Colorado Hospital CEOs Oppose Facility Fee Prohibitions

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. – April 17, 2023 –

CHA and its member hospitals remain steadfastly opposed to House Bill (HB) 23-1215 prohibiting hospital reimbursement for critical primary, preventive, and telehealth care services. 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.

While there appears to be better understanding that this idea is based on misguided and incomplete information, it is essential to recognize that any prohibition on facility fees will harm access to care for Coloradans. Smaller hospitals, often in rural areas of Colorado, depend on the entire system of care – a hub and spoke model – to provide the entire spectrum of care from primary care through hospital-level ICU. The bill threatens components of this system and will harm access to care, likely for Colorado’s most vulnerable patients.

At the same time, CHA and its member hospitals and health systems understand legitimate concerns about unexpected bills and ongoing struggles with health care costs. As a result, Colorado hospitals are willing to support a properly scoped independent study and, where possible, greater consumer-facing transparency for hospital bills. Our hope is that a study can help stakeholders and policymakers make informed decisions, ensuring the availability of outpatient health care services, identifying opportunities to address patient concerns, and improving the overall patient experience. We are encouraged by the bill sponsors’ understanding of the importance of a study and hope to help craft policy to support that aim.

“Any prohibition of hospital reimbursement for these critical health care services poses too great a risk for Colorado patients” said Jeff Tieman, chief executive officer of CHA.

About Colorado Hospital Association

Colorado Hospital Association (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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