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Dan Pilcher
CACI Senior Vice President
& Chief Operating Officer
E-Mail:
dpilcher@COchamber.com
Phone: 303.866.9600
www.COchamber.com
Friday, July 16, 2010
CACI Members Can Support CACI’s Election-Season Effort to Elect
Pro-Business Legislators in Two Ways
With CACI’s interviews with 52 new legislative candidates
completed and while the CACI lobbying team is assessing them,
there are two ways that CACI members can support CACI’s effort
to create a pro-business legislature for the 2011 and 2012
sessions.
The CACI lobbying team will recommend a list of new candidates
to the CACI Executive Committee, which meets on August 2nd,
and the CACI Board of Directors for endorsement and financial
support from the Colorado Business Political Action Committee
(CB-PAC).
CB-PAC
Individuals, companies and PACs can contribute up to $525 during
the two-year election cycle to a political action committee such
as CB-PAC. CACI members who wish to contribute to CB-PAC should
contact Denise Reeves, CACI Vice President of Events and
Programs, at 303.866.9622 or via e-mail at
dreeves@COchamber.com
Recent donors to CB-PAC include:
·
The BroAdmoor
·
Colorado Concern Political Committee
·
Colorado Rural Electric Association
·
Phelps-Tointon, Inc.
·
Summit Brick Company
To date, 41 companies and political action committees have
contributed to CB-PAC, along with one individual, Rich Zahringer,
CFO of Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, who is member of the CACI
Board of Directors. CACI thanks all who have contributed to
CB-PAC.
CACI’s Small-Donor Committee
Under Colorado’s campaign finance laws, an individual can
contribute $50 per calendar year to a small-donor committee. In
turn, a small-donor committee can give up to $2,125 to a state
legislative candidate.
CACI’s small-donor committee contribution, therefore, can be an
important factor in the financial support of pro-business
legislative candidates in key, competitive races that can
determine which party controls a legislative chamber.
During the 2008 election campaign, the CACI Prosperity Fund
supported six legislative candidates in tightly contested races
with contributions of $600 each, which was in addition to the
$400 that they each received from CB-PAC.
Please mail personal checks for $50 made out to the CACI
Prosperity Fund to the CACI Office.
Health-Care Reform: Taking the First Step
NOTE:
This section was written by Dan Anglin, CACI Governmental
Affairs Representative
With the passage of the Federal health-care reform law, known as
the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), many
employers are concerned about the steps that they will have to
take to comply with the many mandates that affect their role in
a worker’s health benefits.
CACI, in concert with members of the health-care industry
(insurers, providers and manufacturers of health-care related
products), is working diligently to determine how Colorado will
implement the new requirements of the federal law.
The first issue of the PPACA that Colorado will face is the idea
of an “exchange”. An exchange is the concept that a new
“entity” will emerge that provides a marketplace for the
purchase of health insurance. According to the
Colorado Association of Health Plans,
a CACI member, the basic concepts of exchange that must be
implemented in Colorado to comply with the PPACA are:
·
The entity that administers the exchange must be a governmental
agency or nonprofit organization;
·
Participants in an exchange must be U.S. citizens or legal
immigrants;
·
The exchange must include all individuals and small businesses;
·
All plans offered in the exchange must include specific
benefits;
·
Premiums for the plans must be based on adjusted community
rating (meaning that the premium is based not on health factors
but other considerations) in and out of the exchange; and
·
Federal insurance-premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies
are only available to purchasers within the exchange.
These parameters leave many questions as to how Colorado will
approach the implementation of the exchange. For example:
·
Who will pay for the exchange?
·
What role will an employer have in an employee’s health
benefits?
·
Who will administer and govern the exchange?
·
Will there be more than one exchange available for Colorado
residents?
·
What insurance carriers will be allowed to offer plans in the
exchange?
·
What role will brokers have?
·
Will Colorado require more benefits to be covered than the basic
federal plan?
The first in a series of public discussions on such issues and
questions will be conducted by the Colorado Health Reform
Implementation Board from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, July 23rd,
at the Molly Blank Center of the
National Jewish Hospital.
This forum is open to the public and CACI members who would like
to participate in the discussion are encouraged to attend.
Another source of information on various issues about the
implementation of the PPACA, including
health insurance exchanges, is the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation.
CACI will continue to provide updates on these discussions as
they progress. For more information please contact Dan at
303.866.9641 or by e-mail at
danglin@COchamber.com |
