Letter: A rare opportunity

Aspen folks should be aware of a remarkable upcoming opportunity. In November, we will get to vote for universal health care for Colorado. If voted in, ColoradoCare (Amendment 69) will, by eliminating insurance-company involvement, provide better health care than our present system and cost less. There would be no deductibles and very low copays.

The plan expands the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and Medicare. The Affordable Care Act improved our health coverage, but premiums are still too high, and costs can be prohibitive for people with chronic diseases. It still leaves too many uninsured or underinsured. With ColoradoCare, every Coloradan would be covered — no exception.

Currently, insurance companies provide only a narrow choice of doctors and facilities. Under ColoradoCare, you can go to any provider. You get to choose, not some insurance company.

ColoradoCare would be organized like a credit union, owned by and accountable to the residents of Colorado. Medical costs would be paid through a state tax, adjusted for income. (No insurance premiums means most of us would pay less overall.) It would simplify health care, relieve doctors of a huge paperwork burden and be cheaper for employers. It would be a big win for all of us.

Too good to be true? How can this possibly work? It would work because it would eliminate the colossal amounts that insurance companies spend on paperwork, fancy marketing and huge executive salaries.

ColoradoCare will be furiously opposed by the insurance industry. It will spend enormous amounts trying to defeat ColoradoCare and will orchestrate an immense barrage of letters, articles and TV ads opposing it. Keep that in mind as you make up your own. To learn more, visit http://www.coloradocareyes.co.

Arden Buck

Nederland