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During the first legislative hearing, many hospitals were carved out of the bill, in an attempt to protect against the financial harm and limits on access to health care services caused by this proposed policy. Today, CHA released a letter signed by 100 percent of the hospital CEOs whose organizations were carved out. The CEOs agree that ill-conceived policy does not get fixed by carving out hospitals from it.

CHA continues to have conversations with the bill sponsors and proponents of House Bill 23-1215, the prohibition on hospital facility fees. The Association remains steadfastly opposed to the bill as introduced and has concerns with proposed amendments that proponents have shared this week. It is essential to recognize that any prohibition on facility fees will harm access to care.

CHA has analyzed the year-end 2022 financials for Colorado hospitals. The data show even more troubling trends on the financial and operational impacts for hospitals since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As introduced, House Bill 23-1215: Limit on Hospital Facility Fees would have catastrophic impacts on Colorado’s health care system. Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) and its member hospitals and health systems are raising the alarm about this legislation and its potential to harm patient access and health care affordability.

CHA released “Addressing Violence in Colorado Hospitals” – a look at the current trends of workplace violence in hospitals and health systems across the state. Colorado and national trends show that violence against health care workers is on the rise.

Recent reports show that Colorado hospital costs are better than national averages. In 2020, Coloradans spent $4 billion less than the national average on hospital care. Colorado households spend the second lowest amount on hospital costs in the country.

The CHA Board of Trustees has appointed Jeff Tieman as president and CEO. Tieman is currently the president and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals & Health Systems (VAHHS), where he has served for nearly six years. Previously, he held critical roles as the chief of staff for the Catholic Health Association, one of the country’s largest networks of not-for-profit health care providers, and as the Washington bureau chief for Modern Healthcare Magazine.