Updated 10/14/16 10:34 p.m. to reflect counterpoint comments from Advancing Colorado

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will host a rally in support of ColoradoCare, Amendment 69, on Monday, Oct. 17 in Boulder. Amendment 69 is one of the most hotly contested ballot initiatives appearing on the Nov. 8 ballot. Sanders ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president and has aggressively supported Amendment 69.

The rally is scheduled for Farrand Field on the University of Colorado-Boulder main campus, near the University Memorial Center. Doors open at 4 p.m., the program begins at 5 p.m.

“There is an important ballot initiative in Colorado which calls for a [Medicare-for-all] health care system,” Sanders said in a news release announcing the rally. “It is absurd, it is beyond belief, that here in America we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people. If that proposal can win in Colorado, I believe that idea will spread around the country.”

Sanders encouraged the effort to bring a “Medicare-for-all” health care system to Colorado before it was placed on the ballot. He has spoken about it on multiple occasions, before and after winning the Colorado Democratic caucus by 19 points. ColoradoCare echoes a central Medicare-for-all plank in Sanders’ presidential campaign platform.

“No one has done more to elevate the idea of Medicare for all in the United States in recent years,” said Owen Perkins, director of communications for ColoradoCareYES, the group promoting the measure, in the release. “By bringing the notion of universal health care into stadiums, auditoriums, town halls, and living rooms throughout the country, Sen. Sanders has helped create the ideal environment for passing ColoradoCare.”

Jonathan Lockwood, executive director of free market advocacy organization Advancing Colorado, was quick to point out in a news release that the ColoradoCare campaign had reportedly not signed a venue contract with CU Boulder for the campaign event prior to its announcement that Sanders would be holding the rally, calling the campaign “shoddily-run.”

Lockwood also slammed ColoradoCare campaign organizers in the statement, stating that “Sen. Bernie Sanders and state Sen. Irene Aguilar are going to get innocent people killed with their despicable political agenda. Women and the LGBT community are especially at risk under the ColoradoCare proposal and it is an outrage to see politicians endanger their followers. Sanders and Aguilar, total hypocrites, and their dark money-backed allies, need to answer how they are going to ensure that vulnerable populations are not put at risk by the health care rationing built into the deadly proposal.”

ColoradoCare campaign supporters argue their constitutional amendment would provide “comprehensive health care to every Coloradan” if passed by the voters in November. Funding for the $25 billion program would primarily come through a 3.33 percent payroll deduction for employees and 6.67 percent for employers, eliminating the need for premiums and deductibles.