ALAMOSA — In an effort to meet President Trump’s priorities of boosting border security and extending tax cuts, lawmakers in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. have been negotiating a budget resolution that could potentially include an $880 billion cut to Medicaid over the next ten years. The cuts would be put in place to offset the $4.5 trillion tax cuts implemented during Trump’s first administration that are set to expire next year. 

Medicaid – which benefits the poor, the elderly and the disabled in America - plays an extremely important role in providing health care to citizens living in Alamosa with 51% of the population reliant on the program for their health care insurance. 

According to numbers from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Finance, in 2024, $13,242,355 in Medicaid funding went to Long Term Health Care residents of nursing homes in the county. Also, during last year, Medicaid reimbursement for pharmacy claims totaled $12,129,129.  

Ancillary services in 2024 accounted for $9,001,967, which includes three categories – diagnostic, therapeutic and custodial. For example, after repairing a patient’s broken leg if that patient is referred to a physical therapist, reimbursement to the therapist would be an ancillary service. 

In 2024, it’s reported that $7,727,834 went to reimbursing health care providers for providing treatment to their patients. Data from that same year shows that $5,571,591 went to reimburse for outpatient services. 

“If there are cuts for Medicaid, it’s going to have a big impact on our community” says Catherine Salazar, Director of Alamosa County Department of Human Services.  “Aside from the citizens not having medical insurance, it’s going to impact our hospitals, our clinics, our health care providers, all the way down the line. Just because you don’t have insurance doesn't mean your medical issues go away. 

“How deep the cuts could potentially be is anybody’s guess, at this point. But with 51% of our citizens in Alamosa County on Medicaid, it’s going to impact a lot of people.  

“We don't know yet how it’s going to turn out. We and our state partners are watching closely. Things are pretty chaotic at this point. Any citizen who’s watching even a little bit of the news has that same takeaway. 

“Our state partners are really watching their programs. They do financial drawdowns, some have a monthly drawdown, and others have quarterly drawdowns, so they’re monitoring closely. But there’s a lot to keep an eye on, and if these cuts do go through, the impact will be huge. Just huge.” 

When asked for comment, Konnie Martin, CEO of San Luis Valley Health, said, “The proposed Medicaid cuts in the House of Representatives current budget proposal would be devasting to healthcare.  

“In the San Luis Valley, we have a very large percentage of our residents that depend on Medicaid for health coverage, with the highest proportion of those patients being the disabled, elderly, pregnant women and children.  Without health coverage, this population would simply have no option to receive the care they need. If they became uninsured, or their coverage was greatly reduced, SLV Health could not provide the care needed on our resources alone. 

“I am continually communicating with our congressional delegation the critical importance of supporting the healthcare safety net in rural America and the impact of these types of cuts would have on the delivery system.” 

Medicaid is currently used by about 80 million citizens in the United States. Justification among Republican advocates for the proposed cuts have largely been focused on claims of “abuse, waste and fraud” but those claims have been disputed by others. 

It's worth noting that of the tax cuts that were implemented in 2017 – and that cuts in Medicaid would be used to offset – 45% of tax benefits went to the top 5% in the United States. 

It’s anticipated that the budget resolution may go up for a vote as early as Tuesday night. Nothing would go into effect until a resolution can be agreed to by both the Senate and the House. 

The Valley Courier reached out to the office of Congressman Jeff Hurd, representing CD-3, several times for comment on the proposed cuts but received no response by press time on Tuesday. Comments for Congressman Hurd can be made by calling 202- 225-4676.