Teresa Heinz Kerry on Colorado Health Care Bill

Heinz Kerry lauds health care bill
By Kirk Mitchell and Chris Frates
Denver Post Staff Writers
DenverPost.com

Philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry told a partisan Denver crowd a health care bill that passed a Colorado House committee on Wednesday would be a creative way to provide prescription drugs to the neediest families.

“I believe here in Colorado you’re showing all of us how by working together, we can give everyone the opportunity to earn and hold onto the American dream,” Heinz Kerry said.

Heinz Kerry was in Denver on Wednesday to accept an award from the Colorado AFL-CIO for her efforts to provide health care for working families.

The Heinz Family Philanthropies, which is headed by Heinz Kerry, helped craft a proposal that passed a House committee Wednesday and would help more than 500,000 Coloradans qualify for discounted prescription drugs.

“I believe that this legislation represents some of the freshest, most original work on health care policy that we have seen for quite some time,” Heinz Kerry said.

House Bill 1252 would create a program to provide discounts on prescription drugs for uninsured Coloradans earning less than 250 percent of federal poverty levels, or $50,000 for a family of four, and for those 60 and older.

The proposal would allow eligible individuals to apply for a “Colorado Cares Rx” card online or over the telephone. The card would entitle the holder to the same prices state employees pay when purchasing drugs, which are discounted on average about 30 percent.

The wife of former Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry also thanked Coloradans for their help in getting a record number of voters to the polls in 2004.

“I remember how it felt to come here during my husband’s campaign,” Heinz Kerry told a crowd of mostly Democratic politicians and union members at the Police Protective Association’s office in Denver.