Here are six things to know about the issue.
1. Coloradoans will vote on a single-payer state healthcare system next year. It will be Initiative 20, the “State Health Care System.”
2. If the measure passes, Colorado would apply for a waiver under the Affordable Care Act and become first state to fund comprehensive healthcare for residents, according to the report. This means residents would choose their healthcare providers, but ColoradoCare, a universal healthcare system for the state, would pay for it.
3. Proponents petitioned to add universal healthcare to the 2016 ballot. They needed at least 98,492 valid signatures.
4. Ivan Miller, executive director of ColoradoCare Yes and head of the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care, claims residents will gain premium healthcare coverage for $5 billion less than what they currently pay if the initiative passes, according to The Denver Post. He added that coverage would be available to “anybody who earns income and lives in Colorado.”
5. As far as governance, the initiative calls for a governing board with 21 members from seven regions of the state, according to the report. The first members would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, but an elected board would succeed them, the report notes.
6. But before Coloradoans vote on the issue, a debate is likely over the costs involved, according to The Denver Post. Supporters estimate ColoradoCare would raise $25 billion annually in funds through a proposed 10 percent payroll tax, while critics see it as a massive expansion of government that would double the size of Colorado’s budget, according to the report.
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