Issues

Healthy Lives
Every Coloradoan should have access to quality, affordable health care. Unfortunately, medical costs keep going up while money for health care becomes harder to find. However, there’s a lot we can do to improve our current system using the resources we have.

Lowering Costs through Healthier Living and Prevention.
- Personal Responsibility. Each of us has the power and responsibility to take action to maintain a healthy lifestyle. By eating right, exercising, and getting our recommended screenings and check-ups, we can all reduce the cost of health care and make our lives more enjoyable.
- Maintaining a Healthy Environment. Contaminants in our air and water harm the health of everyone in our community. Every step we take to clean up our environment is also a step toward better health. I sponsored a law to allow patients to turn in their unused, unexpired medications back to their pharmacist so that they could be re-dispensed or donated to patients who may not be able to afford them. This also prevents medications from going down the drain and, eventually, into our water supply.
- Using Immunization to Prevent Cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that cervical cancer will cause almost 4,000 deaths among women in the United States this year. For the first time, doctors have developed a vaccine that is capable of preventing most forms of this cancer before they begin. I sponsored a law to make the cervical cancer vaccine available to more women and to increase public awareness of this life saving tool.
- Preventing injuries. I sponsored a bill to require children under the age of 18 to wear motorcycle helmets to prevent traumatic brain injury. After years working in the field of brain injury, I know the lifetime costs of a brain injury are millions of dollars and often times this expense is bourne by the taxpayer after the insurance runs out. Preventing injury is much more cost effective than the long term care.
Creating New Programs without New Taxes.
- New Cures through Cord Blood. Doctors have found that the blood inside the umbilical cord after a child is born can be used in groundbreaking treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, and other life-threatening diseases. So I sponsored a new bill that will use private funding to increase awareness and collection of cord-blood donations. 80,000 new moms will now have the opportunity to donate this cord blood for life saving treatments and research.
- Using Gambling Revenues to Fight Gambling Addiction. Gambling Addiction can destroy lives and tear apart families. Gambling addicts have the highest suicide rate of any addiction. For this reason, I sponsored a bill that will dedicate some of the money generated by the casinos in the state to fund educational programs to train therapists to treat gambling addicts and to provide counseling services to gambling addicts in Colorado.
- Income Tax Check off for Breast Cancer Research. I sponsored a law that added a check off box on Colorado income tax forms to allow taxpayers to contribute to breast cancer and women’s reproductive cancers education. This has made it easier for Coloradans to learn what the symptoms are for these life threatening cancers and promote early detection. Cancer impacts thousands of women, as well as men, in Colorado every year.
Lowering Costs through a More Efficient System.
- Increasing Transparency. One of the best ways to reduce the costs in our health care system is to make sure that we all have access to as much information as possible about our insurance health plan options. I sponsored a bill that will require the Division of Insurance to set up an easy to use website that will allow Coloradoans to compare the different health care plans side by side, access complaints filed against each plan as well as report cards comparing each plan and be informed of the commissions earned by insurance brokers who sell health plans. This way, we can see more information about where our health care money is going and which type of coverage is best for each of us.
- Improving Services for Coloradoans with Autism. While one out of every 169 children in Colorado will be diagnosed with Autism, our state has lacked a comprehensive approach to provide services and support for people with Autism and their families. I sponsored a bill that will bring doctors, state department staff, individuals with autism, other experts, and family members together to improve and streamline Colorado’s approach to help make our state a leader in the treatment of Autism.