Republicans reacted angrily to news that 92,000 Coloradans could have to shop around for new health insurance plans and others could face rate increases as high as 40 percent, while U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said Congress has to do more to curb rising health care costs.

The Division of Insurance announced Tuesday that some health insurers in the state are seeking double-digit rate increases for individual plans and others are dropping coverage for residents who buy their own policies. While some insurers sought minimal increases – and some even are proposing price cuts for small group plans – Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Rocky Mountain HMO, Colorado Choice and the Golden Rule proposed rates hikes from 26.8 percent to 40.6 percent, said state regulators, which must approve increases this summer before they take effect. 

“Michael Bennet’s vote for Obamacare has proven disastrous for our state, yet Sen. Bennet has said he wants to go even further and provide a public option,” said U.S. Senate candidate Jon Keyser, one of five GOP candidates running in a June primary.

“He has no answers for the thousands of Coloradans who simply can’t afford higher health care costs. Sen. Bennet is out of touch with Colorado, and out of touch with reality,” Keyser added.

Bennet’s other potential GOP challengers had similar messages.

“Once again, another broken promise by President Obama and Michael Bennet, that Coloradans could keep their health insurance if they want to,” Ryan Frazier told The Colorado Statesman. “This continues to spiral out of control and why its urgent we replace Obamacare with consumer-choice driven solutions that will bring down costs and expand access for more Coloradans to the healthcare they need.”

“This is just another indication of the failure of Sen. Bennet’s Obamacare program and it’s insidious impact on tens of thousands of Coloradans,” Jack Graham’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, told The Statesman.

“The facts continue to prove Obamacare is a massive failure. On every front, individuals are losing healthcare, companies are pulling out, and middle class America is being priced out of the market. How is this an ‘affordable’ care act?” asked a spokeswoman for the Robert Blaha campaign.

“This is one of the main reasons why Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced with a free market option that allows plans to be purchased across state lines,” Darryl Glenn said. “Coloradans need to have access to plans that won’t quit on them.”

Bennet spokesman Adam Bozzi told The Statesman that Congress bore some of the blame.

“One reason Sen. Bennet voted against the fiscal cliff deal was that it eliminated tools that would have lowered these insurance rates,” Bozzi said. “Although these are initial requests that will likely be reduced over the summer, Congress must do more to address the rising costs of health care.”

Bennet is working in Washington to fix the problem, he said.

“Sen. Bennet has introduced bills to provide flexibility and grants to states and regions with high rates and to better manage Medicare costs. He’ll also propose legislation to increase transparency and empower consumers to better understand where their dollars in health care are going. But he knows we can’t go back to the days when people were kicked off their health care when they got sick, young people couldn’t stay insured through their parents or seniors were forced to pay more for prescription drugs than they can often pay today?,” Bozzi said.

Bennet’s Republican colleague, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, said in a statement that Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act, was behind the rate increases and difficulties Coloradans would face finding coverage next year.

“When the president rammed his partisan healthcare law through Congress, he repeatedly promised the American people, ‘If you like your plan, you can keep it,'” Gardner said. “President Obama and those that supported this partisan law are now silent as 92,000 Coloradans must find a new insurance plan. The president also promised the average family of four would pay $2,500 less annually by the end of his first term, but has no answers for families in Colorado that will have to deal with these outrageous increases. While the president continues to sell the American people a myth that Obamacare is working, we know this simply is not true. It’s time for the president to admit Obamacare is a disaster for the American people.”

Gardner added, “I will continue to work tirelessly to repeal and replace Obamacare with a patient-centered health care system that actually lowers costs and increases choice.”

Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar said in a statement she would rather the companies hadn’t decided to leave the individual marketplace in Colorado but added, “[I]n the larger picture, what’s taking place is a market correction; the free market is at work.”

“As we prepare for the fourth open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act, it’s worth noting that we’re still in the stabilization phase,” she said. “Companies are still figuring it out – where to sell, how to sell, how to price – which is why we’re seeing some companies pull back on individual plans or requesting significant increases, while still other companies are coming into the market. Some companies have done a better job of figuring out how to operate in this new environment and compete for people’s business, while others must step back and reevaluate their approach.”

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com