© 2025 KSJD

Ideas. Stories. Community.

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Colorado Medicaid to Cover Abortion Care Starting 2026

By Sarah Tory

Published May 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM MDT

The gold dome of the Colorado state Capitol in Denver in front of a blue sky. — The gold dome of the Colorado state Capitol in Denver, February, 2024.

Governor Jared Polis has signed a new bill into law, allowing Coloradans on Medicaid and other publicly funded health insurance plans to access abortion care. This legislation, which takes effect on January 1, 2026, follows the state's 2024 constitutional amendment ensuring abortion access. For decades, Medicaid and state employees’ insurance plans didn’t cover abortion, forcing private organizations like Planned Parenthood to cover the gap. With the new law, nearly half of Coloradans will gain abortion coverage under their insurance, removing barriers for state employees and individuals covered by Medicaid.

Tags

abortion Medicaid health insurance Colorado Legislature Reproductive Rights

Sarah Tory

See stories by Sarah Tory

Related Content

Georgian filmmaker embedded in a birth clinic for a year to make abortion drama

Leila Fadel

Dea Kulumbegashvili embedded for a year inside a maternity clinic for her new film, April, about an obstetrician in rural Georgia, as the country faces increased abortion restrictions.
Critics say GOP Medicaid cuts could slash fentanyl addiction treatment

Brian Mann

Republicans hope to save a lot of tax dollars by cutting Medicaid. Drug policy experts say as many as a million Americans in treatment for addiction could lose coverage.
Some states are reviving plans to require adults to work in order to get Medicaid

Alexandra Olgin

Under the new Trump administration, some states are reviving plans to require adults to prove they are working in order to get Medicaid. When Arkansas did this in 2018, 18,000 people lost coverage.