DENVER (AP) — Lawmakers say Colorado has a growing list of adults with severe disabilities who need services.
The Denver Post reports that it has been four years since the legislature ordered Colorado’s Medicaid department to create a plan to keep people with developmental disabilities from waiting months or even years for services. But at a legislative briefing Thursday, it was said that the wait list currently has about 2,900 people on it, compared to the roughly 2,100 people wait-listed in 2015.
Medicaid director Gretchen Hammer says part of the problem is it would cost about $200 million annually if lawmakers want to clear the wait list.
Community services executives suggested lawmakers move disabled adults whose caregivers are age 75 or older to the top of the wait list.
