Today, Colorado lawmakers became the first to officially consider an exploration of a single-payer health care system.
Legislation was approved today in the Colorado House Business Affairs and Labor Committee to set up a “health care authority ” which would create the framework for the single-payer system, reported the Associated Press and MSNBC.
The article also reported that the approval was greeted by audience cheering applause.
Such a system would enable the state government to provide health care to all its residents, effectively erasing the need for individual health insurance.
“The current health care system is broken and the state needs to begin building a system that works. For too many Coloradans, they’re just one crisis away from bankruptcy, ” said state Representative John Kefalas.
Though the bill made a pretty significant step, single-payer health care is a long shot.
A separate commission, the Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform appointed by Governor Bill Ritter, said a state law implementing single-payer care would involve changes to many different federal statutes for veterans’ care, federal employees, and other federal health programs, wrote the AP article.
The commission did, however, recommend the state go through with the bill.
Our verdict: A symbolic gesture, but no realistic chance of single-payer care in neither Colorado or the rest of the country.