Garfield County has one health insurance provider and one hospital, causing residents to sometimes pay more than their mortgage for basic health insurance.
To help lower the costs, Garfield County’s Board of County Commissioners unanimously agreed at last week's meeting to partner with Peak Health Alliance, a non-profit that helps communities bargain lower health insurance costs.
Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said the county paid $25,000 through a supplemental budget for research to find exactly what the county’s medical needs are.