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Colorado Legislators To Receive Raises During $1.5 Billion Budget Crisis
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Legislators To Receive Raises During $1.5 Billion Budget Crisis

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Colorado’s $1.5 billion budget deficit is driving widespread cuts across state services, including reduced reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers and steep income losses for families caring for relatives with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, as those reductions take effect, an automatic pay increase for state lawmakers — triggered by a 2024 change in law — remains scheduled to begin in 2027. When Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1333 on Monday, the measure included a salary increase for legislators. The bill does not reference this pay raise directly, nor is it mentioned in either of the bill’s fiscal analyses. The increased salary, along with higher per diem and mileage rates, is expe...
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Report Finds Millions In Improper Payments At Unregulated Colorado Autism Centers
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Report Finds Millions In Improper Payments At Unregulated Colorado Autism Centers

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado A new report by the Colorado Department of Human Services says a lack of oversight at facilities that provide therapy for kids with autism has resulted in dozens of complaints of child abuse. It comes after a federal audit found the state Medicaid program made at least $78 million in improper payments to the facilities, some of which are owned by private equity firms that the state agency overseeing Medicaid says have exploited the lack of regulations to maximize revenue. Pam Bisceglia has dedicated her life to improving the lives of people with disabilities as Executive Director of Advocacy Denver and parent of a daughter with autism. She says the facilities sprang up across Colorado when the state and federal government began requi...
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While Colorado cuts care for its most vulnerable, it continues funding undocumented children in a $96 million program
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

While Colorado cuts care for its most vulnerable, it continues funding undocumented children in a $96 million program

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice “This is selfish.” That’s how Jon Caldara opened his April 1 column, writing not about politics, but about his son. He leads Denver’s Independence Institute and has long been a free-market voice in Colorado. "My son, Chance, has Down syndrome," Caldara shared. "This 21-year-old man cannot consistently count to five, can't read and can't write his own name. He needs constant supervision for choking risks. He still needs help toileting. And that's just the start." Medicaid, Caldara wrote, "was designed for people like him, our most vulnerable. And I am grateful for it. This is the funding he requires to live." The Colorado legislature is in the process of cutting it — not because the state determined Chance and people...
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Colorado Medicaid Crunch Leaves The Most Vulnerable Disabled Residents Facing Deep Cuts
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Medicaid Crunch Leaves The Most Vulnerable Disabled Residents Facing Deep Cuts

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado This is a selfish column. The legislature is about to hurt my disabled son. My son, Chance, has Down syndrome and a few years ago would have been labeled “retarded.” Then “developmentally delayed.” Now the hypersensitive prefer “intellectually disabled.” Whatever the term is this week, the reality hasn’t changed. This 21-year-old man cannot consistently count to five, can’t read and can’t write his own name. He needs constant supervision for choking risks. He still needs help toileting. And that’s just the start. Medicaid was designed for people like him, our most vulnerable. And I am grateful for it. In between passing laws barring misgendering and expanding tax credits to buy electric bicycles, the s...
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Federal Audit Finds Colorado Misspent $78 Million On Autism Therapy
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Federal Audit Finds Colorado Misspent $78 Million On Autism Therapy

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun The state must repay the federal government $42.6 million after “questionable billing patterns.” Colorado made at least $77.8 million in improper payments for Medicaid services for children with autism and must refund the federal government $42.6 million, federal officials said Monday.  Auditors at the federal Office of the Inspector General found the state Medicaid program has been improperly covering care by uncredentialed behavioral technicians for children with autism, among other billing discrepancies.  The audit released Monday comes as the state is already dealing with a $1 billion budget shortfall and cuts to Medicaid benefits that have affected multiple programs for people with low incomes and disabi...
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Budget Crunch Drives Colorado Medicaid Board To Approve New Caps On Disability Services
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Budget Crunch Drives Colorado Medicaid Board To Approve New Caps On Disability Services

By Jennifer Brown | The Colorado Sun Medicaid benefits that pay for people with disabilities to go on community outings and cover household cleaning, cooking and laundry are the latest services facing cuts as Colorado deals with a major budget shortage.  A governor-appointed board that sets rules for the state Medicaid program voted 6-1 Friday to preliminarily approve the cuts, despite rejecting other cuts requested by Medicaid officials this year.  The federal-state health insurance program will save $1.2 million in state money this year and $10 million next year by placing stricter caps on the number of hours that caregivers are paid to take people on outings through a benefit called “community connector.” Capping the hours allowed for “homemaker” services,...
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Colorado Budget Panel Halts Proposed Medicaid Pay Reductions for Family Caregivers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Budget Panel Halts Proposed Medicaid Pay Reductions for Family Caregivers

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The Colorado General Assembly’s budget decision-makers have put proposed pay cuts on hold for people who care for a family member with a disability who receives Medicaid. The Joint Budget Committee made the decision after hours of testimony from family caregivers and several advocates. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has been struggling to manage a substantial spike in Medicaid spending, which accounts for about one-third of the state’s budget, even as Colorado faces a $1 billion budget deficit. Members of the JBC earlier expressed concerns with Gov. Jared Polis’ proposal last November on how to plug that deficit, which included a plan to fund Medicaid below its projected growth. “This isn’t a tr...
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Medicaid Cuts For Disabled Coloradans Advance Without Board Approval
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Medicaid Cuts For Disabled Coloradans Advance Without Board Approval

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun State Medicaid officials said they have authority to continue with the plan through an executive order from Gov. Jared Polis and that they will ask again for board approval. When it came time for any of the Colorado Medical Services Board members to make a motion, there was only dead silence.  For two hours, the 11-member board that governs the state Medicaid program heard pleas from parents who provide round-the-clock care of their adult children with severe disabilities. And when the testimony was over, no one on the board would make a motion that would result in cuts to the parents’ monthly pay. The request from Medicaid officials for an emergency rule change that means a 10% pay cut for families of Colorado’s most vul...
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Advocates Urge State Leaders To Protect Vulnerable Residents From Budget Reductions
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Advocates Urge State Leaders To Protect Vulnerable Residents From Budget Reductions

By: Colette Bordelon | Denver7 For the second year in a row, Colorado is staring down a daunting budget deficit — and the governor believes cuts to Medicaid are one solution to balancing the budget. DENVER — With a budget deficit looming over the State of Colorado next year, one program in particular is under the microscope: Medicaid. A special session tackled some of the anticipated $1.2 billion budget shortfall, which was created in part by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). As a result, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fund. Around $300 million that...
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