The Denver Post reports:

Colorado plans to expand Medicaid coverage next year to cover more than 160,000 additional low-income adults, aided by cost-control savings of more than $280 million over the next 10 years, Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Thursday.

“This is a step toward what we have talked about for a couple of years: How can we make sure we’re making Colorado the single healthiest state in America?” Hickenlooper said.

Apparently the governor is not familiar with how lousy medical care is for people stuck in the Medicaid ghetto.

The article continues:

The state’s ability to embrace the health-care expansion draws on “a relentless focus on how to control costs,” Hickenlooper said. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing zeroed in on several areas of projected savings, largely by rewarding value over volume.

The article then quotes from Linda Gorman of the Independence Institute on why these savings are unlikely and that Medicaid expansion is a bad deal for the poor. A better policy, she said would provide them access to commercial insurance.

Read Gorman’s comments: Colorado governor proposes Medicaid expansion – The Denver Post.