With most of the 2008 session behind them and still no significant Democrat health-care reform in sight, Senate and House Republicans appealed again today for lowering regulatory barriers and improving access to coverage.

At a news conference highlighting the GOP's agenda for health care in the 2008 session, House and Senate Republican leadership, joined by leading voices on health care from both caucuses, bemoaned the defeat of key GOP health-care reforms at the hands of ruling Democrats. Republicans said the state cannot wait any longer for real, practical solutions and that the gaps in health care coverage among Coloradans, as well as the cost spiral that bedevils those who have coverage, warrant action now.

Republicans also chided Democrats for at least one measure--controversial Senate Bill 164, which loosens restraints on runaway lawsuits against doctors--that critics say would actually drive up the cost of coverage and drive doctors out of the state.

"The Democrat majority is continuing to push us in the wrong direction," said Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell, of Broomfield.

Mitchell and the other Republicans were joined at the podium by doctors, including rural practitioner Thomas Bryant of Fort Morgan, who turned out to denounce SB 164. Bryant pointed out how the bill, now pending in the House, would backfire on the state's ability to attract new doctors.