Healthcare Advocates Urge CO Congresspeople to Oppose Medicaid Cuts

DENVER – Today, Protect Our Care Colorado, a coalition of 50 leading healthcare groups and consumer advocates, sent a letter to every member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, strongly urging them to oppose any cuts to Medicaid. In the past week, all Republican members of Colorado’s delegation have supported the proposed Republican budget blueprint that will decimate Medicaid while all Democratic members voted against it.

“… The proposed cuts of at least $880 billion… almost all of which would come from Medicaid, will terminate coverage for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. These cuts cannot be accomplished without stripping coverage from people fighting cancer, older adults in nursing homes, people living with disabilities, veterans, children, low and moderate-income families, and small businesses/entrepreneurs, and will do nothing to control high healthcare costs.

Over 1.1 million Coloradans, nearly 1 in 5, rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. In 60 of 64 counties, over 30% of children are covered through Medicaid/CHP+, and in 14 counties, it is more than 40%. Many older Coloradans rely on Medicaid for nursing or in-home care, with 61% of Coloradans in nursing homes covered by Medicaid.

Overwhelmingly, the people covered by Medicaid who are able to work, do so, with at least 92% of Medicaid enrollees working, living in a nursing facility, living with a disability/illness, attending school, or providing care to a family member. The remaining 8% includes people who are retired or are unable to find employment. Medicaid is the only health coverage program that provides long-term care, services, and supports that help older Coloradans and Coloradans with disabilities live and thrive in their communities.

Medicaid is the most efficient coverage program we have…. Despite the comments we’ve heard from some of our delegation, waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid are very rare. What issues that do happen that are actual fraud are almost entirely on the provider side, not the enrollee side. Recent analysis of the FY 2023 HCFAC report found no beneficiary fraud in the listing.

Many rural health care providers are struggling, including hospitals and clinics. Medicaid cuts will put them at extreme risk of closing their doors in areas where Coloradans have no alternative sources of care. If Congress makes these devastating cuts, our health coverage and care systems will crumble, and that will impact all of your constituents, as access to care disappears and becomes more costly to attain. A large majority of Americans do not support Medicaid cuts.

Medicaid is crucial for the economic stability and growth of Colorado… particularly devastating for rural and small communities, where healthcare facilities and clinics are key employers and economic supports…for every $1 million lost from the federal government for Medicaid, Colorado loses $2.22 million in economic activity and $825,000 in added household earnings… If proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are enacted, Colorado could lose 14,000 jobs in 2026, the state’s gross domestic product could shrink by almost $1.6 billion, and the loss in state and local taxes could be $106 million next year. The loss in state GDP will exceed any federal budget savings while hundreds of thousands of Coloradans lose coverage.

Coloradans should be able to get quality, affordable health care when they need it. Any cuts to Medicaid take us backward from that goal and will harm your constituents and districts. We need health care solutions that actually improve health coverage and help Coloradans afford care, not cuts that leave millions in America without the health care they need.

We strongly urge you to oppose any cuts to Medicaid to protect the care of all Coloradans.”