How Medicaid cuts would impact Coloradans
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Thornton resident Curtis Wolff credits Medicaid for his ability to work, exercise and keep a social life.
Zoom in: Every day, an attendant spends a combined three hours getting him in and out of bed, something Wolff, who's largely been paralyzed from the neck down since 2012, can't do on his own.
The big picture: As Congress weighs potential budget cuts that will almost certainly include Medicaid rollbacks, Wolff is among the thousands of Coloradans whose health care is in jeopardy.
- The 68-year-old has been on Medicaid since 2013, which provides him with round-the-clock care.
What they're saying: "[Congress] needs to realize the unintended consequences of trying to be more efficient," Wolff tells us.
Why it matters: Providers and recipients say these cuts to the safety net program could upend the lives of roughly 1.2 million Coloradans who rely on the coverage for daily care.
- The cuts could prompt nursing home closures and affect low-income children's ability to get health care.
Context: Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, last week said more than 400,000 residents are at risk of losing health coverage altogether if the Republican bill passes, since work requirements could eliminate coverage.
State of play: U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, joined a discussion last week at Inner City Health in Denver focusing on the federal health insurance program.
- He heard from people working in rural hospitals, Medicaid recipients and disability advocates sharing examples of how losing insurance could lead to worse health outcomes and decimate rural health centers.
Threat level: After the discussion, Hickenlooper told Axios Denver he worries the cuts will lead some Coloradans to bankruptcy. Already, medical debt affects roughly 1 million people in the state, per the Colorado Sun.
The other side: Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents Wolff in Congress in Colorado's 8th Congressional District, has said the proposed budget reductions focus on spending taxpayer money more efficiently and preventing fraud.
The intrigue: Denver Health, the city's safety net hospital, is in limbo over the impact the proposed cuts will have on the hospital where 48% of the nearly 280,000 patients it serves annually rely on federal health insurance.
- CEO Donna Lynne says she can't provide a projection for reimbursements the hospital will lose because the legislation doesn't include specifics.
- Lynne tells us spending losses could lead to service cuts at Denver Health and its satellite locations.
The bottom line: For Wolff, life without Medicaid would mean relying on his partner, a pension fund, Social Security and past investments. But he tells us those will only be temporary.
- After that, options are limited: Make more money, win the lottery or end up at a nursing home, Wolff tells us.