US Senator Gardner Applauds Approval of Colorado Reinsurance Waiver
Senator pushed CMS directly for this action to lower health insurance costs in CO
Washington, D.C. –U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) applauded the announcement that the State of Colorado’sreinsurancewaiver was approved by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In conversations with CMS, Senator Gardner stressed how critical health insurance cost savings are and emphasized how large of an impact areinsurancewaiver would have for families in Colorado. In May, Gardner wrote to Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary Azar in support of Colorado’s waiver application.
This waiver will drive down health care costs in Colorado and especially on the Western Slope, where families pay some of the highest health insurance premiums in the country. Because this approval happened before health insurance rates were finalized for the next plan year, Coloradans will see immediate cost savings when they shop for next year’s insurance plans.
“I’m very pleased the Colorado reinsurance waiver has been granted. I was a strong supporter of this effort with CMS to ensure sure we had a timely approval process— weighing in a number of times with CMS to get this waiver through and working with Governor Polis and others,” said Senator Gardner. “This waiver will allow us to drive down insurance costs, provide better care across the state of Colorado, and I’ll continue working for bipartisan solutions to alleviate the damage and the harm from high health care costs.”
“As a result of today’s waiver approval, more consumers in Colorado may have coverage and premiums will be lower,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Leaders across the state including Senator Gardner, the Governor and the Insurance Commissioner have been passionate about the need to lower Coloradan’s health care costs. This is another example of states taking the opportunity to improve their markets.”
More information on CMS’s approval of Colorado’s reinsurance waiver can be found here.
Cory Gardner is a member of the U.S. Senate serving Colorado. He sits on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy