Colorado to expand Medicaid under Obama health law

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) announced Thursday that his state will expand Medicaid under President Obama's signature healthcare law.

Colorado has also received conditional approval to run its own health insurance exchange, putting it on track to implement two of the Affordable Care Act's biggest provisions.

"I think this is a step toward what we’ve talked about for a couple of years now, about 'how do we move and make sure that we’re making Colorado the single healthiest state in America?' " Hickenlooper said Thursday of the choice to expand Medicaid.

He estimated that the move will bring 161,000 additional people into the low-income health insurance program, which is run jointly by states and the federal government.

Costs for the expansion will be covered entirely by the federal government through 2016.

Colorado can expect to pick up 10 percent of the tab by 2020 using the proceeds from a Medicaid provider fee that began in the state after being enacted in 2009.

The Supreme Court decision to uphold the healthcare law made its Medicaid expansion optional for states. Many Republican governors have refused to enroll more of the uninsured, citing costs.

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