Today, families all over Colorado are facing tough realities and painful choices: how do they afford health care that protects them should they get sick and helps them stay healthy? And can they get the care they need where and when they need it? 

My first day working in President Obama’s White House was the day after Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). It was a big deal that honored President Obama’s memories of his mom navigating a system that cost too much and delivered too little while she was struggling with cancer.

The ACA constituted real progress. Before it became law, pre-existing conditions could prevent families from getting health care insurance at all.  And when people lost their jobs, they were left unprotected, as were young adults under 26 who were not entitled to stay on their parents’ plans. 

Today, the federal government is reversing that progress and going backward. 

Costs are going up from every angle. 

Individuals and families who purchase health care on Connect for Health Colorado, our “Marketplace” created under the ACA, are facing skyrocketing premium costs, pushing them to choose higher deductible plans or to go without insurance. Employers covering health care for their employees are facing increasing costs, pushing them to cover less or require employees to share more of the cost. 

Medicaid covers our most vulnerable, including people living in poverty, those with disabilities, pregnant women, and single moms with children. In December 2025, about 1.2M Coloradans–roughly 20% of the population–were enrolled in Medicaid and other public programs. When people lack coverage, they often delay care and seek treatment in emergency departments, often when conditions have become more serious and costly to treat. Hospitals provide this care regardless of ability to pay, and the resulting uncompensated costs are absorbed across the health care system, contributing to higher costs for coverage overall. Ensuring that all Coloradans have access to coverage is not only the right thing to do, it also helps promote a more stable and affordable system for everyone. 

We must continue our work in Colorado to reduce costs and mitigate premium increases. And we have more work to do. The impact of rising health care costs is limiting options for everyone, impacting our state budget and hitting our state hard.  

On top of that, access to care is increasingly at risk, particularly for those in rural Colorado.

Access to and delivery of care across physical, mental, and behavioral health is fragmented, reducing effectiveness and increasing the cost of providing care. Rural hospitals and providers are facing constant pressures to keep their doors open and find the talent they need–doctors, nurses, tech professionals–to provide care. 

Colorado must step forward and fill the gap. As Governor, I will make sure we do so.

Our north star will be accessible quality health care for the lowest cost.

Our Healthy Colorado Plan rests on three strategic pillars.  

We will launch “Primary Care for All”, a systemwide mandate to move us from our current “sick care” system to a true “health care” system. Research demonstrates clearly that universal access to primary care leads to better outcomes and chronic disease management with lower emergency room visits and fewer hospital stays. To that end, we will: 

• focus on preventive and value-based care tied to prevention and health outcomes, creating incentives for keeping people healthy,
• align physical, mental, and behavioral health for “whole person” care, recognizing how those who are lonely, disconnected and struggling with their mental health need more care, to include:
  • launching “Hope”, our Youth Mental Health initiative, to galvanize the state in a mentorship campaign to build connections and ensure every young person can identify more than one adult mentor they can look to for guidance, 
  • getting kids off their phones and outside to enjoy our natural environment, and
  • helping people live healthier lives, including connecting them to resources and support systems that help them stay connected, healthier, and promotes their overall well-being.
• support community-based prevention efforts around mental health, substance abuse, chronic disease, gun violence, and maternal and child health, through local Federally Qualified Health Centers, school-based programs focused on health and well-being, safety-net hospitals, independent primary care practices, and integrated health systems, and
• prioritize population-level data collection and analysis that points the way to smart preventive care strategies. 

We will focus on “Best care, best price”, expanding ways for Coloradans to afford and access care, including:

• optimizing the purchasing power of public employee health plans like the State Employee Health Plan to include new groups, such as teachers and school districts as well as explore options for  small businesses,
• building on the “Colorado Option”, our state’s innovative health insurance plan, to provide more affordable insurance coverage options for individuals and families, including engaging with other states on shared purchasing and coverage models. In 2025, nearly 50% of those on our Marketplace chose this option; it has standard benefits with lower premiums, $0 for certain primary care and mental health care, 
• leveraging the new Rural Health Transformation Program, by listening to and collaborating with rural providers and leaders to optimize federal dollars and innovate to fit their needs, such as:
  • helping providers attract and keep workers through better childcare and housing options, improve aging facilities, and institute outcome-based prevention programs, and
  • expanding access to technology and tools that improve care and enable providers to thrive in payment models that reward good outcomes, like remote monitoring technology to help patients heal at home and strong data management systems.
• reducing drug costs by:
  • joining multi-state purchasing pools to get bulk discounts on pharmaceuticals, saving money for both Medicaid members and those with private or no insurance, and
  • stopping shell games by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Colorado was first in the nation to require PBMs to refund certain fees to bring down costs. We now need to go after “administrative” fees hidden in PBM subsidiaries, and crack down on PBM abuses that make it harder for independent pharmacies to operate, and
• Learning from and working to take action on valuable guidance from the Colorado School of Public Health’s study of a state-based universal healthcare system for suggestions on reforms based on data-driven analysis that can help us achieve high quality, affordable health care for all. 

We will create a “Health Consumer Pact”, a commitment to protect and empower health care consumers and public health, building on my work as Attorney General to reduce cost and increase access by: 

• challenging increasing corporate ownership and roll ups of medical practices and undue consolidation leading to increased prices,
• curbing surprise billing, hitting patients with unexpected charges on their medical bills, 
• protecting families from unfair medical debt collection, 
• lowering drug costs, by stopping drug price collusion by pharmaceutical corporations, preserving caps on lifesaving medications like insulin, examining and reconciling cost variances across providers, and other promising strategies, and 
• enhancing our public health infrastructure, including working with other states to fill gaps from the retreat of federal leadership at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and beyond, to be able to respond to future emergencies while advancing long-term wellness. 

To support these three strategic pillars, we will:

Bring more people into our health care workforce, spearheading “ColoradoCorps”, a comprehensive service program for young adults, building on and coordinating with Colorado’s health service corps work, to: 

• strengthen workforce pathways into key talent needs, particularly in preventive and primary care, behavioral health, and nursing,
• target initiatives for rural and under-resourced areas, 
• address root causes that prevent more people from entering and staying in health care professions, particularly low wages, burnout, and lack of faculty and trainers, and 
• deepen public/private partnerships including with community colleges and private employers to identify, build and implement promising new workforce models.

Work together to align on outcomes, stabilizing and simplifying to respond to federal changes, by:

• establishing a “Mission Control” tower in state government that will provide coordinated and clear leadership, drive change, and simplify how our state operates. Immediate tasks for “Mission Control” will be:
  • launching a “Healthcare Stabilization and Innovation Task Force” that brings together patient advocates, providers, payers and policymakers to analyze our challenges and develop data-driven solutions. We must rebuild the state’s role as a trusted convener, operating with open communication and transparency, and
  • developing a “Safety Net Stabilization” initiative to bolster health care for our most vulnerable and avoid cost shifts to others, ensuring every eligible Coloradan can enroll and stay enrolled in Medicaid and other public programs, particularly young children, older Coloradans, and people with disabilities. 
• activating a “Technology for Good” initiative, to leverage technology and establish guidelines to advance new ideas in health care including more focus on outcomes, not volume; more delivery care options to ease access and improve experience such as virtual and home care, and more autonomy for consumers with transparent, personalized, protected data and information.

Coloradans need us to get back on track, and we must meet this moment. 

As your Governor, I will call on all of us–in state government and throughout our health care system–to embrace change, lead, and align on outcomes that matter to people. 

We will focus on reducing the underlying costs of care, especially for primary and preventive care, and protect access especially in rural Colorado and for mental and behavioral health, including building and supporting our healthcare workforce.

We will push for data-driven oversight, coordinated action across providers and payers, and concrete steps to move to a true “health” care system including protecting and empowering health care consumers and our public health system. 

Too many of us have daunting stories when it comes to getting the care we need where and when we need it at a cost we can afford. We can and will use the levers of government and act on new ideas to create better, more affordable outcomes and ensure that all Coloradans have access to quality care and live healthier lives. 

As your Governor, I will get to work with you to do just that.