CIRCUMCISION FUNDING FAILS IN COLORADO. Colorado Medicaid and Circumcision 22 April 2014 We are very pleased to announce that the Colorado state budget for this coming fiscal year has been passed by the Legislature, and it does not include any language to force Medicaid to waste healthcare funds on circumcision. We would like to thank everyone who helped and contacted the legislators. You made your voices heard, and you had a big impact! Just to recap: Representative Paul Rosenthal introduced a budget amendment to add medically unnecessary circumcision to Colorado Medicaid, but on March 27th, just before the amendment was to be voted on by the House, he withdrew the amendment without explanation. He did, however, say that he would keep this issue [moving] forward. Our sources indicate that Rep Rosenthal was unable to obtain agreement with the legislators in charge of the budget to divert funds away from another program to pay for his amendment, and that caused him to withdraw the amendment. We were very concerned that the Senate could have introduced a similar amendment. However, none of the Senators did so, and the Senate passed the budget on April 3rd. The budget was then passed back through the budget conference committee on April 10th, and on April 21st, the final budget was sent to the Governor. Therefore, we are in the clear as far as the budget is concerned! However, we must continue to be vigilant because Rep Rosenthal seems determined to waste healthcare dollars on this. Lets all keep our eyes and ears open, and be ready for a fight again next year if he is re-elected this November. Thank you so much for everyones support!
Posted on: Thu, 24 Apr 2014 12:16:15 +0000