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Federal Government Requires Colorado to Share Medicaid Data With Homeland Security
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Federal Government Requires Colorado to Share Medicaid Data With Homeland Security

By Bente Birkeland and John Daley | Colorado Public Radio In January, the state’s flagship safety net hospital, Denver Health, distributed a one-page notice about patient privacy that carried groundshaking implications, especially for Colorado’s immigrant population. The notice stated that due to federal changes within Medicaid, the federal-state program for hundreds of thousands of low-income and disabled Americans, “limited” personal information could be shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Denver Health said the information applied only to people who are not lawfully residing in the U.S and are enrolled in a program called Emergency Medicaid or pregnant and enrolled in Medicaid through Cover All Coloradans. But if a person is in one of those groups,...
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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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FRAUD ALERT: Millions of People in Zero Premium Obamacare Plans May Have Never Signed Up
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Just The News, Approved, National

FRAUD ALERT: Millions of People in Zero Premium Obamacare Plans May Have Never Signed Up

By Amanda Head | Just The News Obamacare abused by brokers to sign up millions for healthcare without their consent or knowledge. As a result, insurance companies reaped windfall profits, at the expense of taxpayers. In exchange for gift cards, millions of Americans were unwittingly signed up for Obamacare by brokers who scalped their vital information and enrolled them in plans where premiums were paid by the American people, a research group says.   "The government was sending massive checks to insurance companies who were making windfall profits on behalf of people who didn't use any health care," Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, a healthcare policy group told Just The News. A 2021-2022 expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidie...
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Runaway Medicaid Spending Forces Colorado Toward Hard Choices
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Runaway Medicaid Spending Forces Colorado Toward Hard Choices

By: Nash Herman | Commentary, Complete Colorado The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC) recently held a hearing with the Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing (HCPF), the Governor’s office, and Manatt, a healthcare consulting firm, to address the unsustainable growth of Colorado’s Medicaid spending. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the hearing. Runaway spending According to HCPF and the Governor’s office, General Fund spending on Medicaid increased at an average rate of 6 percent from fiscal year 2015-16 to fiscal year 2018-19. However, after the federal government windfall from COVID, General Fund spending blew up, growing at an average rate of 19 percent from fiscal year 2021-22 to fiscal year 2024-25. Health c...
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Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says he has an ambitious agenda for his final year in office. He's been full throttle since he was elected governor seven years ago, leading the state through COVID-19, two school shootings, and four of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history. "It's hard to sprint. You sprint for 8 years, and that's always the way we've approached it. Our team -- we say we're running through the tape. We're running through the tape here," he said. As he nears the finish line, he is not only focused on the state budget and issues like affordable housing, but also which state prisoners should receive clemency. Among those who have asked the governor for a reduced sentence is former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peter...
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Colorado Taxpayers Miss Out on TABOR Refunds Under Polis Budget Plan
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Taxpayers Miss Out on TABOR Refunds Under Polis Budget Plan

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis on Friday submitted revised budget requests for the next two fiscal years, calling for new public safety spending, changes to Medicaid growth, and renewed efforts to privatize Pinnacol Assurance. Notably, the governor said Colorado residents won’t get refunds from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). “We are focused on protecting the issues that Coloradans care most about – education, access to health care and safety — while delivering a balanced budget for Colorado,” he said. “In this difficult budget environment, we are doing everything we can to deliver the best possible results for Colorado and know that the Joint Budget Committee will have challenging decisions to make in the months ahead. We look forwar...
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Colorado Hospitals Halt Gender Treatments for Minors After Federal Warning
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TownHall.com, Approved, State

Colorado Hospitals Halt Gender Treatments for Minors After Federal Warning

By: Amy Curtis | Townhall On December 18, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced new and sweeping regulatory changes that would bring an end to "gender-affirming care" for minors. This includes a ban on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures for those under 18 years of age. The reforms mean that hospitals that continue to provide such "gender-affirming care" to children would be stripped of all federal funding as a condition of their participation in Medicare/Medicaid programs. In his announcement, Kennedy said, "Doctors assume a solemn obligation to protect children. Yet doctors across the country now provide needless and irreversible sex-rejecting procedures that violate their sacred Hippocratic oath, endangering t...
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Colorado’s Budget Is Bigger Than Ever. Health Care Is Why.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Budget Is Bigger Than Ever. Health Care Is Why.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s state budget is larger than it used to be. That much isn’t disputed. What has changed over the last twenty years is where that growth landed. The Common Sense Institute’s “Colorado Budget: Then and Now” (December 2025) Colorado’s state budget has grown faster than population and inflation since the mid-2000s. The shift wasn’t sudden. It accumulated, year by year, across multiple budgets and multiple administrations. The increase shows up clearly in the numbers. In the mid-2000s, state spending worked out to a little under $5,600 per person once population and inflation were accounted for. It didn’t stay there. Year by year, the number crept higher. It now sits above $7,300. The increase...
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Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Minnesota’s Medicaid Scandal Shows Why Colorado Must Tighten the Guardrails

By Cory Gaines | Complete Colorado To say Minnesota has had some fraud going on is an understatement. I don’t know that I’ve seen it mentioned much in local media, but it’s a big national story. Colorado should beware taking its turn in this barrel. First, some brief background. Minnesota sought (and received) Medicaid waivers during COVID to use taxpayer dollars to fund things like subsidized housing for recipients, which ended up an impetus for massive fraud. An MPR News article gives some context, but the sheer size of the numbers are what really popped out to me: “According to the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, DHS [Minnesota Department of Housing Stabilization] had initially predicted the housing stabilization program would cost about $2.6 mill...
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