My medical colleagues and I regularly see patients who have waited far too long to seek care and who have suffered needlessly as a result.
Why? Because they either totally lack health insurance or because their coverage is so threadbare and expensive that they cannot afford the care they need.
The status quo is bad enough, but I am alarmed that Congress and this administration are threatening Medicaid, the safety net for those in poverty and the physically and mentally disabled.
Meanwhile the administration is taking steps to enrich corporations like UnitedHealthcare – by doubling this year’s rate increase for Medicare Advantage insurers. These firms frustrate physicians, delay and deny care for our patients, and threaten the solvency of clinics and hospitals across the country.
We do not have to live this way.
The good news is that the Colorado Legislature has passed SB 25-045, which will direct the Colorado School of Public Health to evaluate the efficiency of a single-payer program in Colorado. A single-payer program would use the public money that currently goes to corporate health insurers to provide comprehensive coverage for everybody.
By eliminating the insurance company middlemen, a single-payer program would control runaway health expenses and would significantly improve the physical and financial well-being of all Coloradans.
Our country is in urgent need of fundamental health care reform. You can learn more at a rally hosted by the Colorado Healthcare Coalition, Sunday, May 31, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Buckley Park. Learn more about CHC at cohccoalition.org.
Joan MacEachen MD, MPH
Durango
