Motivated by kindness and driven to improve the healthcare situation in southwest Colorado, Locals First and the Southwest Health Alliance worked for several years with healthcare providers and insurance companies to bring down the costs of healthcare in our area.
Their work is exemplary. More plans are available at better rates, including savings of up to 30% on health insurance premiums. The negotiations must have been grueling, but they brought all the parties to the table and endeavored to make a change.
This is the work that elected officials should be doing. Despite all of the votes and campaign contributions that helped get our senators and members of Congress into office, none of this was accomplished by our representatives. This work to increase options and lower costs was done by people working for a nonprofit funded by local contributions.
This is real change that translates to better healthcare and more money in people’s pockets, which improves lives, improves living conditions, and enhances the local economy.
Elected officials should respect their constituency and work to make real change for the people who put them in office. Put aside partisan politics and act to improve conditions for hard-working people. Here in southwest Colorado, we understand that party affiliation does not define a person. The changes you enact to improve people’s lives is all that really matters.
Please don’t waste the good will of those who put you in office: do some good work for all of us!
Cynthia LoebigIgnacio
