Health

Colorado's Health Benefit Exchange is on schedule and heading for a successful startup on Oct. 1, 2013, top officials told lawmakers on Thursday.

On that date, Colorado citizens and small businesses (with 50 or fewer employees) will be able to easily compare and shop for affordable health insurance coverage in a brand-new online marketplace. The exchange is a key feature of the Affordable Care Act and is designed to help more Coloradans get insurance.

The debate over whether Colorado should expand Medicaid eligibility under the federal health care reform law has been a much-discussed topic for the past seven months. As a result of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act last summer, the decision on whether to expand Medicaid lies with each state. And that decision ultimately revolves around costs and benefits.

In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper has announced plans to proceed with the expansion, and one direct benefit could be job-creation.

The General Assembly opened its 69th session on Wednesday, a mostly ceremonial day that featured speeches from the majority and minority leaders outlining their broad goals and policy objectives for the 120-day session.

By Kevin Simpson
The Denver Post

Colorado plans to expand Medicaid coverage next year to cover more than 160,000 additional low-income adults, aided by cost-control savings of more than $280 million over the next 10 years, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Thursday.

"This is a step toward what we have talked about for a couple of years: How can we make sure we're making Colorado the single healthiest state in America?" Hickenlooper said.

Today, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced plans to proceed with expansion of Medicaid in Colorado as part of the Affordable Care Act. Beginning in 2014, Coloradans will be eligible for enrollment in Medicaid if their annual incomes are less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level – $30,657 per year for a family of four or $14,856 per year for an individual.

By Tim Hoover
The Denver Post

Twenty years after Coloradans approved the most restrictive tax and expenditure limitation in the country, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has reshaped state government and sparked debate on similar proposals across the country and now is under greater assault than ever before.

By Beth Potter
Boulder County Business Report

The clock is ticking for the Affordable Care Act to go into effect in 2014. The federal health-care reform legislation will require all uninsured Americans to buy insurance or face penalties as well as a host of other things. The new rules were passed by Congress and signed into law in March 2010.

There's been a lot of discussion in popular culture about health-care reform, and whether it causes existing health-insurance costs to go up or down.

By Amy Gillentine
Colorado Springs Business Journal

The fiscal cliff is looming larger, and the country actually might endure a series of draconian cuts and tax increases – something that was never supposed to happen.

When Congress passed a law in August 2011 requiring $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts – half from the Department of Defense – it was supposed to serve as a wake-up call for compromise to get the national debt under control.

Expanding opportunity in Colorado

The Bell believes Colorado should be a state of opportunity – a place where people can build better lives and recapture the American dream. That belief guides our research and analysis and helps us develop recommendations for public policy. Here is a partial list of recent reports and other work aimed at informing and engaging Coloradans – and increasing opportunity. All of our publications are available at www.bellpolicy.org. Specific links are provided below.

VALLEY – On November 14, The Bell Policy Center aired ‘Colorado: Boom or Bust', a TV special showing the past, present and future of Colorado. The television special, produced with Colorado Public Television and ProgressNow Colorado, provides history about the state and some of the fiscal challenges that Coloradans face with the goal being to start a conversation about the state's future.