Sen. Lisa Cutter (D-Jefferson County) and Rep. Lindsay Gilchrist (D-Denver) spoke outside of the Colorado Capitol today as part of a national “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign, launched by the health care advocacy group Protect Our Care, a progressive health policy advocacy group.
The campaign is focused on “bringing the public’s top issue directly to lawmakers to make health care more affordable, accessible, and equitable in 2027 and beyond,” according to the campaign’s website. The initiative was created in part to counteract the recent changes in the U.S. healthcare system, which the campaign believes has been “wrecked by Donald Trump and Republicans to fund tax breaks for billionaires.”
Outside the Capitol this morning, Erin Ciani’s comments reflected those sentiments, stating that “people are sick of higher premiums, they are sick of worrying that a medical emergency could bankrupt their family, and they are sick of politicians putting the interests of billionaires ahead of patients.”
Gilchrist followed Ciani, citing how “Republicans in Congress have continued to cut Medicaid” and “have done away with the Affordable Care Act credit that helped millions of families afford their healthcare, … and Republicans in Congress don’t deliver results. Only the Big Ugly Bill.”
That’s a reference to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed in July 2025, which covered expansive tax and budgeting policies across multiple sectors, including healthcare. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cost $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years, and more than $4 trillion when accounting for additional interest owed on the national debt.”
According to the Legal Defense Fund, the OBBBA is responsible for “the largest cuts to food assistance, health care, education programs, and student loan services in U.S. history,” and will cut from programs such as SNAP, federal student loans, and child tax credit alongside Medicaid. The progressive organization also found that “Black communities will be among the hardest hit by these funding cuts, facing higher costs, fewer resources, and deeper debt.”
Cutter explained that as the effects of the OBBBA continue to develop, “tens of thousands of Coloradans will be at risk of losing their health care simply because they can’t afford it.” She added, “There is recent reporting that twelve hospitals throughout the state are now considered financially vulnerable. That means fewer insured Coloradans, and fewer options for care.”
In a press release, Protect Our Care stated that “190,000 Coloradans are at risk of losing their healthcare. At the same time, premiums and out-of-pocket costs have spiked for working families, forcing them to delay and forgo health care just to pay rent and put food on the table. Over 1,000 hospitals, nursing homes, maternity wards, and other providers are closing, cutting essential services, or facing the risk of closure or cuts.”
Victoria Vicory, who is both a healthcare professional and a patient impacted by the recent cuts, also spoke at the event and related her personal experience to her belief that “improving healthcare means listening to people living in these experiences every day. Patients, caregivers, providers, and advocates all have valuable perspectives that should help shape policies and solutions.”
The “Sick of It!” campaign is mobilizing communities across the country to focus lawmakers’ and others’ attention on finding solutions to the country’s health care crisis.
Protect Our Care has also launched the campaign in thirteen other states during the past few weeks, including New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
