Medicaid Expansion – Colorado

Colorado extends Medicaid to some adults without kids, By Eric Whitney, April 26, 2012, Minnesota Public Radio: “Dale Miller spends his days on the streets of downtown Denver selling a newspaper called The Homeless Voice. He’s been having some health problems, but he can’t afford to see a doctor on the $10 to $15 a day he makes selling papers. A local charity clinic called the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless recently helped him get a CT scan at no cost to him. Miller fully understands, though, that someone has to pay for his care. ‘The state’s paying for that, ya dig? I mean, it’s not free,’ says Miller. ‘I’ve got my itemized bill in my backpack for my last Thursday’s visit, and it was like $450 for the doctor, $1,100 for the lab work, and the state’s paying for that.’ The state’s actually only paying for a small part of those bills. Colorado has an indigent care program that helps charity clinics and hospitals cover bills like Miller’s. But it only pays about 10 cents on the dollar. That’s starting to change as Colorado is adding people to its rolls for Medicaid, the state and federal health program for the poor and disabled…”