Colorado Legislature Passes Bill to Fund Medicaid Reimbursements for Planned Parenthood

The Colorado House of Representatives on Sunday passed a bill that would use state money to fund Medicaid reimbursements for reproductive health care providers, namely Planned Parenthood, that have recently faced federal funding cuts.

Senate Bill 25B-002 was approved in a party-line 43-19 vote, with Democrats in favor. It passed the Senate on Friday, during the ongoing special legislative session that is focused on raising revenue to soften the impact of recent changes to the federal tax code. The bill now goes to Governor Jared Polis’ desk for his signature.

The bill was proposed in the wake of President Donald Trump signing the federal Republican tax break and spending cut law, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in July. That law prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid funds, including for services like sexually transmitted disease screenings and HIV-related treatments. Federal law already bars federal Medicaid money from funding most abortion services.

Senate Bill 002 forces the state to step in. It would require the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers the state’s Medicaid program, to use state funds to reimburse health care providers that are prohibited from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements.

Jack Teter, the vice president of government affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said 991 appointments had to be canceled in the days after the federal law went into effect. The provision in the law that affects Planned Parenthood has been paused while a challenge to it moves through federal courts. But PPRM’s operations are now in limbo, Teter said.

“We are in the midst of a health care access disaster that began (when the federal law) was signed,” Teter said.

The bill’s fiscal notes estimates it would cost Colorado a maximum of $4.4 million during the current fiscal year, which began on July 1.

Rep. Brandi Bradley, a Littleton Republican, called for lawmakers to vote down the bill during initial debate on the bill on Saturday afternoon. She spoke for about 30 minutes against abortion services and Planned Parenthood, and also argued that due to the state budget gap it would be unfair to spend money on Planned Parenthood.

“It’s weird how that works,” Bradley said. “We (the Republicans) can’t have any fiscal notes, but wow, $4.4 million on this bad boy right here.”

Boulder resident Lilly Boyd, a single mother of three children, spoke to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in favor of the bill on Thursday. Boyd, who is enrolled in Medicaid, said a follow-up appointment she had scheduled with PPRM after receiving a medication abortion was canceled in July due to the recent federal law. Days later, Boyd experienced hemorrhaging and had to go to the emergency room, she said.

“You’ve heard that ensuring patients on Medicaid can return to Planned Parenthood is a matter of life and death,” Boyd said. “Please know this is not an exaggeration. For many people, myself included, that was the reality we faced following Planned Parenthood being kicked out of the federal Medicaid program.”

More than 150 PPRM volunteers and reproductive rights advocates have come to the Capitol to support the bill over the course of the special session, according to Teter.

“Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains is an essential, irreplaceable piece of Colorado’s primary and reproductive health care system,” said Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors.

Delilah Brumer is a reporter for Colorado Newsline, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Follow Colorado Newsline here.