Medicaid Costs Drive Colorado Budget Growth Again

Colorado Politics is back with another Gold Dome budget story, and it reads like the same movie on repeat: big pressy talk about “revenue,” a lot of finger-pointing at H.R.1, and a budget that still grows because the big-ticket items never stop growing.

The headline is the tell: the Senate is reviewing revisions to the 2025–26 state budget, and Medicaid costs are driving a $776 million increase over what lawmakers approved last session, with $503 million of that coming from additional federal funds, almost all of it for Medicaid. Even after “hundreds of millions” in cuts each round, the state is spending more, and the general fund reserve is being used as the shock absorber.

The Bullet Point Brief

• The budget got “cut” multiple times, but the state still ends up spending $776 million more in 2025–26 than lawmakers approved in the 2025 session, largely because Medicaid costs keep climbing.
• The current year general fund increased by $171 million, including $134 million for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Again: spending expands, then everyone acts surprised.
• JBC members say the extra costs will be paid from the general fund reserve, which drops from $2.4 billion to $1.85 billion, a $615 million hit, to cover those Medicaid increases.
• Sen. Jeff Bridges says out loud what this crowd always circles back to: he’s working on legislation to raise the TABOR limit so the state is not “in this position” in future years. Translation: keep more of your money in Denver.
• Democrats blame H.R.1 for the budget hole, saying it “blew” a $783 million general fund gap and cost $1.2 billion in income tax revenue, with about two-thirds from corporate taxes. Republicans counter that the real issue is reckless spending and a structural deficit warned about years ago.

My Bottom Line

I’ll just keep pointing these out, because it is the same pattern every time. Democrats have fully been in charge for seven years, and you cannot manage a budget on vibes and virtue. But that’s what they’ve tried. And now, for the umpteenth time, they blame H.R.1 and Trump and start talking about “revenue,” which is politician-speak for “we want more of your tax dollars.”

Let’s translate the headline and the quotes into plain English. Medicaid costs are growing, so the budget grows. To cover the growth, they tap reserves. Then they warn you the reserve can’t be used forever. Then they float raising the TABOR cap so they can keep more money going forward. It’s a conveyor belt that always ends in the same place: government gets bigger, and your refund gets smaller.

If they were serious, they would do actual governing. Set priorities. Cut spending. Make reforms that reduce long-term cost growth instead of papering over it with reserves and “revenue” talk. Because once you accept their framing that the problem is “not enough revenue,” you’ve already lost. They will never stop until they can spend without friction.

So yes: CUT SPENDING NOW. Not later. Not after the next press conference. Not after they “study” it. Now.

And why do the normies keep allowing it? Because the language is engineered to lull people. “Budget shortfall.” “Revenue dip.” “Federal fallout.” It all sounds like weather. It’s not weather. It’s choices. And until the Great Suburban Normie starts connecting those choices to their paycheck, their TABOR refund, and their cost of living, the Dome will keep doing what it does best: taking more, spending more, and calling it “compassion.”

Source: Colorado Politics