Tackling the Overdose Crisis in Colorado

Colorado’s overdose death toll in 2020 was the worst in more than two decades, an increase of nearly 38% from the year before. NewDEAL Leader Colorado Senator Brittany Pettersen, whose mother once struggled with opioid addiction, said that the epidemic “makes me angry, frustrated, heartbroken, but also gives me strength to keep fighting.” Senator Pettersen is the chair of her state’s Behavioral Health Transformation Task Force and will be influential in the allocation of approximately $450 million in federal funding for COVID-related mental health and substance abuse needs. Pettersen hopes to make transformational investments to Colorado’s substance use benefit for Medicaid patients and improved access to fentanyl test strips. Read more about her work with the Task Force, and why she finds it so personally meaningful.

A Modern Healthcare Model in Delaware

NewDEAL Leader Delaware Senator Sarah McBride sponsored and advocated for the Telehealth Access Preservation and Modernization Act of 2021, which has been signed into law by Governor John Carney. The law codifies and expands Delaware residents’ access to telehealth services and, through the adoption of the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, ensures that telehealth services can be provided through qualified medical practitioners in a streamlined and efficient manner that meets today’s health care delivery system needs. Senator McBride highlighted that families in rural communities will be able to access telehealth via audio-only services, even if they struggle with reliable internet. She also emphasized that, because of the new law, “a single working mom will be able to better communicate with her provider after hours” and “people with disabilities will face diminished barriers to care.”

A Public Option for Colorado

This week, Colorado Senator Kerry Donovan introduced the Colorado Health Insurance Option Plan, which would add a public option to Colorado’s health insurance exchange. The goal is to lower premiums, not just on the exchange, but for all health insurance customers in Colorado. The legislation gives industry until the end of 2024 to reach a desired 20 percent reduction in premiums, and only implements the Colorado Option in 2025 if that goal is not met. “This isn’t about imposing government mandates on the industry or forcing anyone to give up health care that they already have and like,” said Donovan, stressing the need to bring everyone to the table to solve high health care costs. The public option plans would be targeted to those who buy health insurance either on the individual or small group markets. Read more about the proposal here.

Cutting the Rising Price of Insulin

In response to the rising cost of insulin, Nebraska Senator Kate Bolz introduced legislation that would cap the price per month at $100. The bill follows Colorado’s first-in-the-nation insulin price cap law that was sponsored by NewDEAL Leader Senator Kerry Donovan and signed by NewDEAL Honorary Vice Chair Governor Jared Polis. Read more about the Nebraska bill, which Bolz explains is necessary for cutting the prices that have reportedly increased by over 500% in the past fourteen years. “The 174,000 Nebraskans with diabetes,” Bolz says, “these are our relatives, friends, and neighbors who have to make decisions they know will damage their health, simply because they can no longer afford their insulin dosage.”