Across Colorado, in every county and every community I visit, people repeatedly tell me about their fears and frustrations with our broken health-care system.

People are angry. Businesses, retirees and working families all want to know what’s being done to fix a health-care system so clearly in need of reform. People of all income levels are frustrated at Washington’s repeated failure to address this issue, and they’re demanding solutions from Colorado’s leaders.

I share their concerns, because here are the harsh realities we face in Colorado:

  •  Medical costs and health insurance premiums are skyrocketing, with working families and small businesses bearing the burden of increases that are partly the result of shifting costs incurred by the uninsured onto the insured.
  •  Comfort in the knowledge that one’s family will have access to health care is diminishing.
  •  There are significant gaps in available quality care and, as a result, accessing care — particularly in rural areas — has become difficult even for insured Coloradans.
  •  Some 770,000 Coloradans (including 180,000 children) are uninsured or underinsured, putting themselves and their families at risk for medical and financial hardship.

    Fortunately, in 2006 the legislature and former Gov. Bill Owens created the Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform (commonly called the 208 Commission after Senate Bill 208, which created it) to study models for comprehensive reform. With input from my administration and people from all over the state, the commission has generated some serious and thoughtful proposals.

    Unfortunately, there is no easy fix. The challenge is complex and solutions must be balanced, carefully analyzed and the consequences well thought through. As I have listened to Coloradans and studied the issues, I have developed four principles to guide the debate as we move forward: (more…)