March 19, 2025 09:53 AM UTC

Gabe Evans' Medicaid Dodge Deconstructed By Conservative-Friendly Reporter

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• by: Colorado Pols

Longtime political reporter Shaun Boyd at Denver’s CBS affiliate KCNC Channel 4 has a well-earned reputation as the go-to correspondent for Republicans looking for sympathetic, or failing that at least what they consider to be “fair” coverage, compared to other local news outlets that they (like Donald Trump) consider to be “enemies of the people.” Over the years, some of Boyd’s reporting has even been exposed as stage-managed GOP election year publicity stunts that raised legitimate questions about her integrity.

But once in awhile, Shaun Boyd delivers a story that cuts through Republican talking points like a hot knife through butter at critical moments, like in the summer of 2012 when Boyd publicly pushed back against Mitt Romney’s refusal to allow interview questions about abortion. And last night, Boyd struck again with an interview of vulnerable freshman GOP Rep. Gabe Evans that not only demolished Evans’ carefully-scripted talking points about impending massive cuts to Medicaid, but made it look easy:

The GOP resolution directs the Energy and Commerce Committee — which oversees Medicaid — to cut the deficit by $880 billion over the next decade.

Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, sits on the committee.

“To say that those $880 billion are going to come from Medicaid or even from health care is a complete falsehood because the committee has jurisdiction over pretty much the rest of the U.S. economy. So there’s a wide range of places where those cost savings can be found,” Evans said.

This is so far the most concrete public statement from Evans regarding his upcoming task on the Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in cuts from programs it oversees.

And it’s complete fiction.

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says Medicaid will likely be one of those places since it accounts for 93% of the funding under the committee’s jurisdiction. [Pols emphasis]

Gabe Evans says there’s a whole economy to find that $880 billion in magic money! But the Congressional Budget Office says 93% of the money Gabe oversees…is Medicaid.

One sentence putting the facts in the record. That’s all it took to blow Evans’ talking points out of the water. And then it got even better:

“The focus of the conversation is making sure that the Medicaid program remains financially viable by cutting out the fraud, waste and abuse that’s in the program,” [Evans] said.

But what’s really going on?

Republicans are also weighing work requirements for recipients, per capita caps, and reductions in the federal match, which is 50% for most Medicaid recipients in Colorado and 90% for those added under Obamacare. [Pols emphasis]

The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing says the new matches could cost the state $2.5 billion a year.

In other words, huge cuts, thousands of Coloradans losing their coverage, and Colorado’s state budget busted beyond recognition. That’s the reality of the legislation Republicans are working on, and it’s headed for Gabe Evans like a freight train. These are the facts that Democrats have been desperately trying to get out over the GOP’s contradictory promises, and what Shaun Boyd did is demonstrate how easily Evans’ feeble talking points can be deconstructed.

After this, no reporter anywhere should take what Evans says at face value. Take the one extra moment to write the one sentence that gets the facts right.

It’s so important, and so simple. And a far better use of Boyd’s time than chasing down the “furry menace” in the schools.