Ritter joins governors group in expressing support for health reform

Governor Ritter joined 21 other Governor’s today signing a letter that urges federal lawmakers to adopt national health reform legislation before the end of the year.

The letter is addressed to leaders in the House and Senate– Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader John Boehner. It calls for reform as a matter of fiscal and social responsibility.

“We are writing to express our support for your efforts to reform our nation’s health care system. As the chief executives of our states and territories, we realize that the status quo is no longer an option and we support getting health reform done this year. “

The letter notes provisions in the current bills that would allow states and territories to see “long term savings” while covering those who are currently uninsured. The governors also underline their role in helping to fix what they call a broken system.

“We recognize that health reform is a shared responsibility and everyone, including state governments, needs to partner to reform our broken health care system.”

“Colorado has moved aggressively to contain costs, improve quality and expand healthcare availability,” Gov. Ritter said. “But we need our federal partners to step up so that we can continue making meaningful progress. The status quo is simply unacceptable, and the cost of inaction is too high for working families and small businesses.”

Ritter is a long-time supporter of health care reform in the state and the nation. He joined Western governors Bill Richardson, D-N.M., and Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont., in signing the letter.

The letter is here as a pdf.

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Boehner:

We are writing to express our support for your efforts to reform our nation’s health care system. As the chief executives of our states and territories, we realize that the status quo is no longer an option and we support getting health reform done this year.

Sky-rocketing health care costs hurt families, force businesses to cut or drop health benefits and cause already strained state budget deficits to significantly grow. We believe reform can relieve these burdens by reining in costs and making coverage more affordable, both for our citizens and our state budgets.

Efforts at the federal level, like the recent and critical investments through the Recovery Act that support states’ HIT and prevention initiatives, are beginning the work to lower health care costs. Our citizens and our states, however, will only achieve the health care security and stability they need if we succeed in working together with the Congress and the President to achieve health care reform.

We commend you and your colleagues for provisions included in your bills that will help states and territories. Many of the provisions will allow states and territories to achieve long term savings and help cover those who currently go without health coverage. We recognize that health reform is a shared responsibility and everyone, including state governments, needs to partner to reform our broken health care system.

We thank you for your leadership in this historic effort and look forward to continuing to work together to get health reform passed this year.

Got a tip? Freelance story pitch? Send us an e-mail. Follow The Colorado Independent on Twitter.

Comments are closed.