Medicaid expansion under Obamacare would be phased out under the Senate’s version of the health-care reform bill released Thursday, fundamentally altering the core structure of the medical safety net program established in 1965 for low-income children and children with disabilities.

The Senate bill, dubbed the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” would also repeal Obamacare taxes, restructure subsidies to insurance customers and cap Medicaid spending. While we could scrutinize the impact of any of these changes on rural Coloradans, the threat to children stands out as the most pressing issue of the health-care reform debate.

Expanding Medicaid eligibility to more adults helped reduce the number of uninsured Coloradans. Children weren’t the primary beneficiaries of the expansion, but they would be major victims of the repeal if efforts aren’t made to shield them from changes that would apply to adults. Structural cuts to Medicaid in either version of the bill would threaten access to care for children.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.