Disabled Coloradans whose Medicaid comes through the expansion will need a recognized exemption or logged work hours once Colorado starts the requirement, "no later than January 1, 2027," under a law Lauren Boebert voted for on July 3, 2025 after her yea had carried its House version 215 to 214; nationally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expects the requirement to shrink enrollment by 2.3 million people in fiscal 2027.
The 9,100 people with disabilities on Medicaid in Colorado's 4th District, and the 2,749 Coloradans on waiting lists for Medicaid home care, also sit in the path of Boebert's decisive February and April 2025 votes for a budget plan demanding at least $880 billion from the Medicaid committee. Home and community-based care is mostly optional for states, so it is among the first services exposed when federal money shrinks.
Lauren Boebert's Votes on Medicaid Work Rules and Home Care for Coloradans With Disabilities
- Disabled Coloradans in the Medicaid Expansion Face Exemption Paperwork or Monthly Hour Logs Under the Law Boebert Voted For. Boebert was one of the 215 yeas that pushed the House version past 214 nays in May 2025, and on July 3, 2025 she was a yea again as the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act was enacted 218 to 214. Adults the requirement covers must report 80 hours of monthly work or other activity unless an exemption applies, such as for someone "with a physical, intellectual or developmental disability that significantly impairs their ability to perform 1 or more activities of daily living." Under the requirement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects, "enrollment would be reduced by 2.3 million individuals in FY 2027." A disabled adult in the expansion group whose exemption is not recognized must meet the hours or forfeit coverage.
- Coloradans Who Rely on Home Care to Live Independently Are Exposed to the Budget Plan Boebert's Votes Decided. Boebert's yeas on February 25, 2025, at 217 to 215, and on April 10, 2025, at 216 to 214, adopted the two versions of H.Con.Res. 14; on either roll call, a switch by her alone meant a tie, and a tie fails. Its order to Energy and Commerce, the Medicaid committee, was to "reduce the deficit by not less than $880,000,000,000" over ten years. Medicaid's home and community-based services, which keep many disabled people out of institutions and in their own homes, are "largely an optional Medicaid benefit," and the Bipartisan Policy Center says that leaves them "more vulnerable to reductions during periods of state or federal budget constraints"; policy experts it cites expect the law to "slow or reverse recent HCBS expansion efforts" in the states.
What Lauren Boebert's Medicaid Votes Mean for Coloradans With Disabilities
- 9,100 people with disabilities in Boebert's district count on Medicaid for daily support. Medicaid's 2025 rolls in Colorado's 4th District included 9,100 people with disabilities, according to KFF. They are the enrollees who lean hardest on the home and community-based care that the law's federal cuts put in jeopardy.
- 2,749 Coloradans are still waiting for Medicaid home care as federal money shrinks. Colorado's Medicaid home care waiver lists held 2,749 people in 2026, KFF reports, people who need help at home and do not have it yet. As $12.4 billion in federal Medicaid funding leaves Colorado over ten years, an optional service with a line already waiting is where a squeezed state budget can most easily hold back.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lauren Boebert on Disability rights
What is Lauren Boebert's record on disability rights under Trump?
Lauren Boebert cast a decisive yea in May 2025 for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and a yea for the final law on July 3, 2025, which makes disabled adults in the Medicaid expansion show an exemption or report work hours. Her decisive 2025 budget votes set an $880 billion savings goal for the Medicaid committee, and optional home care for Coloradans with disabilities is exposed to it.
Are people with disabilities on the eastern plains exempt from the Medicaid work requirement Lauren Boebert voted for?
People who get Medicaid because of a disability are outside it, since the law Lauren Boebert voted for applies the requirement to the expansion group, and within that group it counts someone who is "blind or disabled (as defined in section 1614)" as medically frail and exempt, as it does someone "with a disabling mental disorder" or "with a serious or complex medical condition." Expansion adults with no exemption must document hours; in Colorado's 4th District, that expansion group numbered 31,700 adults in 2025, KFF counts.
Could Coloradans with disabilities lose home care hours because of Lauren Boebert's votes?
Yes, by KFF's reading: Lauren Boebert voted for a law whose Medicaid cuts "could spur states to cut home care spending in response to the 2025 reconciliation law," and KFF says such cuts mean "either fewer people receiving any benefits or people receiving fewer covered services." Most states already limit home care enrollment or spending through their waivers.
Last updated: 2026-10-27