ProgressNow Colorado should reconsider their opposition to Amendment 69 (Senator Aguilar)

In keeping with my mission to collect relevant information that can help folks make an informed decision on how to vote for Amendment 69 I want to share this article by Senator Irene Aguilar, one of its architects.  It was written in response to ProgressNow’s rejection of Amendment 69 due to fears of it’s impact on reproductive rights in Colorado. (PS my title, her op-ed)

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Senator Irene Aguilar, MD: “ColoradoCare is real progress, right now”

Posted by Owen Perkins | Aug 19, 2016 

http://www.coloradocare.org/posts/senator-irene-aguilar-md-coloradocare-real-progress-right-now/

by Senator Irene Aguilar

Earlier this week, ProgressNow, a nonprofit that claims to support progressive issues, came out against ColoradoCare/Amendment 69. With this decision, the organization abandoned the people of Colorado and joined forces with status quo establishment politicians and profit- driven private insurers who make it their business to deny care to those who need it most. ProgressNow abandoned legendary progressive voices like Noam Chomsky, who endorsed ColoradoCare in July, and joined forces with corporate insurance lobbyists and Big Pharma, who are spending millions of dollars to spread fear and lies about universal health care.

By opposing ColoradoCare, ProgressNow showed it is not looking for real progress, and certainly not now. But real progress is exactly what the people of Colorado need. Right now.

Our current health care system is broken. Corporate insurers care about their wealth, not our health. One million (one out of five) Coloradans are underinsured. 350,000 Coloradans have no insurance. 535 Coloradans die each year because we cannot afford the care we need. The sick, poor, and elderly, terms that apply to most of us at some point, are often stuck with inadequate care and costly medical bills.

Meanwhile, profits under the corporate system are skyrocketing. Corporate insurance rates for next year are forecast to rise sharply — by as much as 40 percent for one insurer — and there’s no end in sight. Aetna’s 2nd quarter profits were up 8.5 percent from last year. They made a profit of $783.3 million, and CEO Mark Bertolini took home $27.9 million. Still, Aetna was “losing money” with the sick, those who actually need coverage, and so it is pulling out of the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 11 states to focus on more lucrative markets.

Having worked as a primary care physician at Denver Health for 18 years, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the inability to afford basic health care. In 2007,

The strange saga of Tom Horiagon MD vs. the Colorado Medical Board

{The following was writing for the October issue of the Four Corners Free Press.}

On Sept. 8, I read a well-written but misleading letter to the editor in the Durango Telegraph. The letter dismissed ColoradoCare Amendment 69 and went on to praise the perfection of our current Colorado workers comp arrangement. The author, a big-time insurance executive, skipped over the many reasons so many workers feel abandoned, cheated and locked out by what they experience as an adversarial workers comp insurance bureaucracy.

Too many workers find themselves forced to deal with insurance representatives, investigators and regulatory agents who seem to view every claimant as an enemy.

Instead of being allowed to focus on resolving questions and healing, injured workers too often find themselves having to struggle for legitimate compensation from a hostile system.

After reading the letter I felt compelled to give voice to the ignored side of this story. For my response I did a lot of internet trawling for information and my, oh, my, the onslaught of ugly stories and sad facts overwhelmed me at times.

First, revelations of the scandalous health-insurance executive perks, bonuses, golden parachutes and such that have been paid for by developing a culture dedicated to rejecting claims.