DENVER — New federal requirements for some Medicaid users kick in next year, possibly affecting millions across the United States.
In Colorado over 1.3 million people, about 22% of the state, rely on Medicaid or Colorado’s version of Medicaid, Health First Colorado, for their healthcare coverage.
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However, not all of those users will feel the effects directly. Those who will be impacted will receive letters in the mail from the Colorado’s Department of Healthcare and Financing.
The federal requirements for Medicaid users are part of H.R. 1, signed into law in July 2025 and going into effect January 1, 2027.
Medicaid users between the ages of 19 years old and 64 years old will be required to meet an 80-hour requirement of hours worked, volunteered or spent in school a month. That requirement can also be fulfilled if the user can show a household income of $580 from work a month.
There are exceptions for users with children under 14 years old, those with disabilities and those who are pregnant.
Those users will also be required to renew their coverage every six months instead of annually.
See if you’ll be impacted here.
HCPF warns that these changes could have a great impact on patients looking for mental health, behavioral health or substance use help.
“The population affected by work requirements and six-month renewals uses more substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health services, also known as behavioral health services, than any other Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) population,” a HCPF representative told Denver7 in a statement.
These changes come at a time when some Medicaid users say they’re already struggling to find reliable care.
“I am brought here through because of addiction and depression,” said Chantel Mauck, an employee and former client of New Beginnings Recovery Center. “I was looking for something to help me, some kind of treatment, and first thing that we saw was Medicaid was accepted.”
Mauck said it was difficult to find any type of substance use recovery care that took Medicaid.
“If you don't have the Medicaid, you can't afford to get treatment,” she said. "You know, addiction isn't discriminate, neither should the insurance be.”
New Beginnings Recovery Center, where Chantel and her son Reeb were treated, got one of those letters in August saying their agreement would be canceled in February of 2027 citing “Termination Without Cause.”
“You know, sons, daughters, men, women [from] all walks of life are going to die,” said Mary Brewer, the president of New Beginnings.
She says she reached out to the Colorado Community Health Alliance to see if they could dispute the contract cancellation. Brewer also received over a hundred letters of support from New Beginnings clients.
They were told in a letter “this termination action occurred in the normal course of business as we manage our network of providers. At this time, there is no recourse for reconsideration and CCHA appreciates the services New Beginnings Recovery Center will continue to render to our members until the Agreement expiration date.”
Brewer says she’s had an agreement with CCHA for over eight years and has helped over 550 of their clients in that time.
Denver7 reached out to CCHA multiple times to see how many providers were sent similar letters across the state and why these changes were made.
A CCHA representative said they could only provide this statement:
“Colorado Community Health Alliance (CCHA) is committed to ensuring members have broad access to behavioral health care, with more than 11,000 practitioners in network. We adhere to the guidelines of the Department of Colorado Health Care Policy and Financing for ensuring members have access to quality health care services, while also serving as responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. In alignment with the department’s guidelines, we informed New Beginnings in August of this year that they would no longer be in CCHA’s network as of February 15, 2027.”
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