During his debate last week with primary foe Jeff Crank, Colorado Republican Party Chair Dave Williams, who’s hoping to replace Congressman Doug Lamborn as the U.S. representative for Colorado Springs, staked out maybe the furthest-right position on healthcare of any major party candidate this year: privatize and the get the government out of it.
Completely privatizing Medicare and Medicaid is an outlier even among the most conservative members of Congress in Colorado. Both Lamborn and even Rep. Lauren Boebert have supported draconian budget cuts that would effectively gut the programs, but neither has proposed eliminating them entirely and requiring seniors and low-income Coloradans to find their own insurance on the open market.
Yet that’s exactly what Williams said:
“[Healthcare] should be privatized and we should get the government out of it,” said Williams. “We don’t want rationed care. I can talk more about that, but ultimately we need to make sure that people have choice and competition, not government mandates.”
His succinct answer was the end to an extended policy question in which each candidate was asked to cover their positions on immigration, the border, the economy, parental rights, education, and healthcare.
Williams did not respond to an email request for details on how he would privatize the two overwhelmingly popular programs. This article will be updated with any response received.
According to recent census data, nearly a quarter million residents of Colorado’s 5th Congressional District are covered by public health insurance which includes Medicare and Medicaid.
