Health-care costs/ Lawmakers asked to drop consumer laws

DENVER - Small business owners are asking state lawmakers to lay off consumer protection laws in an effort to stabilize soaring health- insurance costs.

"Most proposed legislation that comes out of the General Assembly deals with quality and access," said Tim Jackson, state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. "But quality and access aren't the problems for small businesses. The problem is cost."

The cost of health insurance for Colorado small businesses has gone up 20 percent to 40 percent in the past year, Jackson said, forcing many small business owners to decrease the level of coverage they offer employees.

One NFIB study shows that 54 percent of Colorado small businesses have increased deductibles and co-pays or decreased benefits in the past year.

While the reasons for the increasing costs of health insurance are many and often hotly debated, health- insurance companies and small business groups agree that state requirements for higher levels of coverage contribute to the problem.

"The situation we find ourselves in every year is that people come to the Legislature with a request for mandated coverage," said Rebecca Weiss, a lobbyist for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

"What gets lost in the mix is that health insurance is a contract, with a set of benefits for a set price," Weiss said. "If we add benefits, then the cost goes up, too."

Last year, for instance, the General Assembly passed a law that allows patients to bypass their primary care physician to see an optometrist. The primary care physician is the gatekeeper who controls a patient's treatment, and therefore a patient's cost, to the insurance companies. The state also regulates such items as the length of maternity stays.

It's not that consumer protection efforts are bad, Jackson said, it's just that they are costs that the state can keep in check.

It may be something they need to keep in check if the economy goes south, said Bill Lindsay, a Denver health- insurance provider.

"Right now the economy is good, and many employers will eat the cost increase because of the tight labor market," Lindsay said. "But a lot of indicators show the economy is about to soften."

If it softens, businesses will stop paying for employee health insurance altogether, leaving many Coloradans who work for small businesses without coverage, he said.

Lawmakers say they will approach any changes in health- insurance regulation carefully.

"We are dealing with a difficult time in the state in employing people," said Rep.-elect David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs. "We need to do what we can to keep rates low. But it is a complex issue and one we need to take a measured approach to."

- Kyle Henley covers state government and politics and may be reached at (303) 837-0613 or khenley@gazette.com.

Cost spiral

Health-insurance costs for small businesses have gone up 20 percent to 40 percent in the past year, said Tim Jackson, state director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

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