With millions of dollars in Medicaid on the table as Republicans solidify their budget bill, the majority of Coloradans say they don’t want the health program for low-income Americans to be cut.
Most Coloradans — 65 percent — oppose cuts to Medicaid, something that may happen if the budget bill passes, according to a new poll. The survey of 675 registered voters was conducted by Magellan Strategies for the health advocacy group Healthier Colorado.
“A majority have a positive regard for Medicaid. A majority think it's important for their local community. A majority don't want it cut,” said Jake Williams, Healthier Colorado’s CEO. “A majority are less likely to vote for a candidate who voted to cut Medicaid. So it's a pretty clear result here.”
He said a proposal from President Donald Trump to raise taxes on those making over $2.5 million a year to help fund Medicaid is broadly popular among Coloradans.
Sixty-three percent of voters in hotly contested Congressional District 8 say they were less likely to vote for a candidate who voted to cut Medicaid, which is known as Health First Colorado.
“Cuts to Medicaid really aren't showing any sort of support here, no matter really what the subgroup is,” said Courtney Sievers, Magellan’s director of survey research.
The 8th district's representative, Republican Gabe Evans, voted for the first version of the bill in the U.S. House, which makes deep cuts. He said he supports protecting Medicaid for vulnerable populations like pregnant women, kids and disabled people.
A spokesperson for Evans pointed out that it’s important to note that the polling also shows that some voters in the district who have an unfavorable view of Medicaid said there's fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid system and support undocumented people not receiving taxpayer-funded health care.
Pollsters wrote that “a dominant theme — especially among Republican and unaffiliated respondents — was anger or frustration over Medicaid being used for undocumented immigrants. Many said Medicaid should only be for U.S. citizens or legal residents, with some calling for stricter eligibility enforcement."
Voters were asked if changes being proposed for Medicaid are “more about improving how the program works or more about taking money from Medicaid to use it for other purposes?” Sixty percent statewide and 51 percent in CD-8 said it was more about taking money to use for other purposes; that compared with 22 percent statewide and 29 percent in Evans’ district saying it was about improving how the program works for people.
“People aren't buying the story that these Medicaid cuts are about making the program better, whether it's work requirements or other forms of elimination of waste, fraud and abuse,” Williams said.
Coloradans, including in CD-8, also expressed strong support for other government social safety net programs under threat from cuts in the Republican budget bill. Eighty-three percent statewide said they support the food assistance program called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Eighty-two percent said they support Head Start, a free, federally funded program that provides early learning, health, nutrition, and support services to families with children from birth to age 5.
Most voters and those in CD-8 said they don’t want to see Congress make significant decreases in funding for those programs.
Voters weigh in on other issues
The poll also delved into other health-related questions on things like vaccines and social media.
- 90% of voters in Colorado believe social media has had a negative impact on the youth mental health.
- The percentage who believe the impact has been very negative has increased from 49% to 58% since December 2023.
- 90% of Colorado voters believe there is a growing mental health crisis for children and youth.
- The percentage who strongly agree has increased from 50% to 62% since December 2023.
- 72% of voters in Colorado believe vaccines are safe and 76% believe they are effective; a majority (69%) said they do not believe that vaccines cause autism in children.
- Just 5% of Colorado voters said the cost of childcare is affordable in their area.
