METRO NORTH NEWSPAPERS
Northglenn/ Thornton Edition

Activists, political leaders call for reform

By Nissa LaPoint | Westminster Window | January 30, 2008
http://metronorthnews.com/story.php?id=101.4

Colorado State Representative Mary Hodge, District 50, talks to a group of seniors, group advocates and other political leaders at the Villas at Sunny Acres in Thornton about health care reform. Colorado State Senator Lois Tochtrop, District 24, stands to her right and Thornton City Council member Eva Henry stands in the background.

After sharing their struggles with illness without health insurance, advocates and state political leaders agreed that the United States needs to revamp its health care system.

A group of state legislators and congressional district candidates, health care reform advocates and seniors met at the Villas at Sunny Acres Jan. 26 to talk about the need for health care reform.

"I didn't get health care (insurance) until my daughter was 15," said Eva Henry, Thornton city council member of Ward 2. "She lost her hearing in her left ear because I couldn't find a doctor that would put tubes in her ear without health insurance."

Henry, who helped organize the event, said to the group of about 36 people that the health care system is broken and that the government needs to step in.

"If we didn't have health care, we would have been bankrupt," he said. "It is critical the government gets involved in this. We are responsible for every person in this country to have affordable health care."

Representatives of the Colorado Progressive Coalition, a non-profit group, showed a 15-minute video called "Sick and Tired," documenting the health issues of four different people in Colorado.

The video estimated that about 45,000 (CPC note:  this is inaccurate, the figure is significantly higher) people in Colorado are uninsured and that one-fourth will spend more than 10 percent of their income on health expenses this year.

Some of the political leaders and group advocates discussed the Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform. The Commission is scheduled to submit a report to the General Assembly Jan. 31 to establish a health care reform model to increase the amount of Coloradoans insured while decreasing its costs.

State Senator Lois Tochtrop stood in front of the group and said health care decisions need to be put in the hands of health care providers and not businesses or other interests.

"The health care system in this country is so broken," Tochtrop said. "It's a huge issue and we are hoping something comes out of the commission."

However, Tochtrop did not think citizens would vote for a socialized health care system.

"People don't have the will to vote for a tax increase, so it won't happen," she said. She explained that there is not enough state tax money to support a socialized health care system.

Kjersten Forseth, representing Colorado for Health Care, said her group is not taking an official stance on what method of health care reform the country should adopt. She said it is a growing issue and that people are paying more and more for their health care coverage.

At the end of the meeting, informational booklets and purple T-shirts that said "I'm a Health Care Voter" were given to participants.

One of the participants, Ruth Anne Zimmerman, said some of the stories shared in the video and from the political leaders surprised her. She said she believes health care needs to be reformed.

"It's going to be very difficult," Zimmerman said. "It's going to take very careful stitching and sharp scissors to get it done."

Nissa LaPoint can be reached at lapoint@metronorthnews.com