A move to create a single-payer healthcare system in Colorado failed Tuesday, despite a heavy push from former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Voters in the state overwhelmingly rejected ColoradoCare, a government-run insurance system for state residents. The vote comes after top Democrats in the state joined Republicans to oppose it, and after Sanders made single payer a central plank of his Democratic primary campaign.
The healthcare system would have been costly, adding more than $20 billion to the state’s budget and adding a payroll tax of 10 percent and a nonpayroll tax of 10 percent.
While Republicans opposed the measure, opponents also received support from key Democratic allies and office holders.
Most notably, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper came out against it. Hickenlooper said that reforms from Obamacare and other measures are “just beginning to bear fruit and it would be premature to dramatically remake our healthcare system at this time.”
The abortion rights group NARAL Pro Choice Colorado also came out against the measure.
The group said the state’s constitution prohibits public funds from being used to pay for abortions. It believes that insured women who have access to abortion services would lose it under ColoradoCare.
The vote is a high-profile defeat for Sanders, who campaigned earlier this month over the measure, as did filmmaker Michael Moore.
Sanders called for expanding Medicare to turn it into a single-payer system to fully cover all Americans. He was hoping that a win for ColoradoCare could prompt other states to pursue single payer.
“Colorado can send a shock that will be heard all over this country and all over the world,” he said at a recent rally. “If you can pass ColoradoCare, then states all over this country will be following in your footsteps.”
