Today was a bad day to be a senior citizen in Colorado.
Majority Democrats in the state Senate raised property taxes on seniors by $188.1 million over the next two years and voted down a bill that would have given low-income seniors more choice over their medical care.
"It's not enough that Democrats have chased businesses out of Colorado, but now they are raising taxes--again--on one of our state’s most vulnerable populations," said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction.
And if the property tax increase wasn't bad enough, on second reading Democrats also defeated a common sense proposal that would give Colorado seniors on Medicaid more choice and autonomy over their medical care. Senate Bill 160 would allow Medicaid participants 55 and older to choose their own medical care, while still recovering 70 percent of their Medicaid benefits. The bill's sponsor Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, has dubbed the measure a "Medicaid voucher program."
Lundberg said his bill has the potential to save the state millions of dollars. He also shared with his Senate colleagues a personal story about his mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Originally, Lundberg's mother was in a small assisted living facility that cost $1,800 per month and did a very good job of meeting her special needs. When the family's nest egg started to run out, his mother had to go on Medicaid to pay for her continued care. Medicaid required she be transferred to a facility that was $3,200 per month--nearly twice the cost of the original home--and it could not provide the same level of personalized attention.
AARP, a special interest lobby, opposed Lundberg's proposal, saying in a handout to legislators it will limit choices and increase costs for everyone. Lundberg said these claims are patently untrue, and his bill will do just the opposite.
"Medicaid is a one-size-fits-all bureaucracy, and government doesn't always know best," Lundberg said. "My bill is primarily designed to give older Coloradans more authority to determine their own care."