Dear Editor:
Following a unanimous vote of the Health Care for All Colorado (HCAC) Board of Directors last week, and HCAC is officially supporting Colorado Amendment 69—the ColoradoCare state health care financing system.
Health Care for All Colorado continues to work and strive for a publicly funded universal health care system, and is excited about the prospect of a fundamental shift in how health care is financed in Colorado that would move us significantly in this positive direction.
Many activists and supporters of HCAC worked long hours with the ColoradoCareYES campaign to deliver 109,131 valid signatures to the secretary of state, officially securing a spot on the November 2016 election ballot. With less than a year to go, this will be a long and intense fight and we need your support.
Although HCAC was not responsible for Initiative 20 or the signature-gathering campaign, the organization provided early feedback on previous versions to address some deficiencies we identified.
While Initiative 20/Amendment 69 may not fully represent the ideal solution we envision, if approved by the voters it would be the first shift in the nation towards egalitarian, universal coverage and away from the current broken multi-payer, private, for-profit health insurance system we are stuck with today.
ColoradoCareYES does not make any claims about it being a true single-payer system.
But because of the nature of how it is structured, that’s how the mainstream media has chosen to label it. As a result, we are receiving significant attention from both the media and the public, and will continue to promote Amendment 69 and our vision for single payer in Colorado.
Major reasons why HCAC supports ColoradoCare (Amendment 69): reduces the uninsured rate in Colorado to ZERO (0); eliminates all underinsurance; eliminates all prohibitive cost-sharing, including deductibles and large out-of-pocket expenses; eliminates significant overhead for health care providers; reduces total health care spending in Colorado by $5 billion or more per year; allows patients full choice of primary care provider; allows for lower negotiated rates for pharmaceuticals; comprehensive benefits, including all necessary health care services; separates health care financing from the state budget (and political gamesmanship); eliminates Medicaid and CHP+ as “welfare” programs, improving benefits and access to all citizens; shared financing responsibility between employers and employees; public control (through a representative board), transparency, oversight, and accountability.
Please join in our mailing list to receive campaign updates and also consider supporting HCAC financially as we prepare to fight the good fight leading up to November 2016. There have been multiple Koch-brothers-funded organizations already publicly opposing Initiative 20 and Amendment 69.
We will not win without a significant grassroots outreach, a broad organizational coalition, positive media coverage and a platform that can withstand the lies and fear tactics of the opposition.Thank you all for your questions so far, and please continue to submit any more that you have. Please stay tuned.
We are in the process of developing an FAQ based on our interpretation of Amendment 69 and questions about it that we receive. If there is anything we cannot answer, we will make sure to get that answer for you from the ColoradoCareYES campaign.
Health Care for All Colorado is also an affiliate of HealthCare-NOW!, the national single-payer advocacy organization. The HealthCare-NOW! board has also voted unanimously to support ColoradoCare Amendment 69.
With truth and fairness on our side, we will prevail.
Nathan Wilkes
Health Care for All Colorado
Denver
