Legislators, health care providers, hospital leaders and patient advocates have spent decades passing policies and securing funds to make health care in Colorado more accessible and affordable. As a result, Colorado is now ranked the best state in the nation for health care affordability and quality, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Yet our health care system and the patients we serve are threatened by a series of concerning proposed ballot initiatives that could reverse decades of progress.

Backed by trial lawyers, two of the proposed measures would eliminate the cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, which would open the door to astronomical jury awards and send health care costs surging by an estimated $155 million per year according to COPIC, a Colorado-based medical liability insurance carrier.

There is no question patients should be fairly compensated after experiencing negligence or adverse outcomes, which is why there is no limit on the amount of money someone can be awarded for economic damages such as lost wages or ongoing medical expenses. However, maintaining reasonable caps for intangible, non-economic damages like pain and suffering is key to ensuring a balanced policy that benefits both injured patients and the broader health care system.

Another set of proposed ballot initiatives that could reach voters this fall would significantly alter or eliminate protections that allow health care professionals to confidentially review cases to learn from one another and improve patient safety and care.

Caps on non-economic damages and the confidentiality laws that enable a robust Professional Review Board process provide doctors, nurses and other health care professionals with stable medical malpractice insurance rates, as well as peace of mind that they can safely seek feedback and professional development while learning from peers. These laws make Colorado an attractive place to practice medicine, which has resulted in increased access to care and improved quality of care for Coloradans.

Eroding these protections at the ballot box would be detrimental. The specter of huge jury awards and increasing medical malpractice insurance premiums would discourage providers, especially specialty practitioners like surgeons and obstetrician gynecologists, from performing high-risk yet necessary procedures and drive many to leave the state—while dissuading new physicians and nurses from moving here during an already vexing provider shortage that is hitting rural areas especially hard.

In states without non-economic damage caps, doctors’ practices have been forced to file for bankruptcy or close altogether because of multi-million-dollar verdicts. We can’t afford that. We also can’t afford an annual $155 million increase in health care costs when 70 percent of Colorado hospitals have unsustainable operating margins.

Providers faced with ballooning costs would be forced to pass on costs to patients, cut staff or services, or serve fewer patients covered by Medicare or Medicaid. This would threaten access to care for all Coloradans —especially those facing complex medical challenges, those who live in already underserved rural areas and those who rely on public insurance like Medicaid.

Coloradans deserve world-class care they can find and afford. That’s why we’re acting now to protect and improve the health care landscape by passing Senate Bill 130, which would raise the cap on non-economic damages from $300,000 to $500,000 over five years.

Why? Because we agree the current cap is too low. Increasing the limit to a reasonable level, while still protecting patient safety, quality of care, affordability and health care access throughout our state, is a win-win for providers and patients alike.

As health care practitioners and community leaders who advocate for Colorado’s most vulnerable patients, we see a critical need to balance important reforms with the ability of Colorado’s health care providers to preserve access to essential, life-saving services. Instead of putting health care at risk for millions of Coloradans, let’s advance policy that works for all by passing Senate Bill 130.

Senator Kyle Mullica represents District 24 (Adams County) in the Colorado Senate and serves as an emergency department nurse. Jandel Allen-Davis, M.D., is president and CEO of Craig Hospital in Englewood and a board-certified physician in obstetrics and gynecology.