Colorado legislators appear slow to address health care spending reforms, despite concerning reports of fraud. Are they counting on tax hikes to bail them out?
Problems Plague Medicaid
As recently reported by the Denver Post, the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) okayed an additional $500,000 for a committee to draft yet another report and suggest yet more recommendations to address the state’s unsustainable Medicaid spending, this time, for Governor Polis’ successor.
This comes after state government already engaged Manatt, a healthcare consulting firm, for $1,025,000 in taxpayer money since October 2025 to identify the Medicaid cost drivers and propose solutions.
Governor Polis and some legislators apparently do recognize the urgent need for reform, as evidenced by mounting pressure on the Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing (HCPF), which oversees Medicaid in Colorado, and the recent resignation of the agency’s director.
However, as previously explained, regardless of whether Manatt’s suggestions are worth the price tag, getting the Democrat-controlled legislature to implement the necessary adjustments is easier said than done.
This all comes came after a laundry list of fraud, waste, and abuse had been exposed, including overpaying for wheelchairs, medical transportation, and autism services, which have cost Colorado taxpayers millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, the massive Medicaid fraud being uncovered across the country, like in California, raises concerns that Coloradans have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
With or without fraud, healthcare spending in Colorado is on pace to eclipse the rest of the budget if the state refuses to act.
Although the JBC and the governor’s office have already been given answers and proposals from Manatt to reduce costs, and fraud is an urgent concern, the state plans to spend even more money to “dive deep” to find answers that still apparently elude them.
But maybe, they do already have a solution.
Stalling for Tax Hikes?
As previously explained, two potential questions that Democrat legislators and progressive activists hope to put on the Colorado ballot could yield unprecedented tax increases for Coloradans and an unprecedented boon to the state budget, if passed by voters.
Is this what legislators are waiting for?
With a new governor, a 20 percent-plus revenue bonus to the state budget, a progressive income tax, and a potentially fatal blow to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), it might be easy enough to start fresh without confronting the fraudulent consequences of their incessant spending, and without many Coloradans really ever catching on.
Certainly, it would be easier for legislators to fund now and “ask questions later,” but that is because the money isn’t theirs–it’s the taxpayers’.
Really, Coloradans should not see any increase in taxes until it is certain that we are not funding fraud.
The JBC and governor do need to get to the bottom of what’s going wrong in HCPF, and hopefully, they will implement positive solutions.
But until then, Coloradans must assume that at least a portion of the new billions in revenue would end up funding some level of health care fraud.
