospital facility fees stir Democrat jealousy? Colorado insurance rates will increase, Polis touts savings. The election ain't sewn up. Go and vote!
Hospital facility fees stir Democrat jealousy?
In 2023, hospitals charging "facility fees" became quite a political bone to chew on. Now, despite the Colorado Democrats' elevation of fees to a high art, you might be surprised to learn that the facility fees are not a government fee.
They are a private fee charged by hospitals and they cover services provided by a hospital at an office that is not part of the actual hospital itself. The arguments for are that the hospital needs to charge these fees to have these side clinics open. The complaint against them has often revolved around people feeling surprised: "Wait, I paid for the care, now I owe the hospital money? I didn't even visit the hospital!"
I gave you a bit of point/counterpoint by linking two a couple of contemporaneous (to when a 2023 bill on the topic was being debated) op eds first and second below if you want context.
The end product coming out of the legislature, a 2023 bill on hospital fees is linked third below. I'll leave it to you to poke around in there, but the upshot is that there were limits put on some fees, notice of fee requirements, and (of course) a study on the topic to be presented.
That brings us to the present where the article by The Sum and Substance updating this issue starts. That article is linked fourth below.
The report and it's conclusions are causing some rumblings of more regulation coming from legislators and advocates. It's causing rumblings about the validity of the report and its conclusions from proponents.
What do I think? I think the addition of fees here, outside of causing Democrat politicians some pangs of jealousy that the hospitals charged more fees before they thought of doing their own hospital fees, speaks to just how mind-bogglingly complex our system of paying for healthcare has become.
It speaks to a couple other dynamics at play in healthcare. Hospitals and medical care is consolidating. At the same time, doctors are moving from being independent professionals ALIGNED with hospitals to employees of said hospitals (or medical corporations) who come in, punch in, do their shift, punch out, and go home.
Will our laws be able to keep up? I wonder. I can't help but think that we've got this leaky balloon that we're trying to keep inflated. We keep tearing off little tabs of tape to stick on here and there and now the thing is mummified in tape but still leaking around the edges. I can't help but think a more fundamental change to the system is in order.
But that in and of itself is problematic because now you're trying to turn a cargo ship with a rudder that's been sized for a sailboat.
It's a mess is what I think.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/04/05/hospital-facility-fees-health-care-access-opinion/
https://coloradosun.com/2023/04/04/hospitals-facility-fees-clinics-health-care-costs-opinion/
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1215
Colorado insurance rates will increase more than three times the rate of inflation in 2025
That is the title of the Colorado Politics article linked first below. It provides a look at the insurance prices for the small and individual buyer in Colorado. The upshot? The prices are going up.**
I know. Big surprise.
According to the article:
"Premium increases in both markets for 2025 are set to rise at more than three times the rate of inflation forecast for next year. Individual premium increases will rise 5.6%, and small businesses, those with 100 or fewer employees, will rise 7.1%"
Also according to the article, this price increase was buried in a press release from Gov Polis' office touting how much money we're saving on insurance thanks to his administrations thoroughgoing efforts. If you're curious to see how such things as press releases look, I put a link to it second below. If you enjoy infomercials, you'll love it.
Only a career politician like our governor could tout an increase as saving people money; in the twisted arithmetic of politicians blunting increases slightly equals saving money.
Polis makes frequent mention of saving people money on insurance (again here it must be noted that this savings is only for those in the individual or small group market, not everyone) via "reinsurance".
Let me end with a quick explanation of that for those that don't know because it ties into the Colorado Politics article too.
Reinsurance, in short, is a way of shifting cost burdens from insurance companies onto the government's shoulders. At heart, it's the government saying to insurance companies, "don't charge people so much and we promise to pay any or your claims when they go above $x dollars."
That is, reinsurance is taxpayers giving money to insurance companies so that some get lowered premiums.
The rub is that sooner or later, the people paying taxes might not appreciate paying more so that our governor looks good. This too is hinted at in the Colorado Politics article (with links left intact for the curious):
"While Thursday's announcement focused on the savings Coloradans are making on health insurance premiums because of the reinsurance program, the program isn't permanent. Colorado's reinsurance program was authorized by legislation in 2019 and was slated to expire on Sept. 1, 2023. The state obtained two federal waivers for the reinsurance program, one that came after the 2019 law, and a second one in 2021 under House Bill 21-1232, the law setting up the Colorado Option. That second waiver allowed the state to 'capture additional federal funding for Colorado’s health insurance affordability programs, including reinsurance,' according to a 2021 report on the program. The state had to seek approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the program, and in 2022, a five-year extension was granted, meaning it expires in 2027."
So like with a lot of things in Colorado lately, Federal largesse on top of claiming a blunted increase is a savings has made our governor look good on press releases. One wonders what will happen when the party winds down and the money coming in from the Feds runs out.
But, hey, at least Polis will be out of office by then, am I right?
**My guess is that prices are going to go up in the group plan markets too. This is suggested by history as well as the following quote from the Colorado Politics article:
"'Since 2000, the price of medical care, including services provided as well as insurance, drugs, and medical equipment, has increased by 121.3%. In contrast, prices for all consumer goods and services rose by 86.1% in the same period,' the foundation [Kaiser Family Foundation--the source of the quote] reported."
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/colorado-health-insurance-premiums/article_03f5b63c-8c9b-11ef-9bd8-07c3ee61ef7e.html#google_vignette
https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/polis-primavera-administrations-landmark-reinsurance-effort-will-save-coloradans-493-million
Related:
I've mentioned in the past that one of the ways you can start to help train yourself to find disparities in media is to read the same story in multiple outlets.
Like listening to, say, Jimi Hendrix's version of "Little Wing" vs. Stevie Ray Vaughn's back to back gives you a hint of the different interpretations of the same material, reading different articles by different outlets on the same topic can help give you a sense of a writer's tone, word choice, positioning, etc.
All the things that go into tilting a story that are harder to get a tangible grasp on.
In that spirit, I present you the Sun version of the same story that I linked to from Colorado Politics above. Read both, consider the author's styles and writing, consider their respective emphases.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/10/18/colorado-health-insurance-prices-2025/
Go and vote. Tell your friends to do the same.
I don't care whether you do it in person or by mail or by drop box, go and vote. While you're at it, call up a friend and tell him or her to do the same.
There is not race, no ballot issue that is sewn up. No one has won anything yet. Remember that elections are not done until election day.
If you are thinking of skipping because you figure things will turn out the way you wanted them to, I would remind you of all the upset victories that have happened in history.
I would remind you of all the times that a candidate has lost or won by a small percentage of votes. Caraveo's and Vigil's wins are perfect examples.
Lastly, I would remind you that you (as a reader of this page) are likely a political minority on many issues and there are no votes to spare or waste.
I don't care if our ballots match exactly. I do care that you get out and vote.
Go and vote.