Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

HEALTHCARE & MENTAL HEALTH -- Healthcare should be more affordable and easier to access, and we need to invest more in mental health care and expand access to services.

2019 was a banner year for reducing healthcare costs and increasing patient protections. I supported a bi-partisan legislation to

create a reinsurance program that is already on track to lower premiums on the individual market by an average of 18% in 2020 (HB19-1168 -- signed into law);
increase transparency of hospital costs (HB19-1001 -- signed into law);
limit out of network or "surprise" billing by health care providers (HB19-1174 -- signed into law);
create oversight for freestanding emergency rooms to control costs (HB19-1010 -- signed into law);
limit out of pocket costs for insulin, a necessary medicine for more and more people (HB19-1216 -- signed into law);
reduce maternal mortality rates, which have doubled in Colorado since 2008 (HB19-1122 -- signed into law);
reduce the cost of healthcare through new approaches like a public option to increase competition in health care (HB19-1004 -- signed into law) and;
promote health care cooperatives that can negotiate for lower prices (SB19-004 -- signed into law).
To increase access to mental health services, I supported bipartisan legislation to

increase access to counseling services for youth 12 years and older (HB19-1120 -- signed into law);
fund more counselors in high-need elementary schools (HB19-1017 -- signed into law);
require insurance companies to cover prevention and treatment of mental health conditions as well as physical conditions (HB19-1269 -- signed into law) and;
allocate $3M in school grant funding to increase access to behavioral health services for students (SB19-010 -- signed into law).

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