The revamping of the U.S. health care system appears to be shifting from the federal arena to states, with fall ballot issues in Colorado and California challenging the status quo.
According to The New York Times, both ballot issues bear the indelible stamp, and have earned the endorsement of ex-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The Colorado ballot issue would bring to that state the single-payer health plan championed by Sanders during his bid for the Democratic nod. Californians will be asked to vote on whether to control the prices of certain prescription drugs, another issue Sanders has raised.
Under the terms of Amendment 69, the Colorado health plan would be funded in part by a new 10 percent state payroll tax and a 10 percent “nonpayroll income” tax that would create a health insurance fund of some $38 billion. The money would be used to provide health insurance to all Coloradans, according to the website Ballotpedia. Early polling has indicated the measure has strong support among young voters.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
