In CO, disparity in health plan prices underscores ambitions, and limits, of ACA

At first glance, Colorado would seem to be one of the federal health law's clearest success stories, offering nearly 200 plans and average premiums nearly unchanged in the coming year. But zoom in closer, and it is clear that a kind of pricing pandemonium is underway, one that offers a case study of the ambitions and limits of the Affordable Care Act during this second year of enrollment. An analysis by The New York Times shows, for example, that the cost of one midlevel silver plan in Colorado rose 36 percent west of the Rocky Mountains this year, while another dropped nearly 40 percent in the northeastern plains.