Finally, a way to Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care

A Colorado universal health care payment system must include these essential criteria:

• It shall provide comprehensive benefits for medically necessary care, including dental, hearing, vision, and mental health.
• It shall provide home care and long-term care at least at the level of coverage currently available to Medicaid-eligible persons in Colorado.
• Health care decisions shall be made by patients and their health care providers. 
• Patients shall have free choice among qualified providers.
• It shall cover all Colorado residents.
• The system and the cost of care shall be funded by premiums based on ability to pay. 
• There shall be no deductibles or copays.
• The agency shall ensure fair drug and hospital prices as well as fair payment to providers.
• It shall be a publicly administered nonprofit enterprise and the sole agency paying for Colorado’s health care costs.
• To avoid profiteering, there will be no middlemen with the incentives and power to limit benefits or impose other barriers to care.