For the last several years, our state legislators have made it clear that driving down costs for Colorado patients is a top priority. I have always appreciated the fact that our elected officials are trying to move the ball forward in an area that impacts every Coloradan. 

However, I do not always agree with the policy solutions presented by our state legislators. For example, the Patient Affordability Board is not the silver bullet to solving all our health care issues. To be clear, I’m questioning why House Bill 23-1225 — a bill that would expand a new Patient Affordability Board — has become a focal point and why our legislators are not looking more closely at insurance and pharmacy benefit manager practices? 

I simply don’t understand why we would want to focus so much energy on expanding government oversight of pricing before seeing how the original policy actually impacts patient spending. On the flip side, why are we not looking more critically into why insurance companies and their middlemen continue to jack up deductibles while covering less and less for patients? 

I’m proud to call Colorado home, and I’m proud of much of the work that has been done at the state level to help patients. But expanding the authority of a new board when there are more pressing issues facing patients is not the right direction. I hope our legislators will focus on more impactful solutions.