Policy Advocacy

We shape, impact, and advance good public policy.

We work at the state Capitol and with state agencies administering Medicaid and other important public health programs, to ensure Colorado’s public policies help Coloradans achieve their best health. We also collaborate with hospitals, clinics, and providers to ensure they optimize the health of their patients. By bringing together diverse leaders and partners, we amplify our impact and accelerate change toward a health care system that works for everyone.

Our legislative efforts have secured a number of major policy victories, and our leadership has allowed us to strategically amplify the voices of Coloradans, especially those who have been historically left out of the policy-making process.

Policy Priorities

Each year we focus our policy advocacy efforts on the issues that are most pressing to achieve health equity. These priorities, along with input from our board, health policy committee, and grassroots membership, guide our action at the Capitol. For the 2018 legislative session, we prioritized:

• Promoting immigrant health – We supported policies that improve access to care for immigrants, such as I Drive legislation, and those concerning immigrant safety and well-being.
• Influencing payment reform mechanisms to include social determinants of health – We supported policies that move Colorado away from a fee-for-service health care payment system, which is focused on quantity, to one that pays for high quality care. We want health care insurance and health care systems to work together to provide coverage and access to services, such as housing, food access, and other social determinants of health, which the impacted community has prioritized.
• Addressing the “upstream” causes of health inequities – We supported policies that addressed issues that are currently the biggest barriers for Coloradans: transportation, housing, and food access.

Learn about the bills and issues we faced in the most recent session, as well as in past years’ sessions:

Health Policy Committee

Our Health Policy Committee has a finger on the pulse of current and upcoming Colorado legislation that both directly and indirectly affects health. These providers, clinic administrators, consumer advocates, and lobbyists ensure that we have well-informed data and perspectives to drive our health policy advocacy.

• MEMBERSHIP – Any interested individual or organization may join our policy committee by joining as a Center for Health Progress member!

Policy Research and Analysis

Moving forward important legislative and regulatory change requires thoughtful analysis. Center for Health Progress takes the time to interview stakeholders, research the issues, and when appropriate, recommend solutions.

• CASE STUDY – Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Innovations Statewide (PDF)
• FACT SHEET – Policy Background on EMS Innovations
• FACT SHEET – Policy Background on Medicaid Non-Emergent Medical Transportation
• REPORT – Our Perspective on the American Health Care Act (PDF)

If you want to learn more about our Health Policy Committee or our general policy advocacy work, please contact our Public Policy Manager, Chris Lyttle.