Amendment 69 (Colorado Care), the proposed single payer state medical plan, is a raw deal for most seniors and retirees.

Seniors 65 and older are already covered by a single payer plan, Medicare. If ColoradoCare is passed, retirees would pay an additional 10% tax (beyond the current 4.6% state tax) on all taxable income above $24,000 (the age 65 exemption) including pensions, social security, distributions from IRAs, dividends and interest.

And for this, retirees will still be required to pay their monthly Medicare premiums!

Colorado Care would replace Medicare supplemental plans, likely at a cost of thousands of dollars in increased taxes for moderate and higher income retirees.

You will be stuck with Colorado Care as your Medicare supplement and unable to shop for a lower cost supplemental plan that matches your medical needs.

Amendment 69 appears to place a moderate additional tax burden on current workers (3.3%), a larger burden on their employers (6.7%), and the largest burden on retirees (10%) who have saved, invested and paid Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes all their working lives.

There are other defects and unknowns with Amendment 69, not least of which is that it is a state constitutional amendment, making it impossible to tweak or correct deficiencies without another constitutional amendment!

Please investigate and then vote “No” on Amendment 69.

Hugh Brown

Durango