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factfinder_77

(841 posts)
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 05:31 PM Sep 2017

Single-payer health care failed miserably in Colorado. 79 % voted NO. Heres why. Mandatory reading

On the day the state of Colorado voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by about 5 points, voters there also rejected a ballot measure to enact a state-based single-payer system by an astounding margin of 79 percent to 21 percent.

Amendment 69, the Colorado Creation of ColoradoCare System Initiative, would have created a system in which all Coloradans would gain insurance through a tax-funded government insurance program. Private health insurers would have been rendered obsolete.

The Colorado initiative bears a resemblance to the Medicare-for-all legislation released by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) this week and endorsed by leading Democrats like Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and to HR 676, Rep. John Conyers’s (D-MI) single-payer proposal which has the support of a large majority of House Democrats.

Colorado’s initiative, in other words, matched the 2017 health care platform of the Democratic Party. And it failed — really, really, really badly.

“The proposal came too soon and too fast for where voters were,” Joel Dyar, who worked as state field director for the ColoradoCare Yes campaign, says.

Some of that failure is attributable to the unique challenges of adopting single-payer through a ballot initiative, and at the state level. Because Colorado’s constitution bans public funding for abortions, ColoradoCare would’ve taken away access to abortion from the hundreds of thousands of women currently in private health plans that cover the procedure. That earned the amendment the opposition of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, two leading progressive groups in the state. “They didn’t check in advance to see if this was a problem,” Karen Middleton, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, recalls. “By the time anyone had seen the language, it was already locked in.”

And because the proposal had to be set in stone in order to appear on the ballot, advocates didn’t have time to negotiate with key stakeholders on details of the plan, meaning few stakeholders bought in. Many progressive think tanks like the Colorado Fiscal Institute and the Bell Policy Center, unions like the United Food and Commercial Workers, and advocacy groups like ProgressNow Colorado wound up opposing the plan. “A poorly thought-through initiative like Amendment 69 does violence to the future of single-payer in Colorado,” Ian Silverii, ProgressNow Colorado’s executive director, says.

But other obstacles will be just as present in a federal fight. Entrenched interest groups, particularly insurers, spent millions opposing the measure. Moderate Democrats like Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Michael Bennet, and former Gov. Bill Ritter came out against it. And ultimately, Colorado voters were just not persuaded

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/14/16296132/colorado-single-payer-ballot-initiative-failure
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Single-payer health care failed miserably in Colorado. 79 % voted NO. Heres why. Mandatory reading (Original Post) factfinder_77 Sep 2017 OP
Interesting information WhiteTara Sep 2017 #1
As a Coloradoan, there is a LOT more to it than this! CherokeeFiddle Sep 2017 #2
++100 randr Sep 2017 #3
Our government has been captured by the rich and powerful at both the national and the state level. Voltaire2 Sep 2017 #6
It seems that you lost many natural allies brer cat Sep 2017 #8
That's it, conveniently ignored truth. Autumn Sep 2017 #9
Thanks for this nt riderinthestorm Sep 2017 #12
There will always be Koch money lined up against this BannonsLiver Sep 2017 #16
What makes you think the same money won't attack national single payer? It was successful in CO pnwmom Sep 2017 #18
It would be hillarycare all over again...yes...the ACA must be saved. It is all we have and will Demsrule86 Sep 2017 #21
We are smart enough to chew gum and walk at same time CherokeeFiddle Sep 2017 #23
I would add...time will tell...let's see if the ACA survives. If it doesn't then we have our answer. Demsrule86 Sep 2017 #24
I support single-payer healthcare Sen. Walter Sobchak Sep 2017 #4
My son ges free health care in the union that covers everything. He is a Dem...but Demsrule86 Sep 2017 #22
This needs to be done in stages. kacekwl Sep 2017 #5
Medicare took effect for everyone aged 65 and older on July 1 1966. Voltaire2 Sep 2017 #7
65 and older to start kacekwl Sep 2017 #10
You claimed that Medicare was implemented gradually Voltaire2 Sep 2017 #11
My takeaway from his post was that age brackets were intended to be the gradations. Gidney N Cloyd Sep 2017 #13
Most Businesses will just benefit. Voltaire2 Sep 2017 #15
Companies shouldn't be benefiting. They should come out even, because the money they have been pnwmom Sep 2017 #19
The post said "designed", which is partly true Jim Lane Sep 2017 #20
Dirty tricks. GOP specialty. lindysalsagal Sep 2017 #14
Yes, it looks like this failed for the same reason as in California. R B Garr Sep 2017 #17

WhiteTara

(29,676 posts)
1. Interesting information
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 05:51 PM
Sep 2017

but please be aware that you are violating the TOS by posting more than 4 paragraphs.

 

CherokeeFiddle

(297 posts)
2. As a Coloradoan, there is a LOT more to it than this!
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 05:52 PM
Sep 2017

And I mean a LOT more to it than this. This is an issue I worked very hard on here tirelessly. Outside money, Koch money, big pharma, health insurers, came pouring in to my state and they outraised those who were backing single payer here. In fact, a lot of questioning has been happening as to why some Democrats were on the same side as conservatives in their wanting to defeat the measure along with being on the side of big pharma and health insurers. That should be a red flag right away.

The ColoradoCare initiative faced significant political headwinds. In addition to opposition from state Republicans, business groups, the health insurance industry and the Colorado Medical Society, powerful state Democrats also lined up against it, including Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Michael Bennet, several U.S. representatives, Colorado House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran and a number of other state legislators. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/colorado-single-payer-vote_us_581cdf8be4b0d9ce6fbbf369


Lobby groups that represent major for-profit health care interests in Colorado, including hospitals and insurance brokers, are similarly mobilizing against Amendment 69. The Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry — a trade group led in part by HCA HealthOne, a subsidiary of HCA, one of the largest private hospital chains in the country — is soliciting funds to defeat single payer. http://cochamber.com/2016/01/29/contribute-now-campaign-launched-to-defeat-amendment-69-the-25-billion-single-payer-health-care-plan/


This here--- https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2822006-Colordans-for-Colordans-May-2nd-disclosure.html
Coloradans for Coloradans, an ad-hoc group opposing single payer in Colorado, consisting of very high profile Democrat consultants, some who worked in SuperPAC's in 2016. The anti-single-payer effort is funded almost entirely by health care industry interests, including $500,000 from Anthem Inc., the state’s largest health insurance provider; $40,000 from Cigna, another large health insurer that is current in talks to merge with Anthem; $75,000 from Davita, the dialysis company; $25,000 from Delta Dental, the largest dental insurer in the state; and $100,000 from SCL Health, the faith-based hospital chain.


And if that isn't enough, then there is the Koch money that came floating in.

Colorado's efforts to become the first state to pass a public, universal health care system are facing stiff opposition from right-wing organizations, many of which are funded by or affiliated with brothers Charles and David Koch.

As expected, these moneyed interests are doing everything they can to stop the state from amending its constitution with a ballot referendum, Amendment 69, which would implement a statewide version of "single-payer" health care. If approved, ColoradoCare would cover every resident, regardless of employment or ability to pay. In October, organizers submitted enough signatures to put the amendment on the ballot. The vote will take place on Election Day this year.

If the opposition groups succeed, they would not only be depriving Colorado of universal health care, but also would be serving another destructive blow to single-payer activists across the country. The single-payer movement saw a similar effort in Vermont fail in 2015, and its activists were shunned by the White House during federal reform discussions in 2010.

These groups and their tactics demonstrate how progressive state policies are opposed -- and often defeated -- with the help of a vast and impressive network of free market groups in all 50 states. Many of these groups have ties to the billionaire Koch brothers, who have vigorously resisted health care reform in Washington and in the states. Opposition is also coming from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and is expected from the health insurance and drug industries. Combined, these forces will be an extremely difficult obstacle for advocates of health care justice, who hope Colorado can create health care history. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35353-koch-brothers-attempt-to-kill-single-payer-health-care-in-colorado#15055122287361




brer cat

(24,401 posts)
8. It seems that you lost many natural allies
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 06:32 PM
Sep 2017

because of the ban on funding for abortions. Asking women to give up access to abortion is a non-starter for many Democrats who might have supported the initiative otherwise. I'm not from Colorado, but just reading the OP it seems that it was rushed.

BannonsLiver

(16,161 posts)
16. There will always be Koch money lined up against this
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 10:33 PM
Sep 2017

If that's the best case we can make for it not catching on in Co. or anywhere else we need to go back to the drawing board.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
18. What makes you think the same money won't attack national single payer? It was successful in CO
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 01:56 PM
Sep 2017

and very likely to be successful nationally.

We can support single payer.

But right now, in the next two weeks, all our efforts should be focused on SAVING THE ACA, SAVING MEDICAID, and SAVING MEDICARE -- all of which are threatened by the Cassidy/Graham "Obamacare repeal" bill.

CONTACT CONGRESS: TELL THEM TO VOTE AGAINST CASSIDY/GRAHAM OBAMACARE REPEAL.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
21. It would be hillarycare all over again...yes...the ACA must be saved. It is all we have and will
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 05:51 PM
Sep 2017

for years.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
24. I would add...time will tell...let's see if the ACA survives. If it doesn't then we have our answer.
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 09:22 PM
Sep 2017

We also lose medicare. This was not a good idea.

 

Sen. Walter Sobchak

(8,692 posts)
4. I support single-payer healthcare
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 06:00 PM
Sep 2017

But you're ultimately asking people for a pretty big leap of faith into the unknown, and for a lot of people who are in public sector, unionized or skilled employment their existing healthcare is already probably somewhere between good to great. And if a universal healthcare system is created at some point there will forever be forces dedicated to demolishing it.

While I support universal healthcare as a matter of principle, I would be lying if I said the employer provided health benefits I have had in my adult life were anything but excellent.

Demsrule86

(68,347 posts)
22. My son ges free health care in the union that covers everything. He is a Dem...but
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 05:52 PM
Sep 2017

will not vote to give up his health care or support any single payer system...a public option could work.

kacekwl

(6,993 posts)
5. This needs to be done in stages.
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 06:04 PM
Sep 2017

Like Medicare was designed to over time lower the age of those who can qualify. This will give insurance and other business affected to adapt.

Voltaire2

(12,610 posts)
7. Medicare took effect for everyone aged 65 and older on July 1 1966.
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 06:30 PM
Sep 2017

That was about one year after the law was passed in 1965.

There was no gradual introduction.

kacekwl

(6,993 posts)
10. 65 and older to start
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 07:50 PM
Sep 2017

then gradually lower to the next tier then the next and so and so on until all were covered.

Voltaire2

(12,610 posts)
15. Most Businesses will just benefit.
Fri Sep 15, 2017, 10:28 PM
Sep 2017

The only businesses that are going to take a hit are the health insurance companies, and pharma. They've been robbing us for decades. Too fucking bad. All the other businesses that were trying to do the right thing for their employees will benefit from no longer having to pay their share of the outrageous premiums.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
19. Companies shouldn't be benefiting. They should come out even, because the money they have been
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 02:03 PM
Sep 2017

spending on healthcare should go to employees, to help them pay their higher taxes.

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
20. The post said "designed", which is partly true
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 05:20 PM
Sep 2017

In the formulation of the Medicare legislation, one of the features under consideration was to start it at age 65, but then gradually lower the eligibility age so that everyone would eventually be covered.

The legislative give-and-take resulted in a final bill that omitted that gradual expansion.

R B Garr

(16,919 posts)
17. Yes, it looks like this failed for the same reason as in California.
Sat Sep 16, 2017, 01:52 PM
Sep 2017

It was a poorly thought out.

“A poorly thought-through initiative like Amendment 69 does violence to the future of single-payer in Colorado,” Ian Silverii, ProgressNow Colorado’s executive director, says.

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