(The Center Square) – A bill requiring study of a universal health care system in Colorado is headed to the floor of the House of Representatives.

House Bill 23-1209, sponsored by Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, Karen McCormick, D-Longmont, and Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder, would provide $306,772 to the University of Colorado’s school of public health to analyze model legislation.

“This bill will direct a study of a publicly financed and privately delivered healthcare system in Colorado,” Rep. Boesenecker posted on social media after the bill passed out of the House Appropriations Committee on a 7-4 vote Friday.

A health care industry organization that opposed the government-backed Colorado Option criticized passage of the bill, stating it would explore eliminating Colorado’s current health care system and creating “a one-size-fits-all state government-controlled health insurance system.”

“Government-controlled health insurance systems result in consumers and patients paying more to wait longer for worse care, while putting politicians in control of health care,” Colorado’s Health Care Future said in a statement.

Health Care for All Colorado, a group that advocates for a single-payer system in the state, supports the bill. The groups says on its website that 325,000 Coloradans are about to lose Medicaid coverage when the pandemic emergency declarations end in May. It also states 350,000 Coloradans don’t have any health insurance and 600,000 are underinsured.

“This study is not meant to prescribe a solution to Colorado’s healthcare crisis, but to holistically study the costs and delivery of healthcare in our state,” according to a document linked from the organization’s website.

The bill will require the university to “acquire model legislation developed by a nonprofit to enact a universal single-payer" system, according to the fiscal note. The university must analyze costs, identify potential revenue sources to cover the costs, analyze connections to federal law and confirm the legislation will have the desired results. The report would be due October 1, 2024.

The bill also would create a task force under the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to assist the university.

In 2021, Colorado lawmakers passed the Colorado Option requiring health insurance carriers to offer a standardized plan at reduced prices.

Colorado’s Health Care Future said the Colorado Option is a “test drive of single-payer lite” and is not meeting expectations as it found 85 percent of plans didn’t meet a first-year target of a 5 percent reduction in premium costs.

“New research makes clear that the Colorado Option is failing to deliver greater affordability and is contributing to health insurance companies being forced out of our state, limiting Coloradans coverage options,” the group said in a statement. "Nearly every county in Colorado continues to suffer from provider shortages, and nearly nine in 10 Coloradans who shopped for individual coverage rejected the state government-controlled Colorado Option. The results of this state government-controlled health insurance system in Colorado are already in, and nearly 90 percent of Coloradans have rejected it. So should the Colorado House of Representatives.”