Colorado to Vote on Single-Payer Health System

Payers, politicians, and practitioners don’t often line up on the same side of issues, but in Colorado they’re united in their distaste for a proposed single-payer system that would increase health coverage in the state—at the cost of a $25 billion tax increase that could drive employers out, some fear. Proponents counter that “ColoradoCare” would end up saving more than $6 billion annually by 2019. Under the program, residents would choose among private health insurance and Medicare, military, and veterans’ healthcare programs, along with certain other federal healthcare programs. If it passes, ColoradoCare would administer the state’s Medicaid program and the Children’s Basic Health Plan, and the state and federal funds for these programs would be redirected to ColoradoCare. The state’s health insurance exchange, created under the Affordable Care Act, would be eliminated. The current governor and treasurer, as well as one former governor, have come out against the measure; many physicians are opposed to it because they think it’s hazy on reimbursement rates and whether specialty care will be covered. Voters will have their say about Amendment 69 in November.