This op-ed by Carey Candrian appeared on Colorado Newsline on August 19, 2025.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how health care for 15 million people is on the chopping block because of the “one big, beautiful bill.”
I’ve heard this number so many times that I’m almost numb to it. I’ve wondered what is happening to others when they hear a number so big. Are they seeing any of the individual faces of these 15 million people? Are they hearing their voices? Are they looking away when they hear this number?
Who are these 15 million people?
Last month marked the 60th anniversary that Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law to make health care accessible, especially for those who most need help: financially, physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially and supportively.
This month, I also met Diana Bennett, a 75-year-old Colorado native applying for Medicaid.
Diana moved to assisted living in the fall of 2019. She has Parkinson’s and uses a walker. She has shoulder-length curly gray hair. Permanent wrinkles. Sunken eyes. Deep dimples when she smiles. She makes eye contact in a way that would win a staring contest every day. Soon after moving in, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, priests were no longer allowed to come into the community to celebrate Mass. Diana, an extraordinary minister, filled the gap. She delivered communion, hosted community prayers, and cared for the community chapel. She still does.
Diana never married or had kids. She’s spent her life devoted to future generations. When she was in high school, she worked at an orphanage. Then, over the next 30-plus years she became a librarian, a teacher, and a principal. She worked at both Catholic schools and Denver public schools. She has sisters, nieces, nephews, and a close circle of friends. She had a home that she sold before moving into assisted living, which has given her an income to live on.
It hasn’t been enough.
After nearly six years paying privately at assisted living, the resources she carefully saved throughout life have been spent down, forcing her to apply to Medicaid so she can continue to live and receive supportive care as an elder.
Diana had her first interview for Medicaid recently. She has no idea when she’ll hear back — a week or six months. The process for Medicaid approval can take many months.
“That’s kind of scary,” she said. “Because I don’t know what will happen. The only income I will be getting is from Social Security. I don’t have any other savings or insurance. My sisters have families, and I can’t move in with them.”
“What will you do?” I asked. Every syllable of the question felt so heavy. I was sitting just inches from her.
“I’d have to live on the streets,” she said. Her gigantic eyes slowly started to fill with water as she stared into mine.
“This place has joked that they’d put a cot outside for me if I get kicked out. But truthfully, I’d have to go to a shelter or live on the streets. And I know I wouldn’t last longer than a week out there.” Diana held her gaze at me until I took a breath, had water in my eyes, and looked down at the floor to let my heart catch up.
How the hell is this possible, I thought to myself. How is anyone okay with this? A 75-year-old remarkably smart, kind, compassionate citizen who has given her life to others now in complete fear of living on the streets if her Medicaid is stripped away, leaving her without support!?
She broke the silence. “When I thought about moving in here, I thought I’d stare at a wall all day. I don’t. I still have a purpose in life so I can have meaning. We always tell younger generations to find their purpose. But we forget how important it also is for elders. I still have a voice. I cannot lose that.”
It wasn’t easy leaving Diana. Her hopes and fears, and the way she spoke with so much truth and compassion felt like it was tattooed onto my heart.
Diana is one of the 15 million people who if they were to lose their Medicaid, would lose life-sustaining support. Diana would be forced on the streets in Denver, at 75 years old.
Governor Jared Polis has called a special session Thursday to address the impact that the federal government’s recent policy bill — H.R.1. — will have on Colorado’s budget, including Medicaid funding, and ultimately on the health of Coloradans in every corner of the state.
In addition to financing, the process for Medicaid approval can cause incredible stress and uncertainty for older adults, their families, and organizations caring for older adults who get put in difficult situations waiting for approval.
Right now, half of the people experiencing homelessness in this country are people aged 50 and older. This is before cuts to Medicaid.
How we treat elders is so often a mirror on the health of a country. If we cannot wake up to consequences of so many elders who face horrific decisions around housing and care, and even death on the streets, I don’t know what else will wake us up.
Carey Candrian, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine.