Colorado May Cut Healthcare to Poor Residents to Expand Medicaid for Illegals

Colorado Democrats are expanding a free healthcare program that will take effect next month. Not only will adding countless more people to the rolls further crowd the system for current Medicaid recipients, Colorado has nearly a $1 billion deficit, and citizens may even see their benefits cut.

According to the website for Health First Colorado, thanks to House Bill 22-1289, known as “Cover All Coloradans,” starting January 1, 2025, the children of illegal alien “pregnant people,” - and those “pregnant people” themselves (previously known as “women”) will be eligible for Medicaid.

According to CBS:

The program called "Cover All Coloradans" makes state Medicaid available for prenatal and postpartum care and covers physical, dental, vision and mental health care for children. Organizations serving immigrants are working to enroll families now, and to battle fears some may have about divulging information to the government.

The implementation of Cover all Coloradans comes as the state faces a billion dollar budget shortfall. "Our lower income individuals who are on Medicaid who might see access to healthcare cut," said Republican Rep. Matt Soper, "We shouldn't be giving programs and services to undocumented immigrants that we aren't giving to citizens who are within Colorado."

When first enacted in 2022, the Cover All Coloradans program was expected to cover 3677 people and cost the state $34 million. By 2025, more than 15,000 people will depend on the program, costing the state over $50 million.

Healthcare is just one cost of illegal immigration. In Denver alone, 8% of the city’s budget is spent on illegal immigrants and their children, totalling nearly $8,000 per “foreign national” in the city. 

While programs like this may be framed by Democrats as “helping the vulnerable” or “the poor,” they’re zero sum policies at the expense of “vulnerable” and “poor” Americans who didn’t violate a nation’s sovereignty. (Surprisingly, there’s mixed evidence on whether or not Medicaid even boosts health outcomes, with some studies suggesting it doesn’t - though it does act as a financial cushion). 

Don’t miss the Dan Bongino Show