As the U.S. Senate debates the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — which could cut Medicaid funding by more than $800 billion over the next decade — some politicians, including the 8th Congressional District’s own Rep. Gabe Evans, are trying to spin the massive cuts to Medicaid as somehow beneficial to their constituents. They claim that the cuts are meant to make the program better and dismiss warnings from economists and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office about millions of Americans losing their health care as fearmongering.
Coloradans aren’t buying it. In a new poll released by our team at Healthier Colorado, voters were asked if they think these proposed Medicaid changes are more about improving how the program works or taking money from the program to use for other purposes. A majority of voters statewide and in CD-8 said it was more about taking money for other purposes. They are correct. Instead of improving the program, Congress’s own analysis shows that over 123,000 Coloradans will lose their Medicaid coverage. Instead of making the program more efficient, Colorado’s health care agency anticipates the addition of $57 million in administrative costs for our state’s bureaucracy.
Coloradans see their neighbors and their own families benefitting from Medicaid. One in four Coloradans — and nearly one in three people here in the 8th Congressional District — receive their health care through the program. That’s why a majority of Colorado voters have a positive view of Medicaid, and it’s why 62% of voters in CD-8 want to either keep Medicaid spending where it’s at or increase it. Telling people that you’re helping them by giving them less of something that improves their lives doesn’t make any sense. Coloradans aren’t dummies, and so that pitch isn’t working.
What might be less obvious are the negative ripple effects of these proposed cuts that reach well beyond the people who are enrolled in the program. Fewer people on Medicaid means more uninsured people who are unable to pay for care, which means that health care providers will pass those costs on to people who are covered by health insurance. Whether or not you’re on Medicaid, your health care will become more expensive. Medicaid is also a pillar within the huge health care sector of our economy, and these proposed Medicaid cuts are projected by the Commonwealth Fund to reduce Colorado’s gross domestic product by $936 million.
Medicaid is, refreshingly, not a very partisan issue — half of Republicans and three-quarters of independent voters in CD-8 believe that Medicaid is important for people in their local community. No single political party has all the right answers on the budget or health care, and concerns about the trillions that would be added to our national debt if the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passes have been heard from across the political spectrum. Earlier this year, President Trump proposed raising taxes on individuals making over $2.5 million a year to help fund Medicaid, and this proposal was supported by two in three Coloradans in our poll. This provision did not make it into the current version of the bill, but as the U.S. Senate now considers the legislation, they should heed the bipartisan support of Medicaid among voters, and they should be open to ideas from either party to deliver the health care that Coloradans and Americans sincerely need.
Jake Williams is chief executive officer of Healthier Colorado, a statewide organization focused on raising the voices of Coloradans in the public policy process to improve the health of our state’s residents.
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