A cooperative forming to reduce health insurance costs in Southwest Colorado – Southwest Health Alliance – is teaming up with similar groups to drive down startup costs.

The cooperative model was pioneered by Peak Health Alliance in Summit County, which lowered insurance premiums for residents. Now, it will attempt to lower costs for alliances.

Peak Health Alliance plans to help cooperatives get established and reduce upfront costs, said Tamara Pogue-Drangstveit, CEO of the Summit County alliance.

Peak Health Alliance spent $600,000 to establish itself. The Southwest Health Alliance startup costs could be close to $50,000 because of the new agreement, said Monique DiGiorgio, managing director of Local First, a nonprofit leading the effort to set up Southwest Health Alliance. The alliance could include Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan counties.

The savings would come from sharing costs for legal advice, marketing and negotiations, alliance officials said. Other Colorado alliances joining the group will be announced soon, Pogue-Drangstveit said.

The alliances aim to reduce costs to employers, employees and the self-insured by negotiating prices directly with health care providers. The alliances would contract with insurance companies to provide coverage.

The model resembles farmers’ agricultural co-ops, Pogue-Drangstveit said.

“It really is about the community coming together to solve its own problems,” she said.

Peak Health Alliance lowered the amount a family of four in Summit County would pay for health insurance by $1,200 per month, about 50%, Pogue-Drangstveit said.

Summit County residents paid an average of 535% of Medicare prices for all health care services before the alliance stepped in, she said.

La Plata County residents are paying about 435% of Medicare prices for all health care services, she said.

Representatives from Peak Health Alliance and Southwest Health Alliance met with 40 to 45 residents Wednesday, including La Plata County officials, business representatives, health care professionals and others to pitch the new alliance, DiGiorgio said.

The meetings showed “how hungry people are for a solution to this problem,” Pogue-Drangstveit said.

Next,Southwest Health Alliance will research how much residents and employers are spending on health care. The data will inform which Southwest Colorado counties are involved in the alliance, DiGiorgio said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com