By Sheila Lieder

Health policy is not always a straightforward topic of discussion. There are many aspects to the complex health care system we’re used to. When issues arise at the national level, disagreement and dueling press conferences can slow progress and constructive results that build a better future.

When you bring these subjects into communities you’ll find listening, meaningful conversation and an opportunity to build consensus. Recently, in partnership with Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation (Jeffco EDC) and We Work For Health (WWFH), we organized a fireside chat event at the Capitol in Denver to focus on the urgency of bettering kidney disease outcomes for Colorado patients. What occurred was an opportunity to achieve better understanding of matters and how policy decisions affect the lives of our fellow Coloradans.

Bringing together community members and policymakers to discuss these issues had great value that can resonate and make a difference in policymaking. Our focus was on chronic kidney disease. Thousands of our state’s citizens have been diagnosed with it and, according to the report of the state’s Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force, many more have it but don’t know it.

One of the most pressing issues around chronic kidney disease discussed was the problems surrounding late diagnosis, which can leave limited treatment options for patients whose disease progresses to more complex stages, like end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or kidney failure. If people start talking about getting screened earlier, tested earlier, going on a new treatment sooner, we can combat kidney disease sooner.

As of 2021, approximately 5,000 Coloradans were suffering from ESRD and required dialysis treatments, with many more likely to join their ranks. This generates huge costs for our state’s Medicaid program. But we can mitigate those costs and our citizens’ pain through greater education and awareness of the causes and symptoms of kidney disease and by continuing to develop effective medications for hypertension and diabetes, two illnesses that often lead to kidney failure. In addition to increased education and therapeutic advancements, our group of experts determined early detection through routine screening is critical when considering health outcomes for
Colorado patients.

That group consensus led to another important component in our community
discussion: what is and should be the role of biopharmaceutical companies in
Colorado? In the interest of having all facts on the table to better shape policy affecting our state and our lives, our group found it important to focus on the linkage between drugmakers, economic development and job creation. There is a lot to take in here. A recent study found the economic activity generated
by just 15 pharmaceutical companies in Colorado, and their business relationships with various state vendors and contractors, led to more than $23 billion in economic output in 2022 and these biopharmaceutical companies and their vendors, suppliers and contractors support nearly 80,000 jobs in the state.

And, in terms of developing the medications that can result in fewer acute cases of kidney disease and other health improvements, these companies hosted more than 2,000 clinical trials in Colorado in 2022 involving more than 1.6 million participants. Those are stunning numbers in terms of the investment taking place to improve public health. And this economic and medical progress can’t simply be ignored in developing health care
policy.

We did something important at our community gathering, which can best be done at the local level, is to share ideas and information, reach common understanding regarding the needs of our fellow citizens, and start achieving common ground on how to protect what is important to us and improve what needs improving.

Part of that improvement is the need for increased awareness on living kidney donors. In Colorado, we are fortunate to have multiple transplant centers that
are doing amazing work. Colorado is also the home of the largest number of nondirected donors in the country, which is donating kidneys to strangers. The Kidney Disease Task Force is currently working on a statewide awareness campaign, and we are looking into additional awareness and potential improvements to the transplantation
process.

Health care doesn’t have to be a divisive topic when you think about it in terms of people needing better well-being and good jobs. Here in Colorado, conversations like these help drive advancements to care, and better patient outcomes.

Sheila Lieder represents District 28 in the Colorado House.