A survey of 800 registered Colorado voters was conducted by Locust Street Group on behalf of Colorado’s Health Care Future to understand voters’ perceptions, priorities, and expectations for the proposed state government option. The survey was fielded online November 12-19, 2019 and balanced to current Colorado demographics by gender, age, race, income, geography, and voting history. What follows are five key insights from the survey, which demonstrate Coloradans’ concerns about and lack of support for the adoption of a state government option.

1. A majority of Colorado voters do NOT support the state government option. As Colorado lawmakers consider moving forward with the state government option, only 45% of voters support the proposal. 73% of Colorado voters – including 61% of Democrats – prefer building on and improving Colorado’s health care system over creating a new state government option, and a majority (60%) would prefer if the free market and state government worked together to design an effective health insurance plan as opposed to the state government (16%) going at it alone.

• Voters do NOT trust the state government to design an effective plan. Only 34% say they trust the state government to design an effective insurance plan that meets the needs of Coloradans, and 78% of voters – including 67% of Democrats – are concerned that Colorado lawmakers will make politically-motivated decisions when designing the state government option.

• Voters’ top concern is COSTS – more than coverage. Lowering health care costs (67%) is the TOP priority for all Colorado voters in health reform ranking even higher than ensuring everyone has coverage (29%). Costs are key to any effective health care policy for Coloradans.
  
  
• Most are UNWILLING to pay for the state government option. 79% of Colorado voters – including 67% of Democrats – are unwilling to pay ANY more than they currently do for health care to fund the state government option. 75% of Colorado voters would be concerned if the state government option resulted in $1.5 billion in higher costs for Coloradans with employer-provided coverage.
  
  
• They’re deeply CONCERNED about the consequences for providers and payers. 78% would be concerned if the state government option resulted in the closure of up to 13% of rural hospitals, and 75% would be concerned if the plan resulted in the loss of up to 8,320 total jobs and 4,500 health care jobs as studies have estimated.