CCCE Meets with Governor Polis over Health Insurance for Small Businesses
The Conifer Chamber is a member of Colorado Chamber of Commerce Executives (CCCE). This organization represents the chambers in the state of Colorado which represent over one million voices from business owners. A couple of months ago I spoke at a membership meeting and told you there is a conversation going on about health care for small businesses. While this is a big topic and there is not an easy answer, I wanted to make sure you, as a member of the Conifer Chamber, are updated with any information that I receive.
Last week Dot Miller, President of CCCE, had the opportunity to meet with Governor Polis. After the meeting Dot forwarded the following comments regarding the meeting:
Several members from the CCCE Board had an incredible meeting with the Governor and Insurance Commissioner yesterday. They spoke of the Peak Health Alliance.(https://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org/research/peak-health-alliance-summit-sight)
Key Takeaways about the Peak Health Alliance program
· Summit County has launched a community health care purchasing alliance called Peak Health Alliance, the first of its kind in the nation.
· Early signs show significant savings within the individual and group markets, specifically with inpatient and outpatient payments at hospitals.
· Questions remain about how insurers and providers will react, how Peak intersects with other new health care and insurance innovations, and how the concept will work in other communities beyond the more rural areas where it has received its initial roll-out.
Next Steps for CCCE
The Governor encouraged CCCE to talk with Kyle Brown and Bob Smith at the Division of Insurance to find out how Chambers of Commerce can be the catalyst in their communities for members and non-members to join the Alliance and participate in the group buying power of insurance premiums. This represents an exciting leadership opportunity for CCCE, but we also want to make sure we aren’t inappropriately harming relationship with the other health care stakeholders. We are going to set a meeting with Kyle and Bob in February to find out what that looks like and we also are considering a possible workshop on the Alliance at Conference. We will also prepare a summary of the day that we can send out to our CCCE list once we have a few more details.
If you have any comments or questions on this topic, please reach out to me. I’m hoping to go to the Conference in late May and will pass on any information.
