Health care is expensive.

It’s expensive for those who don’t have insurance; it’s expensive for those who have it; and it’s especially expensive for businesses, which in Colorado provide coverage for 60 percent of those who carry insurance.

A presentation hosted by the Roaring Fork Valley Community Health Plan and the Aspen Chamber Resort Association on Wednesday presented information to business leaders about health care reform legislation and gathered feedback to bring back to the state capitol.

But in between listening to the presentation and answering questions, the audience of about 10 people asked some questions of their own: Why do our prices go up to pay for the uninsured? Why do Congress members benefit from such great health care plans, while the public must pay a fortune for the same benefits? Given $30 billion spent in Colorado on health care each year, where is this money going?

The presenters, Ralph Pollock and Amy Fletcher of the Business Health Forum, did not have all the answers. But for the Forum, a year-old project that aims to involve business leaders in health care reform, the first step is to prompt employers to ask these questions.

“The business community has a loud voice with legislators,” Fletcher said. “We believe that if businesses come together and have a unified voice, they can be an agent for these changes.”

Fletcher and Pollock summarized some of the suggestions of the Blue Ribbon Committee for Health Care Reform, a 27-member commission created by the Colorado legislature in 2006.

Pollock was a member of the group, which recommended improving administrative efficiency in health care, requiring employers to offer pre-tax insurance plans and eventually requiring all legal residents of Colorado to have a minimum level of insurance coverage.

Some audience members said they would rather not have the government tell them how to run their businesses, and one jokingly asked Pollock whether the commission thinks as socialists, communists or capitalists in making their recommendations about health care for all.

“All of the above,” Pollock joked. “It was a very diverse group. It pretty much reflected the citizens of Colorado, and I think it turned out pretty moderate.”

The estimated 792,000 Coloradans who do not have health insurance ultimately affect everyone and create a de-facto universal health care system, Pollock said. Because hospitals provide services to even those who cannot pay, the money translates into price increases for those who can pay.

The equivalent of one month’s worth of a family policy goes to pay for the uninsured, making it something of a “hidden tax,” Pollock said. Mandating that residents carry health care could help this problem, he said.

In Aspen, another notable health care problem is the lack of health care carrier options, said Brad O’Neill, vice president of Van Gilder Insurance Corporation, which manages the Roaring Fork Valley Community Health Plan.

“There used to be 82 licensed insurance carriers in 1992,” O’Neill said. “Today, our options — you can count them on one hand.”

The plan, which O’Neill said is trying to create a benchmark for health care coverage, was initiated in 2002. He noted that it has saved $2-$2.5 million that otherwise would have “flowed out of the valley.” It is now used by 5,000 members and 500 businesses, he said.

Pollock and Fletcher recommended some alternatives for employers to reduce health care costs, including sponsoring wellness programs. Pollock said these programs could increase morale as well as the health of employees.

Pollock and Fletcher said they hope that business owners will also get involved in health care reform, and that they engage more businesses at future meetings.

“We’d like to come back a year from now and say, ‘See, we proved you could really do something,’” Pollock said.

elise@aspendailynews.com