Polis Slashes Medicaid Care, Protects Medicaid Ideology

The Denver Post reports that nearly one-third of Gov. Jared Polis’ new budget cuts – about $79 million – are hitting Medicaid. Facing a $249 million budget hole after the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” blew a crater in state finances, Polis swung the ax on rate increases for providers, autism services, dental reimbursements, and a host of other programs. So the people who actually provide the services won’t see any more. That’s a real incentive for them to provide services, right?!

Among the cuts: $38 million from rolling back provider raises, $7 million from tighter autism billing reviews, and $6 million from requiring prior authorization for psychotherapy beyond 24 visits a year. There’s also $131,000 gone from ads promoting “Cover All Coloradans” – the Medicaid-like coverage for undocumented immigrants. Notice: they’re not cutting the benefits for illegals, just the advertising of this virtue-signaling program. Priorities.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Polis needed to close a $249 million shortfall; Medicaid took a $79 million hit – the single largest source of cuts.
• Providers lose most of their long-promised raise, leaving Denver Health down $5 million and looking at deferred maintenance.
• Smaller cuts hit autism care, psychotherapy sessions, dental reimbursements, nursing homes, and family caregiver pay.
• Hospitals and dentists warn this adds pain to an already strained system, with inflation and federal cuts looming.
• Polis left sacred cows untouched: coverage for undocumented immigrants, gender surgeries, elective abortions, doulas, and “navigators.” He cut ads, not ideology.

My Bottom Line

Of course Medicaid got the chop – it’s the fattest line in the budget. But here’s the kicker: Polis didn’t actually strike at the fat. He went after scraps while the ideological buffet stayed untouched. I addressed all that fat in an earlier article HERE.

Colorado’s Medicaid is no longer a safety net; it’s a progressive playground – taxpayer-funded gender surgeries, no-limit abortions, doulas, housing “navigators,” and now cradle-to-grave coverage for people here illegally. This isn’t medicine; it’s a woke wish list dressed up as health care.

So what did Polis cut? He axed rate hikes for hospitals already on life support, nickel-and-dimed autism services, and pulled $131,000 in ads for illegal immigrant coverage – while leaving the illegal immigrant coverage itself untouched. Translation: patients and providers lose, ideology wins.

Colorado can’t afford this vanity project. If lawmakers were serious, they’d gut the Medicaid virtue-signaling – “Cover All Coloradans,” gender ideology surgeries, elective abortion funding – not hospital reimbursements. Return Medicaid to its original mission – helping those most in need. But this is Colorado under Democrats: cut the care, keep the crusade.