When Care Is on the Line: The Human Impact of Medicaid Cuts in Colorado

This Thursday, the Colorado State Legislature will convene for a special session to address a looming financial crisis - one that may now threaten the health, dignity, and very lives of some of our state’s older adults. Among the urgent issues on the table: potential devastating cuts to Medicaid at the state level, following reductions in federal funding.

Medicaid is more than a line item in a budget. For thousands of older Coloradans, it’s the only thing standing between stability and homelessness, between receiving essential care and being left without support. Medicaid reimbursement for older adult services in the state already is less than the cost of care. Cuts would make it nearly impossible for providers to continue serving deserving frail elders with no other options.

Christian Living Communities (CLC) supports approximately 160 older Coloradans who receive Medicaid assistance, providing housing and care in assisted living or skilled nursing communities such as Someren Glen, Clermont Park, Dayspring Villa, Cappella of Pueblo West, and Sunny Vista. We are deeply grateful that the 2025–26 state budget included a 1.6% Medicaid rate increase—a welcome step. But to continue caring for current residents and to meet the needs of Colorado’s rapidly growing older population, provider rates must keep pace with inflation.

Elder care is, at its core, people taking care of people - 63 cents of every dollar goes directly to wages and benefits for skilled professionals—CNAs, nurses, and personal care aides—who provide daily hands-on support. The remaining 37 cents must stretch to cover food, utilities, building maintenance, insurance, and essential equipment.

Across our CLC Medicaid-licensed communities, Medicaid currently covers only 70–80% of the actual cost of care. This is the reality of most organizations working with Medicaid.

This is not sustainable. Many communities are already operating at a deficit. The results of cuts could be devastating and more costly.

If provider rates are cut—or simply fail to keep up with inflation—Colorado risks losing more nursing homes and Medicaid-assisted living communities. These closures would ripple through the entire health care system and ultimately raise costs for the state.

The consequences of closures are stark:

• Fewer placement options for older Medicaid participants, leaving many in unsafe or unhealthy living situations without proper nutrition, socialization, or care—often leading to irreversible health decline and higher costs to the state.
• Risk of homelessness for some older adults. There are individuals in our Medicaid assisted living communities who would be in homeless shelters if not for these services. People experiencing homelessness have significantly higher rates of acute and chronic health conditions, driving up costs for the state.
• Hospital system strains when patients are unable to transition to long-term care. According to the Wall Street Journal, in Massachusetts, where nursing home bed losses have been severe, an average of 563 patients each month couldn’t leave hospitals for nursing homes when they were ready. Many waited a month or more; some waited six months or longer. These delays increase the risk of complications such as physical and cognitive decline, and reduce hospital capacity for other patients, creating emergency department backlogs.

There is no easy answer to the funding shortfall, however, frail older adults receiving Medicaid support have few options, and they are scared.

When we picture the Colorado we want to live in, is it one where our elders, who have contributed so much to our communities, spend their final years in uncertainty and fear? Or is it one where we honor these cherished people, our former teachers, service people and others, by ensuring they have safe, dignified care?

This special session is a chance for lawmakers to do the right thing—to protect vulnerable seniors and the care professionals who serve them. The stakes are high. The time is now.

Please lend your voice to the effort. Christian Living Communities is a member of LeadingAge Colorado, an advocacy group for senior living providers. They have organized a simple, easy way to contact lawmakers leading up to the special session.