In his latest state budget request, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis proposed cutting more than $600 million in planned Medicaid spending, saying the state simply can’t afford to continue paying so much for health care.
Polis released his annual budget proposal in a letter to the House Joint Budget Committee on Sunday, then presented it to reporters at a news conference Monday, where he pushed back on the idea that he was cutting health care spending.
“Let no one say that – in any way – this budget reduces health care funding,” Polis said. “It actually increases it.”
In fact, Polis is proposing a $250 million increase in the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing’s general budget — but it’s not enough to continue funding the program’s existing services, which would have to be significantly reduced to meet Polis’ funding goal.
Earlier this year, program officials warned that their latest projections showed costs would increase by more than $900 million in next year’s budget, which begins July 1, unless lawmakers make significant cuts in services provided by Medicaid to low-income households and people with disabilities.
In Colorado, the governor’s budget recommendation is just that: a suggestion that lawmakers can accept or reject when the JBC writes the budget in the coming months. And as Polis left office in January after two terms, his request for the 2027-2028 fiscal year — which is still due Nov. 1 — may have even less influence than usual at the state Capitol.
Polis’ budget calls for roughly $300 million in cuts, including eliminating dental coverage for adults and seniors, in-home physical therapy and Cover All Coloradans, the program that extends health care to immigrant children and pregnant women living in the United States without legal authorization.
It would also reduce payments to teaching hospitals with medical residency programs, eliminate some funding for pediatric hospitals and restore prior authorization requirements for behavioral health services.
Polis’ Medicaid budget also relies on more than $300 million in additional unspecified cuts that his letter said will be identified later, but he insisted he had no plans to exclude people from the federal program, which provides health insurance to about 1 in 5 Coloradans.
“That’s not what this is about,” he said. “It has to be there for those who need it. »
Polis said he hopes the next governor will share his values and accept that Medicaid spending needs to be reduced to avoid deeper cuts in other services.
“If the governor doesn’t align Medicaid spending with growth, then there will be cuts to K-12 or higher education, so those would certainly be good questions to ask the next governor-elect,” Polis said. “But I believe they would share the values of funding our schools, not excluding people from Medicaid and ensuring that we have a sustainable path forward.”
Polis’ replacement, who will be elected on Tuesday, will be sworn in on January 12. The JBC begins its work on the budget later this month, and Polis said it will present an updated budget request in early January. The January update will take into account the results of several November ballot measures that could dramatically change the state’s fiscal outlook if enacted.
Polis proposes limiting health care spending growth to 4.3 percent, a target that would match the extent to which the state is allowed to increase spending under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The constitutional amendment known as TABOR limits state revenue to the combined rate of consumer inflation and population growth.
Medicaid has long been inconsistent with this limit. Since 1994, the first year the TABOR spending cap took effect, the state health budget has increased by 828 percent. The cap has only increased 271% over the same period, necessitating cuts to education and other services.
The proposal received a frosty reception from health care advocates, who chastised Polis for supporting Medicaid cuts while opposing progressive Democrats’ preferred solution: Amendment 87 proposes tax hikes on the wealthy.
“The budget cuts suggested by Governor Polis endanger the health of vulnerable Coloradans and worsen an already worsening affordability crisis,” Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, said in a statement. “Budget cuts are not a solution for Coloradans who struggle to afford health care or other basic necessities.”
Here are some other highlights from the governor’s budget proposal:
- Polis said he wants to continue investing in the state’s new school funding formula, increasing per-pupil funding by $488. The formula is in its second year of its seven-year phase-in period.
- The budget calls for the reopening of a closed private prison, the Huerfano County Correctional Center.
- Polis also proposed ballot measures to raise more than $200 million from tobacco and gambling taxes to fund preschool and child care programs.
Gn headline
