Let’s just get right down to it: Health care is a human right. Treating an illness or injury should never be a luxury afforded only to the wealthy few who can afford it. Your income, location, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or current state of health should never be a barrier to receiving affordable, high-quality health care. I believe passionately in universal health care, and I always will.

As with so many other issues, politicians in Washington will stop at nothing to make life harder for Coloradans for the benefit of special interests. In Colorado, we have an opportunity to aggressively reduce the costs of care, expand access to the services people depend on, and put Coloradans first. 

Too often, politicians talk about health care as if it begins and ends when you get sick or need to visit a doctor. I propose a bolder path.  

We need to give more Coloradans the opportunity to build lifelong healthy habits and have access to services that reduce the chances of ending up in a hospital room or a doctor’s office to begin with. This approach puts the everyday health of our citizens at the forefront of our policy-making while ensuring that when the unimaginable happens, no Coloradan experiences the fear of not being able to afford the treatment they need, or that their loved one needs, to get better.