On July 3, 2025, Jeff Crank cast a yes for the final text of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the Congressional Budget Office expects it to produce "0.1 million Medicare beneficiaries losing their Medicare coverage as of 2034," as refugees, asylees and others who are lawfully present without green cards are cut off.
The bill reached that point through two earlier Crank votes. On April 10, 2025, his vote decided the final budget resolution, which allowed tax changes adding as much as $4.5 trillion to deficits; the final law's tax cuts now leave Medicare's hospital fund short one quarter earlier, in 2033. On May 22, his vote was one of the 215 that passed the House version, which paused a pair of rules simplifying premium help for low-income seniors.
More than a million Coloradans, 1,036,586 in 2024, are on Medicare, and in Colorado's 5th District 10,800 seniors also carried Medicaid in 2025.
Jeff Crank's Votes That Changed Medicare
- Crank Voted to Take Medicare Away From Refugees, Asylees and Other Lawfully Present Immigrants. Jeff Crank was a yes on July 3, 2025, when the House sent H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to the president by 218 to 214. Section 71201 strips Medicare from immigrants who are here lawfully but hold no green card, refugees and asylees among them. In KFF's words, "This is the first time that Congress has eliminated Medicare coverage" for people who had qualified; CMS's proposed timeline ends coverage on February 1, 2027 for anyone the law's grace period flags. Another provision widens the orphan-drug carve-out from Medicare price negotiation; the Congressional Budget Office prices that at an additional $8.8 billion in Medicare spending.
- Crank Provided the Margin for a House Bill Freezing Two Rules on Medicare Premium Aid. When the House first passed H.R. 1, on May 22, 2025, the margin was 215 to 214 with one present, and the bill needed Crank's yes to clear. It put most of two enrollment rules on hold, rules that simplified sign-up for the Medicaid programs covering low-income seniors' Medicare premiums, and the final law kept that freeze. Under the House bill, pausing the rules would have cost 1.3 million Medicare enrollees their Medicaid help in 2034, by an earlier Congressional Budget Office analysis that KFF cites. A senior who goes without that help could be left "paying $185 per month in Medicare premiums, or about 20% of income," according to KFF.
- Crank Decided the Final Budget Vote Allowing $4.5 Trillion in Deficit-Raising Tax Changes. Crank voted on April 10, 2025 for the final version of H.Con.Res. 14, the budget resolution, which was adopted 216 to 214. Had Crank flipped, the count would have been even, and an even count kills a resolution. Its instructions allowed Ways and Means, the tax-writing panel, to produce changes that "increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000". Twelve weeks later the final law, passed with Crank's July 3, 2025 yes, reduces the income tax seniors pay on Social Security benefits, money that partly funds Medicare's hospital insurance. The 2026 trustees now see that trust fund running out in 2033, one quarter sooner, with revenue from that tax "lower than previously projected due to changes in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill," KFF reports.
What Jeff Crank's Medicare Votes Mean for Colorado Seniors
- 1,036,586 Coloradans count on a Medicare hospital fund the law empties sooner. KFF's 2024 count puts Colorado's Medicare enrollment at 1,036,586, 496,054 of them in traditional Medicare. Their hospital stays are paid from the insurance trust fund that the trustees now expect to come up short in 2033, one quarter earlier than they projected a year before.
- 10,800 seniors in Crank's district carry Medicaid on top of Medicare. Among Medicaid enrollees in Colorado's 5th District in 2025, KFF's figures list 10,800 seniors. Medicaid covers Medicare premiums and copays for low-income seniors. The paused enrollment rules were meant to enroll more of them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jeff Crank on Medicare
What is Jeff Crank's record on Medicare under Trump?
Under Trump, Jeff Crank voted in 2025 for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a law whose provisions take Medicare away from some lawfully present immigrants, put rules easing premium help for low-income seniors on hold, and exempt more orphan drugs from price negotiation at a cost to Medicare of $8.8 billion. His deciding vote on April 10, 2025 was for the budget resolution, and the law's tax cuts reduce revenue for Medicare's hospital fund, now projected to run short in 2033, one quarter sooner than before. More than 1 million Coloradans are on Medicare.
What is the cutoff date for Coloradans losing Medicare under Jeff Crank's 2025 vote?
Under the law that got Jeff Crank's vote on July 3, 2025, Medicare ends February 1, 2027, under CMS's proposed timeline, for lawfully present immigrants found during the grace period, Colorado residents included, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Social Security was to mail the preliminary notices to that group from August through November 2026. Under that proposal, people flagged later are dropped at the end of the month after the month their termination notice goes out.
Did Jeff Crank vote to exempt more drugs from Medicare price negotiation?
Yes: on July 3, 2025, Jeff Crank voted for a law whose section 71203 expands the orphan-drug exemption, which covers medicines for rare diseases, from Medicare's price negotiation. KFF expects the change to push back negotiation for the cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo "by at least one year"; in 2023, "Medicare and beneficiaries spent $5.6 billion on Keytruda and $2.0 billion on Opdivo."
Last updated: 2026-10-27