Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet said he has "no answers" for Coloradans who are suffering with the "most expensive health care on the planet" from Obamacare.
In an interview with the editorial board of the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Bennet said it is "next to impossible" to fix the president’s health care law.
The Affordable Care Act is making headway against costs most everywhere but in western and central Colorado, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said Friday.
Those areas have "some of the most expensive health care on the planet," Bennet told The Daily Sentinel editorial board.
Fixing the act, frequently referred to as Obamacare, is next to impossible in the politically charged atmosphere in Washington, D.C., in which Democrats refuse to change it at all and Republicans want to toss it wholesale, Bennet said.
Grand Junction, which was touted as having some of the lowest Medicare costs, also has some of the highest health care costs overall, according to a database study of spending by insurance plans.
Resolving such issues is no clear task, Bennet said.
"I don’t have answers for Grand Junction, but I’m aware of the problem," he said.
UnitedHealth, the largest insurer in the country, recently announced it will leave most Obamacare exchanges by next year, citing huge loses. The company lost $475 million last year in the exchanges, and expects to lose another $500 million in 2016.
Other companies are expecting "substantial increases" for Obamacare premiums next year. The biggest co-op in Colorado’s Obamacare exchange has already folded, leaving 83,000 people to searching for new health insurance.
Bennet voted for Obamacare and promised in 2009 "if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it."