ColoradoCare Questions

I hear that the tax rate for “Single Payer” insurance plan will be 10%. Is the tax applied to the “Net” or “Gross” income, and does the taxed amount cover an individual or house hold? Based on an $82,000 gross income (the Colorado median family income for 2 in 2014 was ~$66.6K) and assuming a combined Fed and State income tax of 27%, I calculated an annual Single Payer tax of $6000/yr based on taxation of the “Net”. For a single person that is in their 50’s, $500/mo is about what most insurance companies would charge. My son is 30, a tobacco user, and pays $320/mo for a medical plan with $20 co pay’s and $6000 max annual deductible. I’m 66 and retired. If the “Single Payer” tax is based on the “Gross” then the medical tax would be $8.2K or $683/mo. Again, is the tax applied to the “Net” or “Gross” income and does the taxed amount cover an individual or house hold? Those with an income greater than $90K will not be in favor of the referendum without some tailoring, based on income, and there is no doubt that the insurance companies and large corporations will HEAVLY lobby against it.

I have reviewed the How It Would Work pamphlet and spoken with someone who does not have Medicare but attended a session at which ColoradoCare was explained as applied to Medicare. I still have questions about how ColoradoCare works with Medicare. I am 75 and have Medicare and pay for Part B and purchase a Private Part D Plan and also a Private Supplement (Plan F). I do not want an Advantage Plan, because it was originally devised to be a first step to rob seniors of Medicare. My Supplement is from Wellmark BC BS of Iowa where I moved from to Colorado in 2005. Every year I compare my supplement cost to other Plan F supplements and have found none better as to price for a company as reliable.

1. Will I be required to pay into ColoradoCare? If I work(Right now I teach part time at a public community college and do occasional legal work for pay)? If I receive income from interest and dividends and from an IRA?

2. Will I be required to change to an Advantage Plan?

3. Will I be required to give up my Wellmark BC BS of Iowa Supplement Plan F in favor of a Colorado supplement?

yes, what is amendment 69 in detail? This is a well kept secret, I can’t find any information about it so I will vote it down, and I read a minimum of 2 hrs worth of news on 3 different sites 7 days a week.

What happens if I’m traveling out of state and I get in an accident needing a trip to the hospital.

Will Amendment 69 cover trips to the Dentist?

Please explain how ColoradoCare will work for self-employed persons with families.

If, as reported, Medicare beneficiaries are excluded from ColoradoCare, would the program still require them to pay taxes to support the single-payer program? Especially if their income is only unearned, in retirement?

I attended the Colorado Care workshop on Jan. 16 in Denver and have read carefully the materials on the Website. I believe a more complete and thorough explanation is needed on how this universal health plan will effect seniors on Medicare who have either an Advantage plan (like with Kaiser) or have a Supplement to Medicare. The current explanation is too vague. Give some examples so it is clear to the reader.

In addition to premiums, deductibles, and co-pays for current health insurance plans, typically they also have “coinsurance” percentages that add to the insureds out-of-pocket costs . . . e.g., ACA “platinum” plans at a 90/10% rate require the insured to pay 10% out-of-pocket . . . ColoradoCare is silent about what or whether coinsurance is part of its plan (as best I can tell) . . . It’s this feature of plans that can often bankrupt folks . . .So what’s the ColoradoCare story on coinsurance? . . .

Since Colorado is a relatively small population state, do we have sufficient up front money for reserves in the early years?

1. Will this insurance only be active / accepted in Colorado, or will it work nationwide? Specifically, I’m wondering how it would be handled if one of my family members got sick in Alabama, for instance, and needed to see a doctor?

2. I am a retired school administrator from Kentucky and receive free (nationally recognized) comprehensive health insurance via a plan through Anthem and my primary income is a pension from the state of Kentucky. How does the single-payer plan impact my situation?

3. My impression is that the single-payer plan is construed along the lines of an expanded Medicare / Medicaid system. While I understand that doctor’s offices will save quite a bit of money via a streamlined billing system and quick payments, will the payment amounts be more like Medicaid, higher like Anthem, or somewhere in between?

4. Will every Colorado health care facility (doctor’s office – primary, dentist, eye, etc., pharmacy, immediate care center, hospital, etc.) be required to participate and accept as full payment the amount received from the system (i.e. no balance billing)?

5. Will there be deductibles or co-pays?

6. Will supplemental plans be allowed for services limited by the system (such as number of days of in-home nursing care or perhaps dental / vision services) or for services not currently covered by Medicaid / Medicare?