In her letter of 15 January, it is interesting that Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos says that CO Amendment 69 (Universal Healthcare) will take politics out of healthcare, when she personally collected signatures so that it could go on the ballot this November.

If passed, Amendment 69 will double our state budget from $25 billion to $50 billion. This would provide Colorado with a single-payer system. It would eliminate a free market system whereby a person could “shop around.” In addition, companies like Kaiser Permanente (new complex in Frisco), would be put out of business.

All Coloradans will pay the 3.35-percent additional income tax and employers will pay an additional income tax of 6.65 percent. No one will be exempt. For example, military/business retirees who have Medicare and a supplemental they want to keep, will still pay the 3.35-percent additional income tax for universal healthcare they will not need or use.

Amendment 69 will be available for anyone who has lived in Colorado one year, regardless if he/she is a citizen or if they are employed. Imagine the influx of new “residents” into our state.

Why is this amendment being pushed? Because Colorado was forced into a health exchange, there has been a massive increase in Medicaid signups, co-ops have gone out of business, young people aren’t signing up, while over 300,000 lost the healthcare plans/insurance they were promised they could keep.

Can we trust the system? Colorado’s health exchange failed to check many of 117,000 applicants’ eligibility (SSNs, citizenship, residency) according to a 2015 report from the US Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Take note, Amendment 69’s financial burden on our state will surely require more than an initial 10-percent additional income tax increase. The state government will select your doctors, your plan, determine your needs and if you want that newest treatment, it won’t be available. Welcome to the Veterans Administration.

Debra Irvine

Breckenridge