Colorado Medicaid Cuts to Home Caregiver Program Would Put Strain on Families that ‘Are Already Struggling’

Colorado Medicaid cuts to home caregiver program would put strain on families that ‘are already struggling’

Susan Root often works 16-hour days as she makes sure the machines that feed her daughter and pump oxygen into her lungs are working. She also manages her daughter’s seizures and handles all the necessities that Amy can’t do for herself, such as bathing. She’d prefer to have help, but no one is lining up to care for a medically complex 24-year-old at the rates Medicaid pays. So Root has made it work. But making it work by stepping in personally …

Colorado Medicaid cuts to home caregiver program would put strain on families that ‘are already struggling’

Susan Root often works 16-hour days as she makes sure the machines that feed her daughter and pump oxygen into her lungs are working. She also manages her daughter’s seizures and handles all the necessities that Amy can’t do for herself, such as bathing. She’d prefer to have help, but no one is lining up to care for a medically complex 24-year-old at the rates Medicaid pays. So Root has made it work. But making it work by stepping in personally …

Colorado Medicaid cuts to home caregiver program would put strain on families that ‘are already struggling’

Susan Root often works 16-hour days as she makes sure the machines that feed her daughter and pump oxygen into her lungs are working. She also manages her daughter’s seizures and handles all the necessities that Amy can’t do for herself, such as bathing. She’d prefer to have help, but no one is lining up to care for a medically complex 24-year-old at the rates Medicaid pays. So Root has made it work. But making it work by stepping in personally …

Colorado Medicaid cuts to home caregiver program would put strain on families that ‘are already struggling’

Budget cuts would reduce by half the hours that Colorado's Medicaid program reimburses caregivers for nursing and other home health services to people on its disability waiver programs.

Colorado budget writers weigh competing plans on Medicaid as costs soar

A Statue of Liberty torch that says "Save Medicaid" in the flame is raised in front of the dome of the Colorado Capitol during the second No Kings demonstration in Denver last month. (Photo by Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)A panel that recommends adjustments to how much Colorado covers Medicaid costs presented a plan to lawmakers on Tuesday that is vastly different, and more expensive, than the one the governor’s office wants to see impleme…