Federal Health Reform Accounts for less than 5% of Health Rate Increase in Colorado
News from the Official Colorado State Web Portal on November 5, 2010 states some surprising statistics. “Speculation continues to swirl about the effects of Federal Health Care Reform on health insurance premiums, so Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marcy Morrison decided to get answers and set the record straight. The Division of Insurance is in the process of reviewing rates submitted by hundreds of health carriers. “What we found isn’t surprising: health insurance premiums continue to rise,” Morrison said. “But what may be eye-opening for some people is that federal health reforms have contributed from zero to a maximum of 5 percent of those increases. It’s not the primary cause for increasing rates.” Morrison said that a variety of factors contributed to health rate increases in past years, and for the most part, those same factors are driving current increases. For example, people are scheduling more doctor visits, receiving more tests and more expensive lab tests, the population overall is aging, and the average health status of Americans is decreasing.”