Transparency Reisberg style
State Representative Jim Reisberg is one of the primary sponsors of HB 1293 the Healthcare provider “fee”. According to a new report from Independence Institute Health Care Policy Center Linda Gorman, the bill adds as much as a 5.5 percent tax to every patients’ hospital bill and could cost Colorado citizens nearly $600 million per year in increased health care costs.
HB 1293 is another example of the Colorado General Assembly’s wanton disregard for the Colorado constitution and the will of voters. Calling this a “fee” is disingenious as best and unconstitutional at worst. Yet given the state Supreme Court’s open hostility toward the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, all Colorado taxpayers can do is swallow another bitter tax pill.
To add insult to injury, the legislation forbids hospitals from telling patients how much they are paying. On page 9 of the 41-page bill is this chilling line: A HOSPITAL SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY AMOUNT OF THE PROVIDER FEE AS A SEPERATE LINE ITEM IN ITS BILLING STATEMENTS.
Should any Colorado resident or media outlet want to know how the tax masquerading as a fee is calculated, well they are out of luck because the legislation forbids that too. Reisberg’s bill reads:
The State Board, in consultation with the Advisory Board, shall promulgate rules on reports that hospitals shall be required to submit for the state department to calculate the amount of the provider fee. Notwithstanding the provisions of part 2 of article 72 of title 24, C.R.S., information provided to the State Department pursuant to the section shall be considered confidential and shall not be deemed a public record.
In other words, don’t ask any questions about how much you are paying or how the tax is calculated because it is none of your business.
According to the Tribune, Republicans tried to amend the bill to make it more transparent but failed.