Roland Holzwarth and Elizabeth Roscoe joined Suze and Dick Gingery and over 300 other people at the Capital steps Thursday, January 31st , for a rally in support of the single payer health care plan prior to the submission of recommendations by the 208 Commission to the State Assembly. Speakers on the steps included representatives from the Colorado Educators Association, the Colorado Nurses Association, the League of Women Voters, and Colorado physicians. Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon spoke as did Rep. Claire Leavy, D-Boulder, who is working to introduce a single payer bill to the House. Senator Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins plans to submit a bill in the Senate. The Colorado Medical Society came out with an evaluation matrix for the 5 proposals submitted to the Assembly. The HCAC proposal came out with the top score!

Article from the Montrose Daily Press Commission introduces healthcare proposals By Kati O'Hare Daily Press Writer Published/Last Modified on Thursday, January 31, 2008 9:57 PM MST

DENVER   —Several Montrose residents joined a rally of 300 on the steps of the capitol Thursday to support a single-payer health care proposal, one of five submissions Thursday to the Colorado General Assembly by the 208 Commission.

The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform, also called the 208 Commission because Senate Bill 208 created the group, was appointed by lawmakers and Gov. Bill Ritter to draw some solutions to the health care crisis in Colorado .

Currently, about 792,000 Coloradans lack health insurance.

The commission offered five proposals to legislators; four were submitted to them by other organizations and one they created.

One of the proposals presented was developed by Health Care for All Colorado and supports single-payer health care.

Montrose resident and HCAC President Dick Gingery spoke at both the rally and to legislators on the group's proposal.

He said the commission's proposal received skepticism because of its complicated details. However, he believed his presentation went over well because of its clear-cut idea and cost effectiveness.

“We think we may yet carry this day,” Gingery said at the capitol Thursday during a phone interview.

HCAC's proposal is universal health care based on the single-payer idea. The plan would be to create a public trust that would fund health care.

Rather then paying insurance premiums that keep going up, Gingery said, funding would be provided through taxation.

“Everyone would pay a premium based on what they earn,” HCAC Program Administrator Kristen Hannum said. “You can think of it as a tax, but also as a premium and you get more for it than a premium from insurance (companies) because they have to take administration and marketing costs out of that.”

She said 10 to 15 percent of private insurance premiums go toward marketing and administration costs.

Of all the proposals, Gingery said the HCAC plan is the cheapest idea because of how it's funded.

“We're not talking about caps, it will meet people's needs,” he said.

Some companies, such as insurance companies, may disagree with the plan, he said, and the group is “gearing up” for those debates.

As the local supporters head over the mountains to return to Montrose today, Hannum said the group knows Thursday was just the tip of the iceberg. However, the 300 people who showed through cold weather and bad roads to demonstrate their support for single-payer universal health care encouraged her.

The group's proposal will be presented to the Senate in the form of a bill by Senator Bob Bacon, D- Fort Collins, Gingery said. Rep. Claire Levey, D-Boulder, is also working to introduce the bill to the House.

“I'm sure this is just the first step,” Gingery said. “We'll see where it goes.”