Western Slope Lawmakers Come Together on Rural Hospitals and Health Care

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette

Two Western Slope state lawmakers, one a Republican and one a Democrat, participated in a forum at Colorado Mesa University earlier this week as part of Healthier United and Healthier Colorado’s “Disagree Healthier” initiative.

Reps. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction and Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, spoke about their experiences as lawmakers, with Taggart touching on his service on the Joint Budget Committee and Velasco discussing her background as a wildland firefighter and the state’s first Mexican-born lawmaker.

The legislators were then asked to respond to questions about rising healthcare cuts in Colorado as Americans continue to see the impacts of H.R. 1, the federal budget bill passed last summer that is expected to leave 75,000 Coloradans without commercial insurance coverage and 100,000 more without Medicaid.

“We have some serious challenges facing us, and I think we can all acknowledge the seriousness of the state of our healthcare system here in this state,” said Josh Ewing, Healthier Colorado’s executive director. “What we hope to accomplish here tonight is having a discussion from different perspectives about how we move forward.”

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