{"id":2703921,"date":"2026-11-11T16:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T21:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/colorado-gov-moves-to-gut-health-care-coverage-for-illegal-immigrant-children-amid-spiraling-medicaid-costs\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T16:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T21:32:52","slug":"colorado-gov-moves-to-gut-health-care-coverage-for-illegal-immigrant-children-amid-spiraling-medicaid-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/colorado-gov-moves-to-gut-health-care-coverage-for-illegal-immigrant-children-amid-spiraling-medicaid-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Gov Moves To Gut Health Care Coverage for Illegal Immigrant Children Amid Spiraling Medicaid Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcolorado-gov-moves-to-gut-health-care-coverage-for-illegal-immigrant-children-amid-spiraling-medicaid-costs%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2703921&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Gov. Jared Polis, who backed the 2022 Cover All Coloradans program for undocumented children and pregnant people, has proposed major Medicaid cuts in his final budget &#8211; including replacing that program with the Primary Care fund. The plan would end children&#8217;s comprehensive coverage while preserving maternity care, redirect about $10 million, and is part of roughly $600 million in Medicaid reductions to address a projected $1.6 billion shortfall. Progressive groups criticized the move, underscoring splits in Colorado Democrats; the legislature\u2019s budget committee and governor\u2011elect Phil Weiser could still change the proposal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><h2>Left-wing groups panned Jared Polis&#8217;s &#8216;draconian cuts&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tJared Polis (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Colorado Democrats and immigration activists cheered after Gov. Jared Polis (D.) signed a signature 2022 health care law providing coverage to children and &#8220;pregnant persons&#8221; living in the United States illegally. Four years later, Polis, now a lame duck, is calling to gut the Cover All Coloradans program in his final budget proposal in an attempt to address the state&#8217;s spiraling Medicaid costs, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/antifa-blm-vandalize-ice-building-burn-original-starbucks\/\" title=\"Antifa, BLM vandalize ICE building, burn original Starbucks\">left-wing groups<\/a> aren&#8217;t happy.<\/p>\n<p>Polis released his budget on the eve of the midterm elections\u2014one day after the legally mandated deadline to do so\u2014and <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/2026\/11\/02\/jared-polis-november-budget-proposal-2027-2028-medicaid-cuts\/\" target=\"_blank\">proposed $600 million in state Medicaid cuts<\/a>. He <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradonewsline.com\/2026\/11\/02\/polis-final-budget-colorado\/\" target=\"_blank\">called<\/a> Medicaid&#8217;s growth &#8220;unsustainable&#8221; and told reporters it was on track to &#8220;crowd out everything else, including education.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Buried in the <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1gUpBVO3zug3CGbHr9AmZPAbfDb3HWgau\/view\" target=\"_blank\">proposal<\/a> is a section calling to &#8220;replace Cover All Coloradans&#8221; by redirecting funds to a separate program, the Primary Care Fund, which offers financial assistance to low-income, uninsured residents for health care. Illegal immigrant children are eligible for that benefit but would lose the comprehensive insurance plan provided by Cover All Coloradans. A <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1kfSpyUqHWtyuEKw5248AEgNXA7NCHNtY\/view\" target=\"_blank\">fact sheet<\/a> notes that Polis aims &#8220;to end Cover All Coloradans coverage for children,&#8221; but &#8220;coverage for pregnant and postpartum adults would continue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Polis&#8217;s budget would strip some $10 million from Cover All Coloradans, with about half of that going to the Primary Care Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Liberal groups widely panned Polis for proposing reductions to Colorado&#8217;s Medicaid program. The Colorado Center on Law and Policy <a href=\"https:\/\/copolicy.org\/news\/press-release-governors-draconian-budget-cuts-highlight-urgent-need-for-state-income-tax-reform\/\" target=\"_blank\">accused<\/a> him of proposing &#8220;draconian budget cuts,&#8221; while Colorado Consumer Health Initiative deputy director Adam Fox <a href=\"https:\/\/cohealthinitiative.org\/media-releases\/13947\/\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> Polis &#8220;is now proposing more cuts to lifesaving programs rather than supporting a viable solution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Polis&#8217;s call to gut a top left-wing priority reflects a &#8220;growing divide in Colorado&#8217;s Democratic Party&#8221; amid the looming budget crisis, said Nash Herman, a policy analyst with the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because Governor Polis is a lame duck Governor, he is finally starting to stand up to the progressive wing of his party,&#8221; he told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>. Herman said it was easy for Polis to support programs like Cover All Coloradans while the state was flush with cash and the governor needed to make political deals, but &#8220;the problem with appeasing the progressive wing of his party is that it will never be enough, and I think he now realizes that the state went too far.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cover All Coloradans passed along party lines in 2022 with support from leadership in both chambers, including incoming speaker of the House Jennifer Bacon, a left-wing Democrat. While signing the bill creating the program, among others, Polis <a href=\"https:\/\/governorsoffice.colorado.gov\/news\/8191-governor-polis-signing-bills-save-coloradans-money-cut-red-tape-improve-public-safety-and\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>, &#8220;We are truly meeting the needs of the moment and building a Colorado for All.&#8221; One sponsor, then-state representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, called it &#8220;life-changing for undocumented children and pregnant people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Even as Colorado faced a $1.5 billion budget shortfall in the spring\u2014and after the program&#8217;s costs soared to nearly $105 million as illegal immigrants poured into the state, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/colorados-free-health-care-program-for-illegal-immigrant-pregnant-persons-and-children-backed-by-dem-congressional-hopefuls-costs-seven-times-more-than-planned\/\" target=\"_blank\">seven times more than the state expected<\/a>\u2014Democrats managed to keep Cover All Coloradans on the books, albeit with benefit reductions and enrollment caps. Polis signed off on that arrangement, which was included in this year&#8217;s budget bill, in May. Just a few months later, he was backpedaling on his support for the program.        <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Polis appears to recognize the risk of more severe cuts in the future if this isn&#8217;t addressed now, and since he is not up for reelection, he is more willing to put up with the backlash for the sake of the economy and budget,&#8221; said Herman.<\/p>\n<p>The brewing fight mirrors the one emerging in Washington, D.C. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/playbook\/2026\/11\/09\/between-the-bloc-and-a-hard-place-01156208\" target=\"_blank\">Incoming socialists<\/a> in the House of Representatives, including Colorado Democrat Melat Kiros, have refused to back House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) for speaker of the House, while Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is losing support to left-wing Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) in his bid for Senate majority leader.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado legislature&#8217;s six-member Joint Budget Committee, which develops the budget, can choose to fully ignore Polis&#8217;s proposal, as well as any recommendations by governor-elect Phil Weiser (D.) after his January 12 inauguration. The panel typically develops the budget in late March or early April and sends it to the full legislature shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, with supermajorities in both chambers, will need to find a way to close an estimated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denver7.com\/news\/politics\/gov-polis-presents-final-budget-proposal-for-2027-28-ahead-of-projected-1-6-billion-deficit\" target=\"_blank\">$1.6 billion shortfall<\/a>. Medicaid spending is projected to grow by 15 percent\u2014Polis&#8217;s proposal reduced that to 4.3 percent. State health care spending doubled between 2015 and 2025 and is expected to take up 41 percent of the 2027 budget, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/commonsenseinstituteus.org\/research\/what-colorados-health-plans-cover-medicaid-and-private-insurance\/\" target=\"_blank\">analysis<\/a> by the right-leaning Common Sense Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Weiser <a href=\"https:\/\/coloradonewsline.com\/2026\/11\/04\/colorado-gov-elect-phil-weiser-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\">punted<\/a> on Polis&#8217;s proposal and said he is waiting for recommendations from an ongoing Medicaid commission that is studying the program&#8217;s growth. None of the Democrats on the Joint Budget Committee have weighed in, but when Polis recommended $537 million in Medicaid cuts last year, state senator Judy Amabile (D.) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denver7.com\/news\/politics\/gov-polis-presents-budget-to-lawmakers-focuses-on-proposal-that-would-cut-medicaid-programs\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> her concern &#8220;is that we are impacting our most vulnerable populations in the state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who once backed a 2022 health-care law that extended coverage to undocumented children and pregnant people, is now proposing major Medicaid cuts in his final budget. As a lame-duck governor, he wants to gut the Cover All Coloradans program by redirecting funds to a separate Primary Care Fund, saving money but shrinking comprehensive coverage for children. The plan would cut about $10 million from Cover All Coloradans, with roughly half of that redirected to the Primary Care Fund; pregnant and postpartum adults would keep their coverage, but undocumented children would lose the broader insurance the program provided.<\/p>\n<p>Liberal groups quickly condemned the move as draconian, arguing it slashes lifesaving aid and reflects a growing rift within Colorado\u2019s Democratic Party amid a looming budget shortfall. Supporters of Cover All Coloradans recall Polis\u2019s 2022 sign\u2011off on the program, which had passed with party\u2011line backing and wide applause from left groups. Polis\u2019s current stance marks a shift, with observers suggesting his lack of re-election risk affords him more willingness to confront progressive priorities for the sake of the state\u2019s economy and budget.<\/p>\n<p>The Joint Budget Committee-part of the six-member panel that shapes the state budget-could ignore Polis\u2019s proposal once the incoming governor, Phil Weiser, takes office in January. The state faces an estimated $1.6 billion shortfall, and Medicaid spending is projected to grow far more slowly under Polis\u2019s plan (4.3% versus an expected 15% otherwise). Health-care costs have been rising and are projected to take a growing share of the budget, a trend some analysts say will require ongoing review by a Medicaid commission. Democrats who previously voiced concerns about the impact on vulnerable populations cautioned against cuts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4472,"featured_media":2703922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2024-democratic-national-convention-day-3-3-scaled-e1794428024485.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6024,4606,3813,11975,72865],"class_list":["post-2703921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-healthcare","tag-immigration","tag-medicaid","tag-state-politics-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2024-democratic-national-convention-day-3-3-scaled-e1794428024485.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4472"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2703921"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2703925,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703921\/revisions\/2703925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2703922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2703921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2703921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2703921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}