COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Senator Mark Udall is in Colorado Springs for a two-day visit Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday he unveiled his new office in Colorado Springs and announced the creation of his Military Advisory Committee.

After the press conference Udall shared with FOX21 News his views on health care reform.

Q: Where do you stand on the health care reform issue?

A: "On health care I'm of the viewpoint the status quo is not sustainable. We need change that would create affordable options, maintain the quality people have come to expect and ensure people have choices.

If you have an insurance policy you like, doctor or medical facility that provides medical services to you, you'll be able to keep that doctor or that insurance policy.

So in sum we have to make sure we pay for whatever reforms we put in place.

We have to begin to contain costs because there are runaway costs in our system, much of those costs are tied to big administrative expenses that don't provide better health care for people.

I want to make sure we have choice in any kind of a system. Then finally, we want to have plenty of options for citizens in any health care reform bill. By that I mean you can buy insurance without being subject to discrimination because you have a pre-existing condition. You can buy an insurance policy that could be portable that you could take with you from job to job.

What I heard last fall with the election is people wanted change. They wanted responsible change, change that made sense and part of that they wanted change in our health care system that was affordable, maintain the quality that it has and has some choice for people."

Q: So for you is that whether it's a public option or a co-op?

A: "The reason I support a public option, if it's done in a fiscally responsible way, is it would create competition. Competition drives down cost and what we want to do is make insurance affordable for all Americans.

There is a way to put a public insurance option in place that doesn't disadvantage existing private insurance companies but creates more competition and drives down cost.

That's what I hear over and over again, let's drive down costs, let's keep options and choice open for people and maintain quality of our system."

Q: Do you have a bill you want to include in this reform that helps rural Coloradans?

A: "I've taken a hard look at rural medical services and the statistics are concerning. We find in rural areas life expectancy is lower than it has been. Women in particular don't get the kind of services they need. And there aren't as many medical practitioners as we need.

So I've introduced a piece of legislation called the Rural Physicians Pipeline Act, which would provide support for our universities here in Colorado to recruit young people out of rural communities, teach them to be doctors and nurses with the understanding they'll return to those communities to practice medicine.

It makes sense, there's a lot of interest, but it's also very expensive to go to medical school or nursing school. As part of this proposal we would keep loan rates low. We would encourage universities and medical schools to train these future nurses and doctors in a way that they can quickly return to those communities and practice medicine.

It makes a lot of sense. We already have a pilot project here in Colorado that does that through the University of Colorado's Medical School.

If we just put 10 more young people in the medical schools we'd see a doubling of rural doctors in Colorado over a short period of time. So it makes sense.

It would be cost effective and we already have a pilot project that shows it would work."

Click here to read the bill.

Q: Do you have any plans to hold a town hall style meeting about health care reform in Colorado Springs?

A: I'm in the area today [Wednesday] and tomorrow [Thursday]. I'm going to be out at Schriever Air Force Base and Fort Carson [Thursday] getting updates on what's underway there.

Of course, I have my new office here. I would welcome calls and drop by visits and input from people and requests for help with federal agencies, the V.A., social security, whatever it may be.

Click on the camera icon to view the segment as it aired on FOX21 News at Nine.

Coming soon: FOX21 News at 6:30 p.m.