ColoradoCare Would Stabilize Care Beyond Bars
Bill Semple
As we wrap up Mental Health Awareness Month, please note that this November, Coloradans can vote for ColoradoCare — Amendment 69 — which is a universal healthcare plan that would improve lives, including those impacted by mental illness and incarceration — or both. ColoradoCare pays for comprehensive healthcare for every resident and lowers overall healthcare costs by $4.5B annually.
At least half of the inmates in the US have some form of mental illness and 6 percent have a substance-abuse addiction. Ironically, those who become incarcerated often receive quality healthcare for the first time. When released, they often lose this care, leading to more crime, re-incarceration, and cost. With ColoradoCare, every resident of the state will be assured healthcare with no deductibles, encouraging all to receive timely, needed care.
Many people with a chronic and persistent mental illness have difficulty negotiating the healthcare system to attain coverage. Universal coverage in Colorado would simplify both healthcare for those in need and assure payment for treating people with serious mental-health issues.
People with mental illnesses are arrested more for nuisance offenses than criminally intended offenses. The availability of good treatment options would eliminate many of these arrests. This more humane approach avoids the vicious cycles that involvement with the criminal justice system can entail, and saves money.
With ColoradoCare, counties in Colorado would save greatly on inmates’ medical expenses. Even if an inmate has Medicaid, they’re not eligible when incarcerated. One or two inmates needing, say, open-heart surgery in a small county can devastate that county’s budget. ColoradoCare will not only save millions in county budgets for employees’ healthcare; ColoradoCare will protect counties’ jail budgets too.
Amendment 69, ColoradoCare, will free us from our current wasteful chaos, make our communities safer, and save lives. Contribute, volunteer, learn more, and vote yes!
ColoradoCare.org
