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Colorado Could Lose $1 Billion Annually from Proposed Medicaid Cuts

WITH MEDICAID CUTS | Adults and children would be affected. (Photo/CNC)

ADULTS, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT RISK

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Colorado could face severe fiscal consequences if the proposed federal Medicaid cuts are approved. According to a report published by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a budget resolution advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives would slash federal Medicaid spending by $880 billion over the next decade—an average of $88 billion per year.

Colorado would lose approximately $1 billion annually in federal funding for this program. Medicaid is jointly funded by the federal government and the states, but it is managed by individual states. In Colorado, Medicaid represents a significant portion of the state budget and provides health coverage to hundreds of thousands of people, including low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Potential Cuts to Education Funding

The KFF report puts these cuts into perspective. For Colorado, a $1 billion annual reduction would amount to 24% of the state’s per capita Medicaid spending. This would force the state to make difficult choices to meet the needs of those relying on Medicaid benefits. Possible measures include raising taxes, cutting essential programs like education, or reducing Medicaid coverage and benefits.

Another option discussed in the analysis is to offset the Medicaid cuts using funds currently allocated to education. In this scenario, the federal reductions would represent 19% of Colorado’s per-student spending in the K-12 public school system, directly impacting the quality of public education. If the state fails to make up for the lost funding, the impact on health coverage would be significant.

According to the report, the proposed cuts would be equivalent to eliminating coverage for 31,000 elderly or disabled adults, 160,000 working-age adults, and 318,000 children in Colorado. While it’s unlikely that coverage losses would be exactly this large, the numbers illustrate the scale of the threat. The proposed cuts stem from the budget resolution passed by the House.

Avoiding Cuts to Medicare

The resolution instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee to reduce the federal deficit without affecting Medicare. As a result, Medicaid becomes the most viable target for achieving the required budget savings, raising concerns among state officials and social program advocates. The KFF report also highlights a nationwide proposed cut of 16% to federal Medicaid funding.

In human terms, this national reduction is equivalent to the entire annual healthcare coverage for 3 million seniors or people with disabilities, 14 million adults, or 22 million children. While no specific policies have been finalized yet, the scenario projected by KFF raises alarms about the potential impact these decisions could have on the lives of thousands of Colorado residents.