DENVER — A Colorado program launching on Jan. 1 will provide health care coverage to thousands of undocumented immigrants who currently lack it.
The program, known as Cover All Coloradans, will expand Medicaid coverage to low-income pregnant women and children regardless of their immigration status. It was created through the passage of House Bill 22-1289 in 2022.
“I think what we know is everybody deserves access to health care,” said Adam Fox with Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, which helped push for the passage of the law.
When the law was passed, the state projected that 3,600 people would enroll in the program at a cost of $34 million. The state now projects more than 15,000 people will enroll at a cost of $51 million.
"As we have more folks who are coming to our states, you know, newcomers who are coming here as migrants, there will be an increase of folks who are eligible for this type of coverage,” said Riley Kitts with the Colorado Children’s Campaign.
Kitts said it’s encouraging that more people are signing up for the program.
“Because that means that the program's going to work and that more kids and more pregnant people are going to have health insurance,” Kitts said.
State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, said with Colorado facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, it makes no sense to move forward with the program while the state considers cuts to other services like pediatric behavioral therapy.
"I'm not understanding why we aren't pausing the startup of this program when we have such a huge deficit,” said Kirkmeyer. “So to essentially come in and say we're going to cut an existing program to low-income children in our state but then we're going to expand it on the other side is irresponsible to me."
A spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing said the department is required to administer the program due to the 2022 law. He said the program will allow people to get preventative care instead of waiting until their condition becomes life-threatening and more expensive.
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