Gov candidate: Fed healthcare action presents ‘one hell of a challenge’ for state

Governors can and should stand up for their states when federal policies are driving up healthcare costs and constitute due process violations, gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser said, during a rainy-day campaign swing through the Western Slope.

Weiser, currently state attorney general, is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2026. In Montrose, he fielded questions from residents who told of soaring health insurance premiums and of nonprofits in dire straits, as well as heard concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment tactics, youth smoking/vaping, and whether the state would continue supporting wolf reintroduction.

"With respect to basic affordability of healthcare, we are going to have one hell of a challenge as a state, with the federal government pulling the rug out from under us. I'm working on how we can bring people together to start figuring out the best strategy we have," Weiser said. "Our state has some tools here, but the federal government unfortunately has a lot more. It is using them in a negative way. I'm going to be looking hard at this, how we best protect people, how we keep rural hospitals open. This is going to be a crucial challenge for our state."

At the federal level, Democrats and Republicans have locked horns over a continuing resolution to fund the government, arising from a dispute over government subsidies for healthcare insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and related issues. As a result, the government shut down more than a week ago, and each side of the aisle is trading blame. The GOP says it has offered as clean bill to keep the government funded, and would work on the healthcare issues separately, but Democrats, dubious, have said Republicans won't negotiate to protect COVID-era enhanced tax credits for the ACA healthcare exchange that are due to expire. They also want to see Medicaid cuts under the recent "Big Beautiful Bill" rescinded. United States Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Grand Junction, previously called that demand unrealistic.

As of Monday, neither side had budged and the government remained closed.

People in Montrose are waiting for certainty, like everyone else.

"Our deductible is $9,000, with a $14,000 maximum out of pocket," said an audience member at Weiser's campaign stop at The Coffee Trader. "Our healthcare premiums, without the ACA credits, are over $2,400 a month. This was this year. I don't know what's going to happen next year, but what can you do to help either mitigate, or something. It seems criminal," said the woman.

Weiser said that childcare and healthcare are the top three worries residents have raised to him. "And the healthcare situation right now, we literally had two body blows from the federal government. One is the Medicaid cuts … on top of that, the subsidies of those who are on the (healthcare) exchange, if you pull those away, you have a huge rate shock for a large number of people and people will then be either uninsured, or struggling to make ends meet. The No. 1 cause of debt in America right now is medical debt," he said.

Weiser said he worked to get the legislature to pass a law that limited the interest that could be charged on such debt, and to make sure people who were still challenging their bills could not put into the collections system.

Nonprofits are struggling mightily, another attendee said. "They're panicking over the loss of funds that are real. Some are gone, some (cuts) are coming. They're doing real work. They're not doing 'nice to have' work. … They're spending time begging for money to do their work. What will you do as governor to help nonprofits deliver upon their missions?" she asked.

"We are in a precarious roll-up-our-sleeves moment because our state's resources, our public sector resources, our nonprofit resources, private sector resources, are strained right now. I believe we can have real creative thinking," Weiser said. He said he would work to convene other resources, such as philanthropic support to the nonprofit needs and help them capitalize on opportunity.

Weiser spoke of his efforts to get a firm commitment from UnitedHealthcare Group when it bought the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Health Plans; he said he acted on a "moral" imperative. When United acquired Rocky Mountain, it also acquired then-pending litigation over risk-corridor payments that were required under the ACA, but had not been funded by Congress.

In its acquisition, UnitedHealthcare agreed to consider what to do with the money if Rocky Mountain and the other plaintiffs prevailed, which they did in 2020. UnitedHealth wanted to invest $25 million into Rocky Mountain Health Foundation; Weiser used his connections to the board and contacted United Healthcare, pressing for an investment of funds as the right thing. Ultimately, the company decided to invest an additional $5 million to help establish the Healthy Youth-Strong Colorado Fund and announced its partnership with the Colorado Attorney General's Office in 2021.

"The risk of this moment is that people start retreating defensively," Weiser said Friday. "The opportunity is to put our arms around each other and say we're in this together, how do we make it through and support one another?"

Attendee Carolyn Dresler asked about reports that "100%" of people being detained by ICE in Colorado had been detained without a judicial warrant. That information is not confirmed, and Dresler said it sounded like a big number to her, but she wanted to hear about what Weiser thought could be done.

Weiser pulled out a pocket-sized Constitution and read from the 14th Amendment, which states that "persons" may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

"The key point is there are differences between what citizens have as rights and what persons have. Persons have the right to due process of law. Whatever your status is, you have the right to due process. I need your help, if you know of someone who has a risk of their life, liberty or property being taken without due process of law. We need to do something. And this is hard, because we don't have visibility of what's happening, but this is where we need to come together to make sure we're ensuring the legal, sensible and fair treatment of everyone, wherever you come from," Weiser said.

A governor's ability to influence federal action has its limits, but Weiser said he would stand up for the state as governor, if he is elected.

"As governor, I'm going to always know what Colorado's entitled to and how we make sure the federal government doesn't push us around, or violate our rights. Whether it's the mistreatment of immigrants, whether it's the threatened sending of military National Guard, or whether it's harming the LGBTQ community, I'm going to make sure that everyone's rights are protected. And I'm never going to be afraid to stand up to this administration and say 'not on my watch,'" Weiser said in a brief interview. "What's hard right now is we have a federal government that violates the law again, again, again," he alleged.

Weiser as attorney general has sued the federal government 37 times over policies and actions by the Trump Administration. "We're winning again, again, again, because when you have something as brazen as violating the separation of powers, or due process of law, it's critical that we stand up for what's right," he said.

President Donald Trump has deployed National Guard units to cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, claiming crime and violence are out of control there; there are little objective bases for the assertions, and those states' governors have pushed back. That legal battle was raging Friday, with a federal judge temporarily halting deployment in Chicago and Portland awaiting a ruling, according to published reports. The president is also reportedly weighing invoking the Insurrection Act.

Weiser indicated that, if elected governor, he too would push back — and that if Trump does invoke the act, Colorado would immediately sue. The nation lives under constitutional law, not martial law, Weiser said, paraphrasing a federal judge. "We do not allow a president to literally marshal troops into our cities, into our communities on a whim, on a political stunt. There's very narrow exceptions for when the military can be involved in the United States of America. Those exceptions aren't even close to being met," Weiser said. "I'm going to make sure that we defend our rights in the state of Colorado. We live as a nation of laws, not the whim of who is president."

In addition to suing the federal government to ensure Colorado receives the funding to which it is entitled, and to protect civil rights, governors and citizens can pressure Congress to act, he said.

"Right now, we are not seeing leadership in Congress that is standing up to this president. That is, to me, appalling. We need that leadership," Weiser said, pointing to the traditional separation of powers and the system of checks and balances by coequal branches of government.

There are bright spots at state levels, he said, citing Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the chairman of the National Governors Association, who recently voiced opposition to the National Guard deployment to Chicago as a violation of states' rights.

"That's the type of leadership that we need more of," Weiser said, of Stitt's particular statement. "We've got to amplify those voices and others have to find their voices."

The Colorado governor's race for 2026 is right now thick with candidates. Weiser is one of seven candidates, including U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, seeking the Democratic nomination. The Republican primary field boasts of about 20 candidates, including State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez. View a list, with informational links, at https://tinyurl.com/ballotCogov26