Colorado Politics: Groups supporting public option pen a letter to Colorado lawmakers

From the American Diabetes Association to the Young Invincibles, more than two dozen Colorado groups signed on to a letter urging state lawmakers to support a public option insurance program to increase competition and, ideally, lower premiums and other health care costs.

The letter dated Jan. 22, provided to Colorado Politics Tuesday, speaks of a "true crisis" in every corner of the state and urges the General Assembly to deliver affordability, transparency and access to care through the insurance marketplace.

In the next two weeks, Democratic lawmakers are expected to introduce a bill to create the public option policy, a public-private partnership that lowers prices with caps on hospital charges and drug prices, while reducing costs to insurers and eliminating middle-men rebates, steering that savings back to consumers. Rep. Dylan Roberts of Avon and Sen. Kerry Donovan of Vail have been working with both sides on the issue for months.