Nine months ago, we launched our most ambitious agenda ever: Four bold healthcare accountability campaigns led by our grassroots members. 

Since then, we’ve been hard at work. We’ve delivered key victories and made progress across all our campaigns. We trained and invested in our members as they took on key leadership roles. We significantly grew CHP’s power–and we’re hungry for more. 

In October, after being left out of outreach efforts for the new OmniSalud health insurance program–despite having one of the largest percentages of immigrants in the state–our Fort Morgan members negotiated directly with Kevin Patterson, CEO of Connect for Health Colorado, and won tens of thousands of dollars in additional investment in their community for outreach and enrollment support. 

Despite this extra investment, OmniSalud spots filled up in less than three days with rural communities once again being left behind. Our leaders responded by meeting with Commissioner of Insurance Mike Conway, other key Division of Insurance staff, and staff at the Governor’s Office to understand how we can push for more revenue to open up additional spots for this vital insurance program. They hosted over 80 community members in Fort Morgan at a public event to share our campaign’s success and our vision for the future. When the funding for the program was threatened by the passage of HB24-1470, our leaders pivoted to focus on protecting OmniSalud and other immigrant health coverage programs. 

Last winter, CHP members across the state ramped up their campaigns to stop hospitals from using sneaky tactics to take our money for their profits. Twenty five members met with executive leadership at the Colorado Hospital Association in January to express our concern over the ways hospitals are prioritizing profit over our communities. One of our leaders spoke with the national media to share her story and expose how medical debt disproportionately impacts immigrants and people of color. Our leaders repeatedly attempted to negotiate with UCHealth’s CEO Elizabeth Concordia to end their practice of suing patients for unpaid medical debt, including 50 members showing up to a Board meeting to request a meeting. 

Our members took the fight to the Capitol to put their energy behind passing HB24-1380, which would stop UCHealth’s practice of not putting their name on their court cases. We’ve brought dozens of members to the Capitol this session. Twelve members and staff testified, many for the first time ever, including Cathy and Tami who continue to bravely tell their stories of being sued by UCHealth and the impacts this has had on their lives. Our leaders’ strategic organizing won them a critical meeting with key decision makers at UCHealth just a few weeks ago! While we continue to engage their decision makers and push for our demands, our leaders are working on winning individual relief for people currently being sued for medical bills. 
There is so much more we could share with you. As our campaigns have created a buzz in communities across the state, we’ve recruited dozens of new leaders and trained them in the fundamentals of organizing. Our newest leaders are already taking action, including Alysia, who recently shared her powerful story at a national direct action fighting against United Healthcare’s practice of prior authorization claims denials. This is just the beginning. We have a goal of doubling our member base and training 200 CHP members by the end of 2024. And we continue to refine our campaign strategies and build concrete plans to win.