Senate approves study of single-payer health system, lawmakers express skepticism

The Colorado Senate on Feb. 20, 2025, approved Senate Bill 45, a measure to study the potential for a single-payer health care system and its consequences. Senators voted to pass the bill on third reading; the floor discussion emphasized that SB45 commissions a study rather than creating immediate policy.

One senator who spoke during floor debate described the bill as a narrowly scoped study and said he did not believe Colorado could implement a single-payer system but supported evaluating the impacts. "This bill isn't that. This bill is a study of the potential for it and the impacts to it," the senator said. He added that, after extensive constituent outreach, he would "stand in support of the bill today."

Floor remarks stressed that the measure is intended to gather information rather than direct funding or implementation of a single-payer system. The senator acknowledged political and fiscal obstacles, saying that even states with long experiments in health policy had not achieved single-payer outcomes.

The transcript records several named senators registering no votes on the motion: Senators Gonzales, Amabile and Michaelson Janae were identified as voting "no." The bill nevertheless passed on final reading.

Details about the study's scope, timeline, or required appropriations were not specified during the floor debate. The session did not include an extended discussion of how the study would be administered or what agencies would be tasked with producing the final report.