June 17, 2009 11:44 PM UTC

Colorado Legislators to Federal Lawmakers: We Need Health Care Reform Now

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• by: ranr

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Colorado State Legislators Sen. Linda Newell, Sen. Jim Isgar, and Rep. John Kefalas signed onto a letter along with 700 state legislator from every state, to the President, HHS Secretary Sebelius and leaders of Congress, asking them to support key ingredients for real health care reform.  Today, a delegation of legislators from around the nation will be on Capitol Hill to meet with the White House and deliver the letter.

State legislators are at the forefront of good health care reform with states like Colorado looking for ways to implement health care reform through mechanisms like the 208 Commission.

From the letter:

Key priorities for reform are reflected in recent state initiatives and public opinion polls which show that Americans want more choices and options for quality health care. Americans recognize that the private sector alone has proven incapable of creating a high-quality, fair, and accountable health care system that works for all families. Therefore, a key priority for reform is the choice of a public health insurance plan that is available to businesses, individuals, and families.

These are elected officials who have been legislating on health care reform for years, and have a keen understanding of how burdensome our broken health care system is for state budgets and for people’s pocketbooks.

Read the entire letter being delivered on the Progressive State Network’s website.

After the jump, the complete list of legislators that signed on to the letter.  

Rep. Dennis Apuan

Rep. Lois Court

Rep. Randy Fischer, Deputy Majority Whip

Sen. Joyce Foster

Rep. Sara Gagliardi, Vice Chair, Health and Human Services Committee

Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst

Sen. Jim Isgar, Majority Caucus Chair

Rep. John Kefalas, Member, Health and Human Services Committee

Rep. Claire Levy, Majority Whip

Rep. Beth McCann

Rep. Michael Merrifield

Rep. Joe Miklosi

Sen. Linda Newell, Member, Health & Human Services Committee

Rep. Sal Pace, Assistant Majority Caucus Chair

Rep. Su Ryden

Rep. Judy Solano

Rep. Edward Vigil