DENVER, COLO. –  Aug. 26, 2025 

Today, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and UCHealth announced an agreement to reclassify two UCHealth hospitals in the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise (CHASE) model – the state’s hospital provider fee. This follows the Denver District Court’s ruling supporting the reclassification earlier this year.

Colorado’s hospital provider fee (i.e., CHASE program) has ensured Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans by drawing down billions in federal funds, while also supporting and stabilizing hospitals statewide. 

The CHASE model allocates payments to hospitals for the care they provide to Medicaid patients and uses a hospital classification system to determine those payment rates. Reclassifying two UCHealth hospitals impacts the model, but HCPF and UCHealth have reached an important agreement to help minimize the impact to other hospitals for the 2024-25 model year.

“The hospital provider fee is an essential component of ensuring care for 1.2 million Medicaid patients in Colorado, and it’s critical we get it right,” said Jeff Tieman, CHA president and CEO. “We are grateful to Governor Polis, the HCPF team, and UCHealth, for working diligently to ensure that the classification issue was corrected while also making changes to the model to protect other Colorado hospitals. This was not an easy challenge to solve, and we appreciate that everyone involved shared the goal of ensuring access to lifesaving health care for Coloradans and the protection of our state’s health care ecosystem.”

Although not part of the agreement, UCHealth also committed to support any independent rural, non-state governmental hospitals that are negatively impacted by the reclassification in the 2024-25 CHASE model through a new, $5.7 million donation fund linked to its community benefit program.

About CHA

CHA is the leading voice of Colorado’s hospital and health system community. Representing more than 100 member hospitals and health systems throughout the state, CHA serves as a trusted, credible and reliable resource on health issues, hospital data and trends for its members, media, policymakers, and the general public. Through CHA, Colorado’s hospitals and health systems work together in their shared commitment to improve health and health care in Colorado. Learn more at www.cha.com.

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