“Amycare” is nearly here.

Next summer, Colorado’s new state health care exchange will begin a testing phase and be up and running by Oct. 1. It’s a significant part of the state’s health care reform efforts and is designed to lower costs for businesses and individuals by creating what backers call a “health care marketplace.”

The nickname “Amycare” refers to the bipartisan SB200, passed in 2011, which created the exchange system. State Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, was the prime House sponsor, and opponents of the bill dubbed it “Amycare,” linking it to “Obamacare,” the GOP description for the federal health care bill.

Obamacare mandates that all 50 states create their health care exchange or accept one created by the federal government, and Amycare was designed to pre-empt federal intervention. The Colorado exchange will be an online portal that businesses and individuals can use to look for insurance tailored to their needs. That’s pretty much what Obamacare requires, and Amycare’s legal language says that the measure is designed to be in keeping with the federal law.

That also puts Colorado ahead of many other states that haven’t begun setting up exchanges, especially because states have to declare that they’re setting up exchanges, along with blueprints for the exchange, in a letter to the federal government by Dec. 14.

Leaders in several states were waiting to see what would happen if President Barack Obama lost his bid for re-election, or in case Obamacare was overturned in court.

Federal money will keep Colorado’s new exchange running for a year, but by Jan. 1, 2015, the exchange will be self-funded, said Patty Fontneau, CEO of the nonprofit in charge of setting it up. And the job is well under way.

“You can let the federal government come in and dictate to us what kind of model we’re going to have, or we can build it openly ourselves, to meet the needs of individuals and businesses,” Fontneau said. “That’s what we’re doing.”

Not all the federal regulations on health care exchanges, however, have been set up, or announced.

“We will abide by Colorado state law and by federal law,” Fontneau said.

Exchange staffers have been working for months with insurance providers, the business community and state officials, Fontneau said. Within 10 months, the exchange will be open for business.

Exchange designers have received a $63 million grant from the federal government to establish the system, and it will mainly be spent on IT work for its Internet site, Fontneau said.

It’s still up in the air where the exchange’s income will come from after the federal money runs out at the end of 2014. The money will probably be a combination of things such as fees from users and providers, and possibly working in conjunction with other states, Fontneau said.

Twenty-seven other states are in the planning level 1 stage, which means they’re setting up their infrastructure and have received federal money to do so. Colorado is one of 11 states that have received more than one grant.

Colorado’s model hasn’t been completely approved by the federal government. The federal Department of Health and Human Services has to give an initial thumbs-up to Colorado’s exchange, along with those of other states, by Jan. 1. And even after that, the federal government will keep an eye on the state, to make sure it’s complying fully with federal regulations.

Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, is the incoming policy and communications director for Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which has to develop its plans in accordance with what the exchange does. He said the impact of the state’s exchange will be felt through much of the health care world.

By one estimate, for example, the exchange will serve 960,000 Coloradans by 2016.

Massey added that the scheduled state and federal expansions of Medicaid over the next several years is going to have to “mirror” the exchange. Many Medicaid applicants, Massey said, will be able to use the exchange to get their applications in. That’s just a small taste of how the exchange will influence Colorado’s health care, Massey said.

There was a big fight about SB200 during the Republican primary in state House District 19 this year, between Stephens and Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan.

Political advertisements against Stephens featured attacks on Amycare, including photoshopped pictures of her alongside Obama. And a resolution at the Republican state assembly that supported repealing the exchange passed 2,667 to 452.

Opponents of Obamacare and Amycare hated what they were getting and did their best to oust Obama and Stephens.

Stephens won the primary and is still in the House (though she’s no longer majority leader). Looper has left the political scene and is back home in Calhan, working in the real estate industry. And since the primary ended in June, the controversy has long since been snuffed out.

“I have not heard ‘SB200’ or ‘Amycare’ since the election,” said El Paso County GOP chairman Eli Bremer. “The criticism was people on the right were saying, ‘Why are we doing this, because Obamacare will be overturned by the Supreme Court or he (Obama) won’t win office again.’”

But since Obama was re-elected, Amycare has faded from the limelight.

“By supporting the exchange idea, do people see that as an endorsement of Obamacare? I certainly don’t see it that way, but there are people who do,” said incoming House Minority Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs.

“It’s where we are. Now, we need to move forward,” he said.—Contact John Schroyer: 476-4825Twitter: @JohnschroyerFacebook: Gazette John Schroyer

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