[HealthCareForAllColorado] 208 Commission input needed by 2/9; Statewide Health Care Reform Event 2/26

[Carolyn L Taylor]

208 Commission Input  needed by Friday 2/9
For those who haven’t yet emailed the 208 Commission with input regarding
criteria for proposals, two areas of concern are key:
IV A 2: Comprehensiveness
A reform proposal that expands coverage and decreases costs broadly for all
Coloradans for whom these are issues.
IV A 18: Implementation

 Proposal can be implemented without significant legal, regulatory, or other
implementation barriers.

These two criteria could potentially be used against a single-payer proposal
by limiting comprehensiveness to “all Coloradans for whom these are issues.”
High health care costs and coverage is a public health issue — something
that concerns all Coloradoans.
As for implementation, any significant reform potentially will face
“significant legal, regulatory, or other implementation barriers.”
That concern was not part of the commission’s charge.
Please take a minute and email the commission:
208commission at comcast.net
to tell them that these are concerns. We can be sure that those against
reform are doing the same.

Following are comments that have been submitted:
Dear 208 Commission:

If I am understanding the intent of the commission, it is to investigate and
research proposals that will "protect and improve the health status of all
Coloradans."   I believe the only way to accomplish this is for all
Coloradans to have comprehensive health insurance.  The idea of expanding
coverage for very basic services will not accomplish this.  The most simple
example of why this is so is the high copays and deductibles proposed under
"consumer directed" plans.  They encourage people to avoid seeking help when
an illness is in an early more treatable phase.  We have already tried that
approach.  It is essentially a slight variant from our current system.  It
results in our having the costliest health care system in the world, and our
people being by far the least healthy compared to other wealthy nations.


Every other wealthy nation has comprehensive health insurance for everyone
of their citizens.  If this commission is not just political cover for
keeping the status quo, it needs to be researching proposals for universal
and comprehensive health insurance.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

Sincerely,

Glenn Pearson, M.D.

And here's another sample comment :

Comprehensive health care reform will necessitate change, replacing existing
laws such as HIPPA, ERISA and thousands of others.  To say you cannot fix
something that is broken because it would be illegal to do so is absurd!
New solutions to old problems if enacted into law will of course replace
old, obsolete and bad legislation, e.g. Medicare Part D.

Single payer universal health care would replace Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIPS,
federal employee insurance, and a myriad of entitlement programs now paid
for by taxes because everyone would be covered in the new plan.  It would be
better and cost less because the risk would be shared by all and the cost
would be shared by all.

Elinor Christiansen, MD

Comments need to be received at the 208 Commission email by  5:00PM this
Friday, 2/9.   Questions? contact Eliza Carney at 970-416-0636 or
abcdrn at greyrock.org    Thank you!



To read the entire draft solicitation for proposals, go to:

http://www.colorado.gov/208commission/
and choose the “Public Input” option.

Healthcare Event:   Monday, Feb. 26, The Healthcare Day of Action, sponsored
by a coalition of health care reform groups, including HCAC:
Meet up at 8:30 a.m. at Presbyterian Central Church, 17th & Sherman Sts. (2
blocks north of the Capitol) for an update from a 208 commissioner.   Then
on to the Capitol, to bring our health care stories to our legislators.

Bring educative material such as can be found at
www.healthcareforallcolorado.org like "Problems of Health Care Access: Who
Pays, Who Profits?"

Organizers urge we bring signs. Suggestions: "Health Care," with a
thermometer reading off the charts; or “Band-aid” with a red line through
the words.

This is a prime opportunity to tell our legislators and governor that health
care is a top priority for us.
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