It is official: Medicaid is gobbling up an important chunk of Colorado’s budget.

The Gazette’s editorial board has explained this for years, and our friends at the Denver Post published a story Friday under the headline “Is Medicaid gobbling up Colorado’s budget?” The answer is yes.

Reporter John Ingold did a good job of simplifying numbers that are often presented out-of-context, in a manner that exaggerates the toll Medicaid expansion has taken on state spending in other areas. He accurately explained that Medicaid is the state’s biggest expense, but also the largest driver of revenue because the federal government funds most of the cost.

Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Legislature expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and since that time more than 400,000 additional residents have signed onto the program. The expansion group makes up nearly 30 percent of Colorado’s Medicaid population, and we can expect that number to grow. Meanwhile, federal contributions are scheduled to decline and place more of the burden directly on our state.

“The Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, swelled Colorado’s Medicaid rolls dramatically by expanding eligibility to people slightly above the poverty line,” the article states.

Read more at The Colorado Springs Gazette.