Colorado's Health Care Crisis
Colorado has reached a crossroads, and we must decide what type of state we’re going to be – one that tackles the problems facing Colorado residents head on or one that puts off the hard decisions facing our state for yet another day.
The nurses and working families of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Colorado Association of Public Employees (CAPE) believe that when it comes to health care – the most serious economic and social concern facing Coloradans today – we can no longer afford to wait. Comprehensive health care reform is needed now.
- Approximately 770,000 Colorado residents lack health insurance.
- Businesses – particularly small businesses – find it increasingly difficult to provide their employees with even the most basic of health care packages if they hope to remain competitive in the state, national and global marketplace.
- Many working families, unable to afford the skyrocketing cost of coverage, take huge gambles with their family’s health and financial future, hoping that they will simply not get sick and paying for it with their savings, their homes and their lives when they do become ill, as so many eventually do.
- And despite projections that Colorado’s elderly population will increase by a staggering 59% during the next 15 years, we find ourselves inadequately prepared to address what can be the most expensive care of all – long term supports and services.