Colorado
Colorado lawmakers light up state agencies opposed to paying for weight loss drugs: ‘Perhaps it’s time they go on a diet’
A bill that would require state-regulated insurers and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for people who are obese or prediabetic cleared a major hurdle at the Colorado State Capitol. The bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee despite opposition from the Division of Insurance and Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Both insist the measure is cost-prohibitive.
According to legislative fiscal analysts it would cost the state Medicaid system $86 million the first year alone. An actuarial analysis by the Division of Insurance found it could also raise insurance premiums by as much as $30 million a year.
But neither study looked at potential cost savings, and that didn’t sit so well with some members of the Appropriations Committee, including the Chair, state Sen. Jeff Bridges.
“I can’t believe an actuarial study that was performed by state at the direction of a bill passed by general assembly, didn’t include cost savings,” he said.
Bridges stopped short of accusing the Division of Insurance of violating state law, which requires actuarial reviews include both the potential costs and cost savings.
“Unfortunately we don’t have the facts about potential savings because they just decided not to look into that. I’m extraordinarily upset about that,” he said.
So are state Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet and state Sen. Joanne Ginal, sponsors of the bill.
“Utilizing these drugs can help in long run with chronic kidney disease, with heart disease, to prevent stroke, cancers, so many other diseases,” said Ginal.
Michaelson Jenet says the analyses were inflated to kill the bill.
“I got the fiscal note and said, ‘Okay, there’s something fishy here,’” she said.
The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing insists insurers should only have to cover lifestyle therapy like diet and exercise.
Michaelson Jenet noted there is no other disease for which lifestyle therapy only — and not medication — is covered.
“If we want look at the definition of insanity — doing something over and over again and expecting different results — that’s what that is,” she said.
The Department also argued coverage for medication would interfere with its equity plan.
State Sen. Julie Gonzales said that makes no sense.
“Allowing people to live healthier and fuller lives is somehow going to interfere with their equity plan? I invite the Department to figure it out and try harder.”
State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer noted the state gives the Department $5 billion a year, more than it spends.
“The reality is they will also be having underutilized general fund monies that will be able cover this in January of 2025,” she said.
Gonzalez had a better idea.
“Perhaps it’s time they go on a diet,” she said.
The bill was amended to take effect in January of 2025 and passed the committee with only vote in opposition. It needs to pass the full Senate before going to the House.
Colorado
Colorado Supreme Court orders children’s hospital to resume gender-affirming care for minors
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered Colorado’s largest provider of gender-affirming care for young people to resume medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy despite threats that providing the care could lead to losing federal funding.
Children’s Hospital Colorado suspended medical treatments for transgender patients under 18 in January after it said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opened an investigation into its treatments following a series of clashes between President Donald Trump’s administration and advocates over transgender health care for children.
WATCH: Trump administration seeks to cut off access to transgender health care for U.S. children
The hospital said in a statement that it is reviewing Monday’s court ruling and considering its next steps. It previously said it would continue to provide mental health treatment for minors and also medical treatment for patients aged 18 to 21.
Four transgender girls, ranging from age 10 to 17, sued the hospital, through their parents, alleging that the hospital was violating the state’s antidiscrimination law by refusing to provide them treatment both because of their gender identity and their disability, gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is the distress caused when someone’s gender expression doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth.
The girls said they feared not being able to get medication and monitoring to prevent them from undergoing puberty and developing male traits. And they cited mental health fallout, including depression and suicidal ideation.
The court sided with the girls in a 5-2 ruling, finding that the decision to shutter the services for minors violated a state antidiscrimination law. In the majority opinion, Justice William Wood III said, “We conclude that the actual immediate and irreparable harm to petitioners outweighs the speculative harm CHC may face if the federal government further acts against it.”
In a dissent, Justice Brian Boatright said the hospital didn’t make its decision to stop the case because of the gender identity of the patients. Rather, he wrote, “It was a decision driven by the direct threat to the viability of the entire hospital.”
A Kansas judge also sided with transgender minors in a ruling last week.
The Colorado hospital’s TRUE Center, which focuses on gender-affirming care, is one of the largest programs in the country and the only comprehensive care center in the Rocky Mountain region, according to the lawsuit.
Children’s Hospital Colorado said the HHS opened the investigation of the hospital after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a declaration that called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria, or the distress when someone’s gender expression doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth.
An Oregon-based federal judge ruled in March for Colorado and 20 other states that Kennedy’s declaration went too far.
Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey.
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2026 Colorado Activities Association Boys 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships
- May 8-9, 2026
- Thornton, CO
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
A year after winning its first- ever state title, Monarch High School stayed on top at the Colorado Activities Association Boys 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships.
Monarch successfully defended its title, earning 355.5 points to outlast runner-up JK Mullen, which came in with 344 points. Glenwood Springs was third at 340.5.
“It was nerve-wracking,” senior Tobin Howe said to the CHSAA site. “We were about halfway through the meet and going into finals we knew if we kept our seed places, we had enough points to win. Mullen was doing really well and I was a bit nervous. I was thinking it might come down to the last event. It almost did, but we pulled through.”
Howe, a Washington University commit, was the leading point-getter for Monarch, claiming individual titles in the 200 IM (personal best 1:51.67) and the 100 breast (55.32).
The other individual standout was Cheyenne Mountain senior Barrett Kerrigan, an Air Force commit. Kerrigan won the 200 free in a personal best time of 1:40.46 and repeated as champion in the 500 free with a time of 4:36.79.
Glenwood Springs won two of the three relays, first claiming the 200 medley in a time of 1:31.78 behind the team of Breck Boyd (22.47), Brian Molloy (25.74), Andrew Molloy (22.79) and Tyson Boyd (20.78).
In the 200 free relay, the Glenwood Springs team of B. Boyd (20.64), Molloy (20.94), Tennyson Sipes (21.96) and T. Boyd (20.64) won in a time of 1:24.18.
The 400 free relay was captured by JK Mullen in 3:07.12 behind the team of Oscar Valdez (47.25), Asher Howe (46.58), Sam Lombardo (48.93) and Thomas Bradac (44.36).
Other individual winners were:
- Bradac, a TCU commit and senior at JK Mullen, won the 50 free in 20.21.
- Evergreen senior Henry Palmquist won the 1-meter diving event with 621.15 points.
- Monarch junior Isaac Skillern captured the 100 fly in a time of 50.11.
- Mountain View senior JJ Phillips, a George Washington commit, won the 100 free in a personal best time of 44.42.
- Breck Boyd, a UC-Santa Barbara commit, won the 100 back in a time of 49.92 after taking 2nd in the event last year.
Team Standings — Top 5
- Monarch, 355.5
- JK Mullen 344
- Glenwood Springs, 340.5
- Littleton, 221.5
- Mountain View, 216
Colorado football made another splash on the class of 2027 recruiting trail Tuesday, landing a commitment from three-star edge rusher Ba’Roc Willis.
Willis, a former Alabama commit, is coming off an official visit this past weekend and clearly came away impressed, announcing his decision just days after. 247Sports ranks the pass rusher as the No. 581 overall player in the class of 2027, the No. 48 linebacker and No. 22 player from Alabama.
Colorado got off to a slow start with the class of 2027, but has picked it up over the last few months. Four-star quarterback Andre Adams joined in April, as did three-star offensive lineman Kenny Fairley. It is still early, but the program has started to pick up steam with its 2027 recruiting class as the summer recruiting season nears.
After Willis, here is where the Buffaloes’ class of 2027 now ranks nationally.
Colorado football updated class of 2027 recruiting ranking after Ba’Roc Willis’ commitment
- On3: No. 45 overall, No. 6 Big 12
- 247Sports: No. 62 overall, No. 10 Big 12
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