Colorado to vote on Single-Payer, on Election Day 2016

[Blue3]

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/9/universal-health-care-to-appear-on-colorado-ballot-in-2016.html

This would make Colorado the first state with single-payer healthcare, if it passes next November.
(Vermont would have been the first, but they decided to scrap their plans.)

[I support Sanders]

If it passes, I hope the state goes through with it. Colorado has certainly set the stage with respect to marijuana policy, but I worry that the heath care industry will lobby the idea out of existence. Peter Shumlin was a reasonable progressive and he was swayed by the power of the pharmaceutical industry; John Hickenlooper is an even more moderate Democrat than Shumlin, so it's hard to imagine him leading the way for single-payer in the U.S. One can hope, however, because single-payer isn't going to come from Hillary Clinton or any of the Republicans.

[7,052,770]

What kind of single-payer system? Does the initiative say?

If it's a half-assed version of Canada's system (which is pretty half-assed itself), Coloradoans are probably better off under Obamacare.

[Intell]

One can hope for it, one can hope for it..

[Famous Mortimer]

Single payer will simply not work on the state level. The system would be overwhelmed with people moving there to get treatment.

Vermont already came to this very obvious conclusion and Colorado soon will too.

[tpfkaw]

Single payer will simply not work on the state level. The system would be overwhelmed with people moving there to get treatment.

Vermont already came to this very obvious conclusion and Colorado soon will too.

So perhaps it wouldn't work on the national level either if we allow anyone and everyone to move here?

[Famous Mortimer]

Single payer will simply not work on the state level. The system would be overwhelmed with people moving there to get treatment.

Vermont already came to this very obvious conclusion and Colorado soon will too.

So perhaps it wouldn't work on the national level either if we allow anyone and everyone to move here?

I would agree with that. Most others on the left are either in denial about this fact or choose not to bring it up because it's politically unpopular.

I still support national single payer though. I think if we ever do get it, the serious politicians will realize we can't have open borders anymore and fix the problem. It'll never be successful if you include that in the pitch though, best to just let people find out after hypothetical implementation.

[Mercenary]

Couldnt you just include a residency minimun, for example 2 years?
With that I see no reason it couldnt work at a state level.

[Bojack Horseman]

Even if it does pass, I have a feeling that it will meet the same fate as Vermont's plan did, as Colorado is turning completely red overnight faster than Arkansas did. Single payer in a red state? Highly unlikely.

[The_Doctor]

I hope Colorado votes it down. On the merits of it, single payer might not be strictly terrible. But I oppose it on the grounds that it enshrines the idea of government takeovers of industry as a legitimate function. Which I strongly disagree with. We should reform the health care industry, but we should not take over the industry itself.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I hope it passes yadda yadda, but the last paragraph is very interesting:

"A single-payer system would destroy our industry. I don't think there's any question about it," Byron McCurdy, board president of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters told the Post. He said almost one-fifth of all Colorado jobs are associated with the health-care industry.


That ... can't be right can it? Surely 20% of the population isn't employed in healthcare?!?!

[Zache]

Even if it does pass, I have a feeling that it will meet the same fate as Vermont's plan did, as Colorado is turning completely red overnight faster than Arkansas did. Single payer in a red state? Highly unlikely.

Not really.

[King]

Single-payer on a state level is unworkable, which is why Vermont dropped it. American Single Payer would require a mass movement of 2/3rd population support. It's not happening.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Fwiw Canadian single payer started out as a single province electing a leftist government.

[The_Doctor]

I hope it passes yadda yadda, but the last paragraph is very interesting:

"A single-payer system would destroy our industry. I don't think there's any question about it," Byron McCurdy, board president of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters told the Post. He said almost one-fifth of all Colorado jobs are associated with the health-care industry.


That ... can't be right can it? Surely 20% of the population isn't employed in healthcare?!?!

Post-industrial service - based economy in which the aging population is going up rapidly as the baby boomers retire.

[Ebsy]

Even if it does pass, I have a feeling that it will meet the same fate as Vermont's plan did, as Colorado is turning completely red overnight faster than Arkansas did. Single payer in a red state? Highly unlikely.

Not really.

Yeah... I was going to saqy. Colorado did reelect a mildly unpopular Democratic governor during a Republican wave year.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I hope it passes yadda yadda, but the last paragraph is very interesting:

"A single-payer system would destroy our industry. I don't think there's any question about it," Byron McCurdy, board president of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters told the Post. He said almost one-fifth of all Colorado jobs are associated with the health-care industry.


That ... can't be right can it? Surely 20% of the population isn't employed in healthcare?!?!

  "Associated with the health care industry" is a pretty vague term and doesn't mean directly employed in healthcare.

[DemPGH]

I really hope they get it, and yeah, the answer is a robust, clear residency requirement as far as administration goes.

The marijuana law has a light residency requirement - non-CO residents may purchase marijuana, but in smaller amounts than CO residents. That comes from a pamphlet a buddy of mine actually brought back from CO on a visit and gave to me.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

I hope it passes yadda yadda, but the last paragraph is very interesting:

"A single-payer system would destroy our industry. I don't think there's any question about it," Byron McCurdy, board president of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters told the Post. He said almost one-fifth of all Colorado jobs are associated with the health-care industry.


That ... can't be right can it? Surely 20% of the population isn't employed in healthcare?!?!

I've noticed this a few times.  Just out of curiosity why do you comment a lot on the United State?  It is clear there is a lot you don't know about it.  I've been to the UK on several occasions but I have yet to ever comment on the place.

For those of us interested in politics and news in general it is very plausible 20% of Colorado jobs are associated with the health-care industry.  During the great recession there was no recession in healthcare jobs.  Many of the economic reports during the recession and the recessions aftermath showed growth.  Well you have constant growth while the rest of the economy shrinks or stagnates and voila 20%.

Another heads up.  Healthcare is a huge chunk of our national debt.  You really can't comment on American politics unless you realize we have a whopping big debt.  And you can't understand the debt unless you realize the healthcare component.

Also you have to realize Colorados population is the size of a large city.  The rocky mountains run through Colorado.  There are not millions of people living on snowy mountain tops.  So you throw in a few universities, a medical school, some hospitals, some private sector research efforts, insurance industry, home health, nursing homes, pharmacies, etc and viola 20%.  I don't know if that 20% number is true but you wouldn't be shocked if someone told you 20% of people in Houston are associated with the oil and gas industry would you?  Actually I would... that actually seems low.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

It is my right as a smug Brit to belittle other countries' political scenes for no reason.

Thanks for informing me about the mystical economy known as colorado though, very illuminating. Incidentally I found the actual employment figures of Colorado on the U.S. website which shows me other data that seems to contradict this information.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.co.htm#eag_co.f.3

Seeing as I know Colordao has a very diversified economy, with fossil extraction, tourism, a fair amount of federal employment and non-medical research based in Denver etc. it just struck me as unusual for Colorado to be that dependent on healthcare?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

C'mon, obviously all marijuana jobs are in that 20% number. Those are very, very liberal labels. All-encompassing.

[Taco Truck 🚚]

It is my right as a smug Brit to belittle other countries' political scenes for no reason.

Thanks for informing me about the mystical economy known as colorado though, very illuminating. Incidentally I found the actual employment figures of Colorado on the U.S. website which shows me other data that seems to contradict this information.

http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.co.htm#eag_co.f.3

Seeing as I know Colordao has a very diversified economy, with fossil extraction, tourism, a fair amount of federal employment and non-medical research based in Denver etc. it just struck me as unusual for Colorado to be that dependent on healthcare?

Just as one example there are multiple restaurants and two hotels located inside the Cleveland Clinic.  Yes a bureaucrat can count those workers as restaurant, leisure, and hospitality workers but let me assure you they are healthcare "associated" jobs.  The Cleveland Clinic closes those places go out of business instantly.  There are a lot of times when there is only the illusion of diversification.  And anyway a fifth of your jobs being healthcare associated doesn't mean your local economy isn't diversified.  The fact of the matter is other than oil and gas not a whole heck of a lot goes on in between the coasts.  There is Chicago, a bunch of agriculture, healthcare and some other stuff like military bases here and there.  Trust me I've looked for jobs.  That's what I'm saying.  When you actually live here and go to various headquarters and regional offices it becomes very clear there are only a finite number of rain making activities in a lot of geographic areas.  Everything else sort of gets the scraps off those tables.  And one fixture is a hospital with a bunch of people making six figures... and a heck of a lot more individuals making as much as the median household.  So no.  Not in any way implausible.

[tpfkaw]

Anyway, even if this somehow passes it'll never be implemented, because the subsequent TABOR referendum on quintupling state taxes will go down in flames.

[Joe Republic]

If it passes, I hope the state goes through with it. Colorado has certainly set the stage with respect to marijuana policy, but I worry that the heath care industry will lobby the idea out of existence. Peter Shumlin was a reasonable progressive and he was swayed by the power of the pharmaceutical industry; John Hickenlooper is an even more moderate Democrat than Shumlin, so it's hard to imagine him leading the way for single-payer in the U.S. One can hope, however, because single-payer isn't going to come from Hillary Clinton or any of the Republicans.

Hickenlooper argued against passage of the marijuana initiative.  Since it passed anyway, the case for legal weed has been made to the rest of the country whether he's on board or not.

We should reform the health care industry, but we should not take over the industry itself.

Ugh.  "Health care" and "industry" shouldn't even belong in the same sentence, let alone adjacent to each other.

[Famous Mortimer]

Anyway, even if this somehow passes it'll never be implemented, because the subsequent TABOR referendum on quintupling state taxes will go down in flames.

It's actually probably easier to sell socialized medicine after Obamacare. Whereas we used to live in fear of the "taxes will go up!" argument, not we can just say "you know that $200 you are forced to pay each month? This is going to get rid of that".