Colorado Program For Immigrant Children And Pregnant Women Blows Past Cost Estimates By 611%

By Jesse Paul and John Ingold | The Colorado Sun

roviding health care to children and pregnant people who would qualify for Medicaid if not for their immigration status will cost Colorado more than six times what was projected this year. 

Because of higher-than-forecast enrollment, the state is expecting that the Cover All Coloradans program will cost the state $104.5 million in the fiscal year that began July 1. When Democratic state lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 launching the health insurance safety net initiative, nonpartisan fiscal analysts estimated the price tag would be $14.7 million for 2025-26. 

That 611% cost-over-projections is now causing a major headache for the legislature as it tries to address a $1 billion gap between what it costs to continue offering the level of state programs and services and how much is available to spend. A major cause of the shortfall is programs, like Cover All Coloradans, that the Democratic majority at the Capitol created in recent years. 

“At the time we made budget decisions — whether it was during the pandemic, following the pandemic — we made those decisions based on the forecasts in front of us,” said House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat who approved much of the spending when she was a state budget writer. “There have been unanticipated impacts.”

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