Ballot Measure Essentials: The Colorado Legislature will refer to the November 2023 ballot measure to authorize the creation of an enterprise to pay for our health care in Colorado that will build on the following 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 healthcare providers.
• Patients shall have free choice among qualified providers. 
• To address health care disparities, it shall cover all Colorado residents.
• The system and the cost of care shall be funded by premiums based on the ability to pay.
• Health care shall be pre-paid by premiums, with no deductibles or copays that create barriers to care. 
• The agency shall ensure fair drug and hospital prices as well as fair pay 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 shall be no middlemen with the incentives and power to limit benefits or impose other barriers to care.