health insurance

Colorado's enterprise zone program will be modified to permanently cap the amount of investment tax credit that may be claimed at $750,000 per year, place greater emphasis on job creation and workforce development and provide transparency in assessing the program's effectiveness, thanks to Gov. John Hickenlooper's signing of House Bill 1142 on Wednesday.

Under the new law:

Gov. John Hickenlooper, in signing the law that expands Medicaid eligibility, has ensured that Colorado will be a healthier place in years to come.

The expansion of health insurance coverage means that many more Coloradans will get the care they need at the right time and in the right place. The governor signed Senate Bill 200 on Monday.

Starting this week, the Colorado health insurance exchange has a new name and website – "Connect for Health Colorado" and www.connectforhealthco.org.

The website is designed to help people understand how the new exchange will work, how it affects different populations and to answer questions about health insurance and the operation of the exchange.

Coloradans can begin using the exchange to shop for health insurance on Oct. 1, 2013; the insurance will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Expand Medicaid Eligibility

­­­­Senate Bill 13-200

Robert Semro, policy analyst
Testimony to the ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­House Public Health Care & Human Services Committee
April 23, 2013

My name is Robert Semro, and I am a policy analyst with the Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a non-partisan, non-profit research and advocacy organization founded on progressive values and dedicated to expanding opportunity for all Coloradans.

Bob Semro's piece on "Get Covered Colorado," our state's health insurance exchange,  (Straight talk on health care reform: 'Get Covered Colorado' website explains health benefit marketplace) was posted as part of Viewpoints on the Kaiser Health News website.

Bob Semro's piece on a survey showing that Colorado's health insurance exchange will benefit employers (Straight talk on health care reform: More small businesses likely to offer health benefits under state's exchange) was posted as part of Viewpoints on the Kaiser Health News website.

Bob Semro's piece on how the Affordable Care Act is saving money for Americans  (Americans save $2.1 billion on insurance premiums, thanks to ACA) was posted as part of Viewpoints on the Kaiser Health News website.

Bob Semro's piece on the All Payer Claims Database (Straight talk on health care reform: All Payer Claims Database designed to reduce costs, improve health care) was posted as part of Viewpoints on the Kaiser Health News website.

Expand Medicaid Eligibility

­­­­Senate Bill 13-200

Robert Semro, policy analyst
Testimony to the ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Senate Health & Human Services Committee
March 14, 2013

My name is Robert Semro, and I am a policy analyst with the Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a non-partisan, non-profit research and advocacy organization founded on progressive values and dedicated to expanding opportunity for all Coloradans.

Health care is full of acronyms. One of them is the APCD, or All Payer Claims Database. That's a mouthful that describes a simple goal – creating a system that will allow Coloradans to compare prices and data on health care.

Compiling and sharing this data is designed, in the long run, to reduce costs and improve the quality of care.