March 28, 2010 08:59 PM UTC

Does John Suthers speak for you?

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• by: Alan

Just hours after Congress passed health insurance reform, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers foolishly joined a partisan lawsuit to block it. He joined 11 other attorneys general, 10 of whom are Republicans, who are pledging to “take it to the Supreme Court” if necessary. The Denver Post says that Suthers’ lawsuit is “without merit,” and “looks politically motivated.” (Denver Post, 3/24/2010)

Suthers is using our tax dollars to sue the federal government in an effort to block health care reforms that offer huge benefits to the people of our state. What’s more, the overwhelming majority of legal experts say he is wasting money on a fool’s errand. Who is he representing?

We know Suthers isn’t representing the thousands of Colorado residents with pre-existing conditions who will be guaranteed coverage, or the small businesses who will receive tax credits and other assistance to help them afford coverage, or the hundreds of thousands who will receive improved Medicare benefits, or the rest of us–residents with health insurance who are now protected from arbitrary premium hikes and insurance cancellations if they get sick.

Does John Suthers speak for you?

If you don’t want Suthers to press this suit in your name, now is the time to speak out! We need Suthers to hear from thousands of people across the state: don’t sacrifice Colorado’s health for partisan politics. Please click on the link below to sign our petition.

http://progressnowcolorado.org…

This reform will benefit nearly every family in Colorado. A congressional analysis found that this bill will provide this year:



   * Tax credits for small business to purchase health insurance for their employees.

   * Children can no longer be denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition.

   * An end to lifetime limits and most annual limits on benefits: the lives of Americans no longer have a cost/benefit ratio.

   * A temporary high-risk insurance pool for Americans uninsured due to a pre-existing condition will be immediately established, and immediately begin saving lives.

   * Individual policyholders can no longer be dropped by their insurer if they get sick.

   * New health insurance plans must cover preventive care and immunizations without undue burdens on the insured.

   * Immediate lowering of prescription drug costs for seniors, the much-maligned “donut hole” begins to close.

   * Expanded coverage of dependent children through age 26.

   * A new appeals process for claims that puts patients first.

   * Real disclosure of how much of your premium dollar goes to “administrative costs” instead of health care.

And that’s just the beginning. Despite these benefits for the people of Colorado, John Suthers is putting partisan politics above good policy by trying to maintain the status quo of our broken health care system. We need him to hear from thousands of people across the state: don’t sacrifice Colorado’s health for partisan politics, and don’t waste taxpayer dollars on frivolous grandstands. As former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky wrote in a detailed memo this week (Colorado Independent 3/25/2010), Suthers’ lawsuit is seriously deficient from a legal perspective, and experts around the nation agree the effort has almost no chance of success.

Help us make sure Suthers understands that he does not represent the people of Colorado if he continues to pursue this suit. Please click on the link below to sign our petition, and then forward it to your friends.

http://progressnowcolorado.org…

We’ll share it with Suthers, the media, and other elected officials. Thanks for standing up to defend a victory we have all fought so hard for.