Colorado’s Medicaid program is covering more medical services than the average private health insurance plan, which helps to explain why the state’s healthcare costs have soared in the last several years, crowding out other priorities, according to a new report.
The report from the Common Sense Institute said “Health First Colorado” — the state’s Medicaid — offers a “more expansive, and generous, range of services for its enrollees than do other types of health insurance in the state.”
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The report tied the expansive coverage to Colorado’s funding woes, noting that, since 2019, new healthcare laws added some $858 million in ongoing yearly costs to the state budget. Of that, 88% resulted from changes to state-covered services, the report said.
The report compared coverage across 88 medical service categories under Health First Colorado , individual marketplace insurance, and large-group employer-sponsored insurance plans.…
