Colorado voters will decide next year whether this state should be the first to pay for comprehensive health care for residents.

Proponents of a single-payer state system gathered enough signatures to put ColoradoCare on the ballot, the secretary of state’s office announced Monday.

They needed 98,492 valid signatures to put a state-governed health care system to a vote. After reviewing a 5 percent sample of the 158,831 signatures submitted, the secretary of state projected that the valid total would be 110 percent of the number required — and certified that Initiative 20, the “State Health Care System,” will be on the 2016 ballot.

Residents would choose their own health care providers, but ColoradoCare would pay the bills.

The measure is likely to ignite a fiery debate because of the costs involved. Backers estimate ColoradoCare would raise $25 billion a year for health-care costs through a proposed 10 percent payroll tax. Critics decry it as a massive expansion of government that would double the size of the state budget.

“We’re all excited. This is really important for the people of Colorado,” said Ivan Miller, executive director of ColoradoCare Yes and head of the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care.

“Gathering signatures is really tough. I think the political consensus was we didn’t have a prayer.”

Miller, a psychologist and author of a book on health-care reform, contends that if the initiative passes, residents will gain premium health care coverage for $5 billion less than they pay now. ColoradoCare would slash administrative costs of private insurance and negotiate bulk rates for pharmaceuticals.

The coverage would extend to “anybody who earns income and lives in Colorado,” he said.

The initiative calls for a 21-member governing board from seven regions of the state. Its first members would be appointed by the governor and legislative leaders, but an elected board would succeed them.

Miller said the board could use any excess revenues to pay refunds or enlarge benefits, but it could not raise the payroll tax without voter approval.

Opponents call ColoradoCare a gamble that would send Colorado down a path no other state has tried.

“A single-payer system would destroy our industry. I don’t think there’s any question about it,” said Byron McCurdy, board president of the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters.

He said nearly one-fifth of Colorado jobs are associated with the health care industry.

If the initiative passes, “I think we’d have trouble recruiting physicians,” he said, and some hospitals “are fighting just to survive. The money’s got to come from somewhere.”

The proponents’ numbers are “a little pie-in-the-sky,” he said. “I can’t believe you’d have a better health care system. It just doesn’t compute.”

Colorado Hospital Association spokeswoman Cara Welch said the hospitals have not taken a formal position yet, noting that the initiative just qualified for the ballot.

Rick Ridder, a veteran Colorado campaign consultant, said he expects opponents of the initiative to raise more money, but the biggest spenders don’t always win.

“I think the key piece is whether the proponents are able to communicate the benefits” in comparison with the tax increase, he said. “That’s the crux. If you’re able to communicate the benefits to the citizens, you can win.”

Under the proposed system, people could still choose their medical providers, but the bills would be paid by ColoradoCare instead of private insurance companies.

To pay for state coverage, employers would pay 6.67 percent in payroll taxes and employees would kick in 3.33 percent, for a total of 10 percent of the payroll. Self-employed people would pay 10 percent of their net income. People who qualify for existing federal health programs could continue to receive the same benefits.

If ColoradoCare passes, the state would apply for a waiver from the Affordable Care Act. Colorado would also have the first statewide universal health care system in the country.

“Colorado deserves a better option, and now they can vote on one,” said state Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, a medical doctor who has championed universal health care. “Health care costs continue to rise every year, hurting Coloradans’ chances to get ahead. It’s time we get the insurance industry out of the driver’s seat and put families in charge of their health care.”