Push for Better Healthcare in Rural Colorado

Push for Better Healthcare in Rural Colorado

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett

Gov. Jared Polis has signed an executive order, to make good on a promise to help agricultural and rural Colorado communities better afford healthcare.

At the Governor's State of the State address he made that pledge.

"We must tackle the outrageous healthcare costs facing Coloradan in rural and mountain counties in western Colorado. There is no reason that somebody should lose their home or their savings trying to keep up with the costs of healthcare. There's no reason a family that lives in Glenwood Springs or Gunnison should pay twice as much for health care as a family in the Denver Metro area."

The order creates the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care which will study and address increasing health care costs in Colorado.

The office is tasked with developing are ways to increase competition in rural and mountain communities. It will also look to increase price transparency for hospitals and pharmaceuticals and improve access to health services.

The office will be led by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, a cancer survivor. The order comes with a request of 247, 000 dollars

The new Office of Saving People Money on Health Care will be headed by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, a former lawmaker, cancer survivor and health care advocate.

The office will "study, identify and implement policies that will lower health care costs," according to Polis' office, and at an initial cost of $227,000 for the first year.

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