Where Tourism Brings Pricey Health Care, Locals Fight Back

(By Julie Appleby for Kaiser Health News)

Colorado’s ski resort areas in Summit County have a high cost of living, among the highest in the country. The people who visit these places — Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain ­— can afford it.

Many of those who live and work there can’t, especially when they get sick.

In addition to expensive rent, they pay some of the steepest health insurance premiums in the nation. Hospital costs are also pricey, with most business generated by tourists, skiers and outdoors enthusiasts.

But locals may soon get a break after a group, fed up with the costs, negotiated a deal with the hospital system. The group, which came to be known as the Peak Health Alliance, expects to be able to offer its members premiums next year that are at least 20% less than current rates.  Continue reading article here…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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