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LAKEWOOD – Yesterday, at a press conference with local leaders, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) introduced legislation – the Save Money, Save Lives Act – to repeal a provision in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that eliminates Section 1115 Waivers. These waivers allow states like Colorado to tailor Medicaid programs, including covering inpatient and residential treatment for substance use disorders (SUD). Expanding access to treatment not only saves lives, it reduces costly emergency care and hospitalizations, lowering long-term health care costs while helping people recover and rebuild their lives.

As a state lawmaker, Pettersen led the charge for Colorado to apply for a Section 1115 Waiver to cover residential substance use treatment after her mother, Stacy, was repeatedly unable to access the care she needed. Before treatment was available, Stacy overdosed more than 20 times in a single year and cycled in and out of emergency rooms. Because Rep. Pettersen never stopped fighting to save her mom’s life, Stacy recently celebrated eight years in recovery.

Since the waiver took effect in 2021, it has transformed Colorado’s approach to substance use treatment. Today, 15,000–20,000 people each year are able to access licensed residential and intensive SUD services, with nearly 50,000 Coloradans receiving support across the continuum of care annually. Over the first five years of the program, Colorado expanded its network of residential treatment providers statewide, integrated medication-assisted treatment and naloxone across emergency departments, primary care settings, and community health clinics, and expanded coverage for inpatient mental health care. Thanks in large part to Pettersen’s efforts, Colorado also saw a 35% decline in fentanyl-related deaths last year. 

“This bill came from my experience fighting to save my mom’s life and seeing firsthand how broken our system was,” said Pettersen. “I watched her beg for help with nowhere to go, overdosing more than 20 times in her last year struggling until she was finally able to get the help that she desperately needed. She will soon celebrate 9 years in recovery and is an example of what’s possible when people get the help they desperately need. 

“I fought alongside so many advocates who were with me yesterday to ensure that Medicaid covered substance use disorder treatment – drawing down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for treatment and delivering the most important policies we’ve passed in the history of our state to increase our capacity for essential medical care and that saved countless lives. But the very waiver that Colorado relies on was eliminated in the Big Ugly Bill which is why I am fighting to change it. We must protect the progress we have made.” 

Rep. Pettersen was joined by Cristen Bates, Deputy Medicaid Director and Office Director for CO Medicaid & CHP+ Behavioral Health Initiatives and Coverage at HCPF; Sarah Alquist the President of Jefferson Center; Racquel Garcia the Founder of Hard Beauty and Chair of CO’s Behavioral Health Administration Advisory Council; Dr. Robert Valuck; and other advocates. 

This legislation is just the latest in Pettersen’s ongoing efforts to address the opioid epidemic in Colorado and across the country. In the state legislature, she spent a decade championing policies to improve access to substance use disorder treatment and has been working on the federal level to combat this crisis head-on. Pettersen has also introduced measures to address everything from the import of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, the financing of drug cartels, expanding access to treatment, and preventing overdose deaths by ensuring airplanes, law enforcement and hospitals are able to distribute naloxone when necessary.

Click HERE for the full text of the bill. 

Background:

Section 1115 Medicaid Waivers allow states to tailor their Medicaid programs. In addition to covering residential and inpatient SUD care, Colorado’s waiver covers:

• Re-entry services for adults and youth transitioning from correctional facilities.

• Continuous eligibility for children 0-3 years and 12 months of continuous coverage for individuals leaving incarceration.

• Health Related Social Needs (HRSN), housing and nutrition supports.

Provisions included in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” change how budget neutrality is calculated for Section 1115 waivers, making it significantly more difficult for states to maintain or renew programs that expand access to treatment. 

Rep. Pettersen’s legislation would repeal this harmful provision, preserving states’ ability to continue delivering life-saving treatment while saving money in the long-term. 

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