Colorado Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen says treatment for substance use disorders would take a big hit under Republican budget bill

CBS News

21-05-2025

Treatment for substance use disorders would take hit under budget bill, Colorado Congresswoman says
Treatment for substance use disorders would take hit under budget bill, Colorado Congresswoman says
Treatment for substance use disorders would take hit under budget bill, Colorado Congresswoman says
For Rep. Brittany Pettersen, the debate happening in D.C. over Medicaid isn't political, it's personal. If not for the government health care program, she says, her mom wouldn't be alive. Stacy Pettersen struggled with opioid addition for years, a struggle that became the catalyst for far-reaching legislation by her daughter, including a law that expanded Medicaid to cover in-patient treatment for substance use disorders.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen
CBS
Pettersen says the law has saved lives and money.
"When you're denying them care and churning in and out ER, the federal and state government spent over a million keeping her alive in ICU instead of giving her access to the care she needed," Pettersen said.
Pettersen, the Democrat who represents Colorado's 7th Congressional District, was working on the bill with stakeholders, including Emergency Room Doctor Don Stader, when her mom overdosed and ended up in the ER.
Stader was on duty that night.
"It was one of the most surreal moments and patients of my life and it made ... (it) so clear what we are fighting for and what the stakes are," he said.
With Stader's help, Pettersen has passed a number of transformative laws to help those like her mom, who is now 8 years in recovery. But she says the Republican budget bill puts all that progress at risk.
"My mom is an example of what's possible when we give people the help they need," she said. "All of this is going away with this bill."
The bill strips Medicaid funding for in-patient addiction treatment, repeals a law providing Naloxone for rural first responders, creates new work and cost-sharing requirements for recipients, and implements twice yearly eligibility reviews.
"It's created to purge people off of actually qualifying for these benefits while paying tens of millions of dollars by increasing bureaucracy," said Pettersen.
The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid, estimated the administrative burden alone would cost up to $57 million. The Congressional Budget Office says more than 100,000 Coloradans could lose their coverage.
"This is going to fundamentally shift health care in many communities across the country," said Stader. "We are going to take our health care back a quantum leap for something that is far less effective, far less compassionate and far less efficient than what we have now."
Last year, Colorado saw a 35% reduction in opioid deaths. Pettersen worries the downward trend will reverse course.
"We had the biggest reduction of overdose deaths, and it's because of this work. It's because of access to Naloxone. It's because of increasing access to treatment. And they're actually taking that option away for states like Colorado," Pettersen said.
President Trump wants the House to pass the bill by Memorial Day. He met with GOP hardliners Tuesday. They are refusing to pass the measure without deeper cuts. The bill would cut taxes by $4 trillion and reduce federal spending by $1.6 trillion, including a $700 billion reduction in Medicaid spending. It is expected to raise the national debt by about $3 trillion over the next 10 years.