Fighting for Colorado Care-Amendment 69

“We don’t need to just win on November 8th, we need to secure healthcare.”-Lynn Gullette, supporter of Amendment 69.

Lyn Gullette who has invested $160,000 of her own money into supporting Amendment 69 has challenged the CEO of Anthem, a large health insurance provider in Colorado, to a debate about the amendment. KGNU’s Maeve Conran sat down with Gullette to discuss the obstacles she is dealing with in trying to get Amendment 69, Colorado Care, passed this November.

“In the United States right now, the way to wield power is really to have money.”

The Colorado Care Yes campaign has raised around $782,000 to support Amendment 69. That total is comprised of over 4,000 separate donations with an average size of around $160.

In contrast, United Health Care Services has donated almost half a million dollars to defeat amendment 69 and Centura Health has donated a quarter of a million dollars. The top donor is Indiana based Anthem insurance which has donated 1 million dollars.

Analysis released this week by Clean Slate Now showed that Coloradans for Coloradans has raised just over 4 million dollars to defeat Amendment 69. Over 98% of that $4 million comes from corporations, PACs, and various other interest groups, while the Colorado Care Yes campaign is reliant upon Colorado citizens.

“We can’t be intimidated by the money…I know that’s what the corporations would like us to believe; that it can’t be done.”

One way to combat the millions of dollars put into ad campaigns is to get one of the major donors to stand up and debate the amendment, which is why Lynn Gullette has issued the challenge to Anthem’s CEO. He has declined.