Sept 1, 2021
Colorado Study Finds a State Single Payer
Health Care System Would Save $Billions in the State
Boulder – A study by the Colorado School of Public Health examining three types of health care systems shows that a state single-payer-type health care system would save $billions in Colorado each year.
“This Colorado data confirms the 20 or more studies in the U.S that a single-payer health care system is the most cost effective ,” said Bill Semple, Board Chair of the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care (CO4UHC). “It’s time for people to rise up and demand an improved Medicare-for-all health care system.”
The State Legislature commissioned the study in 2019 with passage of the Health Care Cost Savings Act, H.B. 19-1176, introduced by Reps. Emily Sirota and Sonya Jaquez Lewis and Sen. Mike Foote. It passed with bipartisan support.
“This new report says Colorado can solve a major state problem — more than 350,000 people with no health insurance — and save money in the process,” said T.R. Reid, who was a member of the 1176 Task Force authorized by the legislation
“We can provide insurance for everybody, which will save lives and improve our overall population health, with a system that actually costs less than we’re spending now.”
The bill’s aim was to analyze health care financing systems across three health care systems — our current insurance-based health care system; a publicly and privately funded multi-payer health care system; and a publicly financed, privately delivered universal health care system that would pay providers directly. The study’s objective was to give lawmakers and the public key data on which system could provide good health care to Coloradans at the lowest cost.
In addition to saving money, a single-payer health care system would prevent financial hardship for millions across the U.S., where an estimated 7 to 9 million people are driven into poverty by health care costs.
The report was shared with the Colorado Legislature and Governor Jared Polis on Wednesday, Sept. 1. The full report is available here.
A 7-page Executive Summary by the Health Care Cost Savings Act Task Force is available here.
Bill supporters included the Foundation, Colorado Social Legislation Committee, County Commissioners Acting Together, Health Care for All Colorado, Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Our Revolution Metro Denver, Our Revolution Boulder, Democratic Socialists of America Denver Chapter, Arvadans for Progressive Action, Colorado Working Families, and Indivisible Colorado Legislative Table.
