The elevator pitch is simple, said one of the organizers, retired journalist T.R. Reid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States ought to provide health care for everybody. We’re never going to get it done on a national basis because Congress is owned by the insurance companies and Big Pharma,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The way to get it done, Reid believes, is by winning ballot measures in multiple states, all in the same election \u2013 to remake the health care system.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo state by state, state plans to provide health insurance for everybody is the way we’re finally going to get America to where it should have been long ago. Health care for all,\u201d said Reid, who worked for the Washington Post, was a contributor for NPR, and wrote a best-selling book called The Healing of America<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reid helped lead a similar ballot push<\/a> in Colorado in 2016, Amendment 69<\/a>, to create a single-payer system. <\/p>\n That measure would have created a first of its kind in the nation single-payer plan. It would have covered all residents through a state insurance program that would compete with private insurance. Through that program, consumers would no longer have paid premiums or deductibles.<\/p>\n The high-profile proposal got trounced<\/a> at the polls, by a 4 to 1 margin. Reid believes that was at least partly because they were outspent by opponents, including health care and insurance companies, 10 to 1. <\/p>\n \u201cSo here’s the new strategy. Ten states put a ballot initiative on the ballot the same election day some November,\u201d said Reid. \u201cDissipates the insurance companies money. They’ll spend their money in Illinois and Florida and New York, and then Colorado, Oregon and Washington can slip by unnoticed and pass it.\u201d<\/p>\n Like women’s suffrage, child labor laws and legalized marijuana, Reid said, once one or two states do it, others will follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe should do this because we can save lives,\u201d said Lydia Guzman, a retired educator, is president of Health Care for All Colorado<\/a>. \u201cEvery day people are dying, people are getting bankrupt. A one payer system would pool all our money together, like a Medicare for all system in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it would work, backers said. You would now be able to buy health insurance from a state agency that would cover everybody up to age 65. Seniors would stay on Medicare. Everybody in the state would be covered and there would be no more medical bankruptcy. You could still buy from United Health or Aetna if you wanted to, but supporters say traditional health plans would be more expensive than that of a new state health program.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTheir administrative costs run to 18, 20 percent. State-run plans are about 5 percent,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n The last time around, opponents of the proposed ColoradoCare plan sharply criticized it<\/a> as too expensive. An economic analysis at the time found it could save the state billions of dollars in administrative costs and profits as private insurers get replaced. The study also raised questions about financial sustainability.<\/p>\n Guzman said what’s different now is the deep federal cuts to popular health programs.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are just ‘what can we do? They’re cutting our Medicaid.’\u00a0 And Medicare is probably in danger next,\u201d Guzman said. \u201cPeople are getting thrown off their Medicaid and Social Security’s in jeopardy. We have to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n The tax and spending law the Republican majority in Congress passed<\/a> earlier this month.\u00a0 includes new bureaucratic hurdles for millions of Americans who are enrolled in Medicaid.<\/p>\n For the first time, low-income adults in most states will have to begin meeting work requirements<\/a> to hang on to their health coverage. Most of the changes won\u2019t happen until after the 2026 mid-term elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Reid\u2019s argument about the power of health-related industries in Washington D.C. is backed up by federal data on spending on lobbying, compiled by the nonprofit Open Secrets<\/a>. This year, the pharmaceutical industry is first, spending nearly $227 million. Insurance companies have spent $90 million and hospitals have spent almost $77 million. All three industries rank in the top five.<\/p>\n Skepticism from the insurance industry, hospitals<\/p>\n Long before any campaign gets started, the one-payer idea is drawing criticism from Colorado groups representing insurers and hospitals.<\/p>\n \u201cColorado voters made their position clear in recent years when they overwhelmingly rejected a single-payer proposal\u2014and the concerns that drove that decision remain front and center today,\u201d said Kevin McFatridge, Executive Director, Colorado Association of Health Plans, which represents insurers. \u201cA state-by-state approach to universal coverage may sound appealing, but it risks fragmenting care, creating uncertainty for patients, and duplicating costly federal efforts. Rather than revisiting expensive, government-run models, Colorado should focus on building on the progress we\u2019ve already made through more targeted, sustainable reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n The group representing Colorado hospitals and health systems said it strongly supports efforts to ensure all Coloradans have access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and that it has worked with policymakers to expand and strengthen coverage options statewide.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, we do not support a single payer model that would concentrate control over health care financing and delivery into one government-run system. A multi-payer system provides greater choice, fosters innovation, and better supports the diverse needs of Colorado patients and communities,\u201d said Cara Welch, senior communications director with the Colorado Hospital Association.<\/p>\n “I appreciate the bold thinking and share the goal of universal coverage, but a state-by-state approach to single-payer health care is not practical or feasible. It’s also not politically realistic,\u201d said Cody Belzley, a longtime Colorado health policy advocate who worked on the 2016 no campaign.<\/p>\n After passage of the federal budget bill, thousands of Coloradans will lose coverage, she said, a crisis that will have ripple impacts through all aspects of the health care system. \u201cWe need to be focused on charting a realistic, actionable path forward to protecting care for our neighbors and supporting the health care providers that serve our communities,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2016, the ColoradoCare proposal raised more than $800,000, with a lot of support from thousands of small donors from around Colorado and the county.<\/p>\n A coalition of business groups<\/a> backed the no side, vastly outspending proponents. Big national players, like Kaiser Permanente, United Health Care, HealthOne, Pharma and Cigna donated heavily. Locally the ballot measure faced opposition from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Association of Realtors, Associated General Contractors and oil and gas groups. <\/p>\n The Chamber of Commerce said it still opposes the idea.<\/p>\n “The Denver Metro Chamber continues to advocate for policies that support healthy communities and strengthen Colorado\u2019s business climate. While our current health care system has challenges, a single-payer model would make things worse, not better,\u201d said J. J. Ament, President and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n Looking ahead: A study in Colorado, signature gathering<\/p>\n About one in 20 Coloradans<\/a>, around 265,000 people, lacked health insurance in 2023, according to the Colorado Health Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state\u2019s uninsured rate dropped dramatically with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, and the expansion of Medicaid, more than a decade ago. That drove the uninsured rate from nearly 16 percent in 2011 to below 5 percent in 2023.<\/p>\n But that rate is expected to rise with the passage of the federal budget bill<\/a>, which slashed spending on health care programs like Medicaid, subsidies for people to buy insurance and the federal food assistance program SNAP. <\/p>\n Guzman said polling she\u2019s seen in Colorado and nationally suggest people want universal health care.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/img_8804_720_720.jpg\"\/)
John Daley\/CPR NewsRetired journalist T.R. Reid, who wrote the best-selling book called “The Healing of America,” was a speaker at the meeting of health care activists on Friday. He helped lead the unsuccessful effort in 2016 to create a state-level, tax-funded universal health care system.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/img_8801_720_720.jpg\"\/)
John Daley\/CPR NewsLydia Guzman, a retired educator, is president of Health Care for All Colorado.<\/p>\n