If Monday’s Colorado Health Benefits Exchange (COHBE) Board meeting is any indication, it could be a long summer. Monday’s agenda included decisions on two policy issues – the size of the small group market and the options for individuals and small businesses in paying premiums (i.e., premium aggregation for the wonky among you) – and a decision on the creation of advisory groups.
COHBE Executive Director Patty Fontneau has indicated the Board must act on almost 20 policy issues by August 1st to meet the deadline for exchange implementation. The Board currently meets twice a month; that means the Board could be making three or four policy decisions at every meeting. Undoubtedly, some of these issues will be highly technical, and fully analyzing them could be challenging, especially given the tight deadlines for exchange implementation.
To assist with this challenge, the staff proposed, and the Board has approved, the creation of three new advisory groups (in addition to its existing Marketing and Outreach group): a Health Plan group, a SHOP group, and an Individual Experience group. These advisory groups will take up issues that will directly impact consumers. For example, the Health Plan advisory group may “inform the selection of quality ratings” and the SHOP group may “provide feedback on employer and employee rights and responsibilities.” It’s important that all stakeholders have adequate and meaningful representation on these advisory groups and we urge our members to apply. The application deadline is May 4th; information on the advisory groups and the nomination form can be found here.
CCHI staff is closely monitoring the activities of the COHBE Board, its subcommittees, and advisory groups. For more information, or how to get involved, contact Debra Judy at djudy@cohealthinitiative.org or Ashley Wheeland at awheeland@cohealthinitiative.org.