In the News

Congressional Representative Brittany Pettersen (D – District 7) spent the day in Chaffee County on Thursday, August 7, beginning with a session at the Buena Vista Community Center with local public health officials, the Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners.

The focus of that meeting could be summed up as “How bad is this going to be?”

The main topic, the recently passed budget bill; what Republicans call the  Big Beautiful Bill” (and others call the bad budget bill), cuts billions in funding for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) for poor families, support service for victims of abuse, as well as access to women’s health services.

Pettersen was blunt.

“There’s no way to put it, it’s absolutely devastating, the impacts of this bill, and what is going to happen to this community — to smaller communities — that rely on Medicaid and SNAP at a higher rate,” began Pettersen. “It’s not just the economic impact and the economy. It’s devastating to think of the consequences and what is going to be happening to people.”

She said that her office has assembled a team that can help support people here in the county and at the local level with what to expect as the bill is rolled out.

“The most important thing right now is for people to know what is going to be coming down almost immediately. The ACA [Affordable Care Act] subsidies are being taken away. We expect an average of a 105 percent increase across the board in insurance costs here in Colorado,” Pettersen said. “People who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace can expect to see much higher costs, and there will be higher rate increases for private insurance too. The increases will happen this year.”

But some of the bill’s economic impacts, cleverly, won’t take effect immediately.

“They know how unpopular this bill will be, so they are letting the rest of it take effect after the 2026 midterm elections ,” Pettersen said. “If it was such a good bill, you’d think that they’d roll it all out. But they’re lying and saying it doesn’t deal with things that are about to happen.”

One of the biggest issues, says Pettersen, is what is going to happen to the hospital provider fee. If you’ve never heard of it, you will.

That’s because this federal funding provides hundreds of millions of dollars that is used for uncompensated care here in the state, paying hospitals in rural and urban areas to treat those without insurance.

“This will be capped out, it will cut our provider fee in half, so that is going to impact all of us,” said Pettersen. “All of the Medicaid benefits are going to have to be slashed. They are taking away some of the federal funds for Medicaid and the hospital provider fees that cover care for the uninsured who show up at the ER, helping providers continue to operate.”

This is on top of the financial burden of new federal reporting requirements. It is estimated that administering the new twice-yearly reporting for Medicaid is going to cost the state seven to eight million dollars a year.

“The state is going to have to come in and gut the benefits of Medicaid because they will not be able to pay to compensate for the federal loss,” explained Pettersen.” They try to say that all these most vulnerable people won’t be impacted, but they will be.”

She added that across the state, the feedback of impacts isn’t just healthcare, it’s food assistance. Even one of the state’s largest food banks will be impacted. The large, nonprofit Foodbank of the Rockies has been notified that it is losing its federal funding too.

“I want to know what you are talking about as a community right now. What are the expectations for your funding and [the new]  requirements? she asked. “How do you staff this, let alone pay for it?:

Chaffee DHS Executive Director Monica Haskell spoke first. “We’re working locally, and it’s difficult right now because we don’t know what is coming down. Here we’re looking at about one million dollars in

SNAP shortfall, to fill the need here in the county that was federal funding. We’ll be meeting to discuss areas that need to be cut.”

“We have about 250 individuals impacted locally with the new age-work requirement. On the Medicaid side, those numbers are harder to pull, so we don’t yet have the impact.” She added that the biggest concern for the staff is handling the workflow. Chaffee DHS has already begun to change its processes to help minimize he impacts. Her greatest issues are twofold: How to do it financially, and how to handle the reporting workload.

“I hear a lot of Republicans say, ‘Well, nonprofits should pick this up, and that’s not possible,” commented Pettersen. “I heard a report yesterday that it is expected that over the next  three years, 40 percent of the nonprofits in the country are expected to shutter because of funding. We know that nonprofits can’t be expected to handle this … it’s fundamentally too big of a hole to fill.”

“We re-introduced the Chaffee Leadership Roundtable that we ran during the pandemic. We revised that back in February, and from that came the Safetynet Resource Group that is there to help resource the needs,” explained Chaffee County Public Health Director Andrea  Carlstrom. “We have a collected inventory of nonprofits and safety net providers, who are facing budget cuts and contract terminations. and the county Health Navigators are our boots on the ground, assessing needs and we’re reviving Chaffee Resources … it will become part of our culture to assess what resources are available and what are the barriers to accessing them.”

She added that from a public health standpoint, “Our sector is already decimated. There has been a 40 percent turnover in other counties, and our public health agencies are floundering. They’ve lost people and institutional knowledge, and funding. Other contracts have been terminated to provide vaccines this fall.”

“We’re doing everything we can to posture ourselves, but it’s not going to be enough. We anticipate we’re going to have significant gaps, especially when it comes to Planned Parenthood.”

“The number of women without birth control. When they don’t have birth control, it impacts other things in their lives,” said Buena Vista Mayor Libby Fay.

Pettersen responded that it comes down to the state language that was passed in 2006; if you qualify for Medicaid, even if you were paying in cash, then Planned Parenthood couldn’t see you. Someone who is on

Medicaid can’t go on a sliding fee for health services.

“We were already seeing patients who made $70 too much a month to qualify for Medicaid… they’re doing what they are supposed to be doing but making too much for Medicaid, and not enough to qualify for regular insurance,” said the Valley Wide representative Amy. “So they are falling into our siding fee discount program. Our program follows the poverty guidelines, and we are seeing a big donut hole of people who are getting kicked off Medicaid, but then aren’t qualifying for the sliding fee discounts due to federal poverty guidelines.”

“We’re trying to use the existing programs here, and haven’t started to see the new effects of this bill. We’re seeing working adults with families whose kids are getting kicked off Medicaid — so now we have uninsured children. For seniors on fixed incomes, there are going to be Medicare changes. There is a LOT of fear.”

“What is frustrating about this whole thing …. Just listening and hearing what everyone is trying to do, it shouldn’t be this hard to provide people with simple services in healthcare,” said Commissioner Gina Lucrezi. “It’s disgusting. It’s heartbreaking. We’re just being punished now  — for what reason? …. we shouldn’t have to have conversations where we’re searching for grants to provide services for school kids — for services that every human should receive … we appreciate you listening to this and taking it all in and continuing to fight for what we need here.”

“We’re talking about funding, it’s the immediate thing, but it’s taking away our lives and livelihoods. This administration discredits and defunds the CDC, the NIH, and all our educational institutions,” said Carlstrom. “We’re seeing our country disassociate from local organizations, on our local level, we’re already seeing it in emergency preparedness and response.”

“We can’t use words like diversity, equity and inclusion in grants and contracts,’ she added. “Our state health departments depend a lot on federal funding, and the feds are holding the contracts. It’s basically, if you don’t do what we say, and modify your programs, we’re not giving you funding. It’s censorship. It’s rewriting history as we know it.”

The group agreed with that assessment, noting that those fleeing abusive relationships are vulnerable because it won’t be safe for them to reach out to The Alliance, or to ask for services. It isn’t just those fearing abuse that appear targeted.

An executive order signed by Trump a few weeks ago potentially criminalizes homelessness and those needing mental support. “So now if you have no home, you can be criminalized and if you have mental health issues, you can be required to get treatment at facilities that may no longer exist,” said Carlstrom.

“I’m on your side and doing what I can to fight for you,” said Pettersen. “What would you have me highlight to our colleagues … we’re trying to piece together a coalition to stop some of the bleeding. What is your message to them?

“Our local populations are going to be the hardest hit, bottom line, and that is where these people represent,” said Wood. “Why they are hurting their own folks, is beyond me. And that’s the crux of this.”

“You’re right, they say that government doesn’t work, and then they take all the funding away,” responded Pettersen. She asked for help in collecting and telling the stories about real people — making this real to those pushing the bill forward. “There’s the saying that a thousand deaths is a statistic and one person’s death is a tragedy. We need to elevate individuals to bring that understanding to the people.”

Pettersen pointed out that while she and our elected representatives can stand up and fight, that a broad approach of people standing up for their rights and against actions hurting the public can have an impact.

Recently, the public outcry stopped the attack on public lands. “When we all do it its a broad public action,” said Pettersen. “When we start seeing people trying to get help and there is none … then it’s the haves and the have-nots … it’s the case of the rich and the rest of us.”

Congress just passed a rescission of budget items it just voted to fund. It still has to fund that budget, and Pettersen warned that we’re most likely going to see the government shut down in late September over the fight.

“So many people took things for granted — we haven’t done a good job of connecting taxes to services, showing how things work,” concluded Pettersen …”We need to look to the future with where we want to go. It’s going to be a tough road ahead. We need to be there for each other. We’re stronger when there is an opportunity for people to connect.”