21,000 undocumented Coloradans could lose Medicaid coverage under Trump tax bill

More than undocumented people in Colorado could lose Medicaid coverage if the Republicans bill to extend tax cuts makes it through the final gauntlet in Congress H R the statute formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has a provision that would penalize states such as Colorado that use their own funds to cover undocumented people Colorado covers any undocumented children who sign up for Medicaid but restricts coverage for adults to pregnant and postpartum women The bill would reduce the federal administration s share of the costs for what s known as the expansion population adult citizens who earn up to of the poverty line and don t qualify for Medicaid because of pregnancy or a disability from to forcing states to either come up with millions to cover that population or to stop insuring undocumented people Colorado could lose about million in federal funding annually if the federal authorities reduced its share Gov Jared Polis revealed The state faces a million budget hole next year and in recent months released it would lay off people in the soundness department if it couldn t regain a million federal grant meaning it would be fiscally almost impossible to accept a loss of hundreds of millions even if lawmakers want to continue covering undocumented people The Congressional Budget Office estimated about million people would lose coverage and the federal governing body would spend about trillion less on robustness insurance programs if the bill passes in its current form with the vast majority of cuts coming from Medicaid At the same time the bill would increase the deficit by about trillion because of tax cuts and increased spending on other priorities The House and Senate passed different versions with deeper cuts in the Senate Either the House can accept the Senate s version or a negotiating committee can come up with a compromise bill that both chambers will put to a vote President Donald Trump has revealed he wants the bill enacting much of his procedures agenda on his desk by Friday The Colorado Department of Robustness Care Framework and Financing shared undocumented people had Medicaid coverage as of June More than three-quarters were children with the rest qualifying because they were pregnant or in the postpartum period A department spokesman explained they will release the cost of insuring the group in July or August after compiling numbers from the fiscal year that ended June The bill in Congress also would narrow the group of immigrants with legal status who can receive tax credits to purchase wellness insurance on the federal marketplace Federal law prohibits low-income immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid if they ve lived in the country for less than five years but has allowed them to qualify for subsidies to buy insurance Only permanent residents those with so-called green cards certain Cuban and Haitian immigrants and people from countries in the Compact of Free Association such as Palau and the Marshall Islands would qualify The Trump administration also publicized on June that it would no longer allow undocumented people who entered the country as children or Dreamers to purchase coverage on the marketplace Connect for Wellbeing Colorado estimated that about people in the state would likely lose marketplace coverage if the bill passes They wouldn t qualify for any programs offering insurance but could receive several help through a state law requiring hospitals to offer discounted care to people with low incomes or through limited programs covering services such as family planning a spokeswoman revealed Three of Colorado s four Republican members of Congress Rep Gabe Evans Rep Lauren Boebert and Rep Jeff Crank signed a letter to Polis urging the state to end its coverage of undocumented people Rep Jeff Hurd a Republican who represents much of western and southern Colorado was the exception In the letter they announced that covering undocumented people would take benefits from those who need it bulk especially if the bill in Congress reduces federal payments to the state We stand united in the common cause of protecting Medicaid for generations to come by ensuring only lawful beneficiaries can access this critical plan the letter declared Most of Medicaid services are mandated by law meaning the state has no choice but to pay for care that children pregnant women and other qualifying people need even if it would prefer to redirect that money The the majority considerable exception is waiver services provided to help people with disabilities stay in their homes Raquel Lane-Arellano communications manager at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition commented taking coverage from immigrants is short-sighted especially since all states have to cover care for undocumented people through crisis Medicaid That project pays for labor and delivery dialysis for people with end-stage kidney sickness and emergencies that could kill someone or cause them to lose a limb For example if an undocumented woman with a low income arrived at a hospital in labor exigency Medicaid would cover the delivery but not any follow-up care she might need The baby would be eligible for full Medicaid coverage having been born in the United States Covering a delivery but not the prenatal care needed to give a baby the best chance of being healthy doesn t make sense Lane-Arellano announced Undocumented people do pivotal jobs which they won t be able to do if they get sick from lack of care she noted We know that preventive care is the most of effective way to cover our communities and to take that away seems cruel she disclosed Dr P J Parmar who runs a clinic primarily treating refugees at Mango House in Aurora reported he worries less about the state dropping undocumented people from coverage than about overall budget cuts to Medicaid Refugees qualify for Medicaid without the five-year waiting period and relatively sparse undocumented people have the wherewithal to get through the process of signing up for Medicaid or the individual marketplace he stated Though Colorado tries and gets points for trying we don t cover a multitude of undocumented people he declared Physician assistant Ambar Solis-Fuentes left exams Mariana Reyes Velazquez at Tepeyac Public Wellness Center in Denver on Wednesday July Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Related Articles The big beautiful bill is ugly for Coloradans fitness opinion Here s how millions of people could lose physical condition insurance if Trump s tax bill becomes law Colorado administrators blast Republican Senate tax bill as final passage and Medicaid cuts loom Colorado sues federal medical agency to stop sharing of Medicaid input with ICE Senate passes Trump s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill as Vance breaks - tie Jim Garcia CEO of Tepeyac Neighborhood Physical condition Center in Denver s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood reported he doesn t know how a multitude of patients might become uninsured because they don t ask about immigration status when providing care But any reduction in Medicaid revenue would be a concern he reported The organization had to lay off curative and dental providers at the end of the COVID- masses soundness urgency when about people lost Medicaid coverage Selected have regained it since Tepeyac is trying to bring in more patients with private insurance and to attract more philanthropists interested in wellness care for low-income communities but Medicaid will remain the centerpiece of its model for the foreseeable future he mentioned That s not going to be enough to avoid cuts if we re talking about a major reduction in Medicaid he disclosed Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get physical condition news sent straight to your inbox