The Colorado Politics article, “Colorado Health Regulations Cost $858 Million Each Year” by Marissa Ventrelli, exposes the price tag of the state’s bloated healthcare bureaucracy. Published on July 25, 2025, it covers a hush-hush “informal meeting” at the Capitol, where lawmakers pre-gamed a special session about Medicaid, SNAP, and ACA changes that will soon hammer the state’s budget. While the feds gut their share of the Medicaid buffet, Colorado is left babysitting the bill. And those “affordability” regulations? They are bleeding $858 million annually. You read that right. Not billion. Not lifetime. Every damn year.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Secret Handshake Meetings Are Back!
Senate Democrats skipped the livestream and press invites for this “informal” meeting. Because nothing screams transparency like backroom hand-wringing with lobbyists in tow. - $858 Million in Regulatory Red Tape
Colorado’s healthcare industry gets walloped by nearly a billion bucks in annual costs from state regulations. Because nothing says “accessible care” like drowning hospitals in paperwork. - Special Session: Budget Hole Bingo
With a $700 million deficit looming, the state is prepping for a special session that is shaping up to be more about revenue grabs than reform. Spoiler alert: they are not talking about cutting spending. - Medicaid Explosion and Ideological Inflation
Between illegal immigrant coverage and “gender affirming care on demand,” Medicaid’s costs are skyrocketing like a SpaceX launch without a plan to land the damn thing. - Government: Still Ruining Everything It Touches
Regulations pile up, spending surges, dead people still on Medicaid rolls. Yet somehow the solution is always more government, not less.
My Bottom Line
Let’s get one thing straight. If you slapped the word “affordable” on a flaming dumpster fire, Colorado would still find a way to subsidize it, regulate it, and blame the shortfall on TABOR. These performative “informal meetings” are political dress rehearsals for a full-scale money grab. The same lawmakers who ballooned Medicaid by handing out benefits like candy at a parade now act shocked when the bills come due. Maybe instead of blaming the taxpayer protections of TABOR, they could look in the mirror or better yet, the damn budget line for CHASE or illegal immigrant services.
