This is not news to those that follow Colorado state policy, but just over a year ago then-Governor Bill Owens signed Senate Bill 208, which established the The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform (aka 208 Commission). The commission’s goal is to
“study and establish health care reform models for expanding coverage, especially for the underinsured and uninsured, and to decrease health care costs for Colorado residents.”
The Commission is required to make final recommendations for comprehensive health care reform to the General Assembly by November 30, 2007.
What’s interesting about the work of the commission is that as part of it’s work, the commission solicited reform proposals from… well, from anyone who was interested enough to submit one. And indeed, there was no shortage of input (there were 31 in all).
In May of this year, the commission selected four proposals to to “undergo detailed ‘modeling’ analysis, the next step in the process of identifying proposals to submit to the General Assembly for consideration.”
The four proposals represent a wide spectrum of reforms and for a public public buff like me, they also represent a chance to really dig below the surface and analyze the benefits and costs of the reform actions. This is also an opportunity to learn about how state government works – how lively debate can (or can not) shape the course of legislation.
I will review and discuss each proposal separately in future posts.
