Changes coming to Medicaid

By: Jenn Ochs a Medicaid member and disability advocate.

 The disability community will be harmfully affected this January 2027.  A process just ramping up will bring work requirements, shorter renewals and even loss of benefits for Medicaid members.

This is all due to passing HR-1 aka, The Big Beautiful Bill. Which created a 400 million deficit in Medicaid.

Last week Colorado’s Health Care Policy and Finance, HCPF, gave a presentation entitled, Federal Changes to Medicaid and I will summarize it for you. For the full presentation click here for English and here for Spanish.

Starting in January 2027, work requirements will be required to receive MediCaid benefits for some members but not all.

The work requirements will be 80 hours a month or $580 a month of work, self work or community engagement or education.  Income will need to be reported through the Peak/Health First website. A list of accepted work requirements will be listed on HCPF website.

There’s a list of exemptions. Pregnancy, age under 18 and older 65, caregiver status, enrollment in Longterm Care and Support or LTSS, participation in Medicaid buy in and medical frailty. The full list, including an in depth explanation of what qualifies as medical frailty, can be found at HR-1 Resource page.

There’s a quick and easy screening tool on HCPF site where you can find out if work requirements will affect your benefits.

Along with work requirements, members may experience quicker renewal deadlines. Currently, Medicaid members are required to renew their eligibility every 12 months. However, a 6 month renewal will be required for some Medicaid members.  Basically renewal deadlines will be determined through ongoing correspondence between Peak/Health First and Medicaid members. So Medicaid members should verify their current contact information and keep a watch on your inbox or mailbox.

After hearing about the federal changes, HCPF was asked if they could handle the increase of work that HR-1 creates. Admittedly, HCPF does not know if they will be able to keep up with the increase of work. Which is concerning considering that these HR-1 requirements are already causing loss of health insurance for thousands.

Here are the key takeaways always reported by HCPF:

●       5,900 lost coverage October 1,2026

●       3,400 additional members could lose coverage by February 2027

●       In depth exemptions can be found .com

●       Make sure your contact info is current on the PEAK/HealthFirst website

●       Work Requirements will go into effect January 2027

●       1.2 million people in Colorado are on Medicaid

●       377,000 adults may be affected

●       Up to 9,200 eligible immigrants may be affected

Please share this information widely. Help all Medicaid members be as prepared as possible.

*This article reflects the personal views and perspectives of its author, a self-advocate, and does not constitute an official position or statement of the Association for Community Living (ACL). Please verify statistics and data directly at hcpf.colorado.gov and Medicaid.gov.