What a difference a year makes in Colorado’s case for a public option plan Before the pandemic, Colorado looked set to become the second state to pass what's known as a "public option" health insurance plan, which would have forced hospitals that lawmakers said were raking in obscene profits to accept lower payments. But when covid-19 struck, legislators hit pause. Now, after a year of much public lionizing of doctors and other health professionals on the front lines of the covid fight, it's a lot harder to make the case hospitals are fleecing patients. "It is much more difficult now that we have this narrative of the health care heroes," said Sarah McAfee, director of communications for the Center for Health Progress, a Denver-based health advocacy organization that pushed for the public option. "Part of this is separating the two: The people who are providing the health care are not the same as the corporations who are focused on the bottom line."