Source: Colorado Politics
In southern Colorado and throughout the state, local hospitals and health systems help support healthier communities and stronger local economies, creating jobs, strengthening businesses and providing the vital care and services residents rely on. That’s why efforts by lawmakers in Denver to impose a top-down health care price-fixing system on Colorado hospitals are concerning for at-risk patients, low-income communities and economic development efforts in the Centennial State.
Colorado lawmakers are pushing a new proposal, HB 25-1174, that would set a cap on the rates paid to local hospitals for providing care to anyone enrolled in the state health care plan. This measure unfairly targets urban hospitals like UCHealth Parkview that provide specialty care services to patients that often travel from rural areas of the state where these services are not available. This proposal threatens critical access to specialty services that many rural providers do not offer. In addition to the negative impact this bill would have on specialty care provided by larger hospitals, nine rural hospitals across the state would still be subject to these price caps. According to the Colorado Hospital Association, seven of those nine facilities are already operating at a loss.
Capping payments to Colorado hospitals is bad enough, but using Medicare rates as the benchmark for such caps is a deeply flawed approach. It is a well-known fact Medicare already reimburses hospitals far lower than what it truly costs to provide care. In 2023, Medicare only reimbursed hospitals 73 cents for every dollar spent providing care for Medicare patients, leading to billions in underpayments in Colorado for that year alone.
Slashing reimbursements to Colorado hospitals will only exacerbate their financial challenges, weakening access to care and services for vulnerable patients in the greater Pueblo area and across the state. As local hospitals grapple with the negative effect capping payment rates would have, scaling back these critical health care offerings could be one of the many difficult decisions they are forced to make.
Unfortunately, HB 25-1174 disproportionately affects vulnerable patients as well as under-served, low-income communities. When coupled with the ongoing threat of Medicaid cuts in Washington, capping rates for Colorado hospitals struggling to stay afloat or already operating on negative margins will only further strain these facilities. Sadly, the ones serving rural and low-income communities — which are all too often forced to do more with fewer resources — will be the ones to suffer the most if our lawmakers pass this misguided legislation.
On top of that, limiting reimbursement rates for care provided to patients who are state employees or access coverage through small-business health plans does not cut costs. It simply shifts the burden to employers as well as to the 60% of Colorado citizens who get their health insurance through their employer, increasing insurance premiums. As these costs shift to business owners, it limits their businesses’ ability to continue providing employees with a range of other benefits and pay increases.
If passed, HB 25-1174 undermines health access for patients, increases costs for small businesses and business owners, increases health insurance premiums and jeopardizes the long-term future of hospitals throughout Colorado. If hospitals are forced to close because of this harmful bill, it not only weakens the overall health of our communities, but it threatens the economic and employment benefits they provide.
With the local economies in Pueblo and in communities statewide already on shaky ground, now is not the time for lawmakers to advance legislation that raises costs for small businesses and their owners and threatens the long-term viability of hospitals across Colorado. That is why the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce is calling on our legislators to oppose HB 25-1174 and focus on real solutions that strengthen Colorado patients, businesses, communities and our entire economy.
