Kaiser-Permanente official: Health insurance remains unaffordable

GREELEY – Health insurance remains unaffordable for consumers despite smaller premium increases and efforts by health care providers to control costs, a top official for Kaiser-Permanente Colorado said Wednesday.

Health care providers will face a major challenge as they seek to lower high costs of health care this year, said Dr. Jandel Allen-Davis, vice president for government and external relations.

“The next Mount Everest we climb is going to be focused on how we control costs,” she said.

Allen-Davis and other experts gave their predictions for the region’s economic health at BizWest’s annual Economic Forecast event at the University of Northern Colorado. The experts agreed that while the region has continued to recover from the economic recession, industries such as health care, agribusiness and manufacturing face hurdles.

Despite lowering the number of uninsured to 11 percent from 17 percent statewide, some populations remain with higher percentages of uninsured. A third of Hispanic people, for example, do not have insurance.

“There’s an area where we at Kaiser-Permanente and other insurers are very much focused,” Allen-Davis said.

It’s too early to tell whether the state will see shifts in those figures, she said. The state’s health exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, completes its open-enrollment period Feb. 15.

The agribusiness industry also faces challenges to satisfy record demand for food and a growing middle class, particularly in Asia, amid lower commodity prices, said Brian Kuehl, director of federal affairs for K-Coe Isom. The accounting and consulting company was formed by the recent merger of Kennedy and Coe and California-based Matson and Isom.

Flooding and droughts caused by climate change have led to commodity price swings and volatility that has complicated crop production practices, he said. Pushes for sustainability by retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) have pressured traditional farmers while improving opportunities for organic farmers.

The agricultural industry has responded by consolidating.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to operate in agriculture,” Kuehl said.

Experts also discussed the importance of improving the region’s infrastructure, including its airports and Interstate 25, to facilitate economic development.

Along with other Northern Colorado business leaders, David May, CEO of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, has sought to add a third lane in both directions to the interstate between Colorado 66 north of Longmont and Colorado 14 in Fort Collins.

Business leaders and elected officials have been discussing with Colorado Department of Transportation officials the possibility of expanding the interstate on Berthoud Hill, a steeper stretch of road where slower vehicles can snarl traffic. The expansion could cost from $5 million to $10 million, though state and federal dollars for such improvements have been scarce.

Harry Horowitz, senior manager in the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade, said that advanced manufacturing businesses need better transportation options.

“We need a good highway system, we need good airports,” he said.

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