DENVER, COLO. – Oct. 28, 2025 – The Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) released its Q2 2025 “Colorado Hospital Industry Update,” which highlights deepening fiscal challenges for hospitals across the state. Key findings show that hospitals are grappling with narrowing margins, escalating charity care, increasing uninsured emergency department visits, and a growing deficit from under-reimbursing government payers.

Key Findings:

• Nearly 70 percent of Colorado hospitals ended 2024 with margins deemed unsustainable, signaling diminished capacity for future investment in patient care and infrastructure.
• Operating expenses continue to outpace revenues: since 2019 and by mid-2025, the differential widened so that expenses grew 13.8 percent more than patient revenues.
• Charity care has surged: hospitals reported a 123 percent increase since 2021, with an additional 17 percent rise during Q2 2025 alone after a nearly 60 percent jump in 2024.
• Uninsured visits to emergency departments remain elevated – around 15,000 patients without insurance were treated in May 2025, 20 percent above pre-COVID baseline levels.
• Government payers (Medicare and Medicaid) now cover more than 60 percent of hospital patients, yet reimbursement continues to fall billions short of actual care costs. In 2024 alone, the shortfall exceeded $3.8 billion, an increase of $385 million over the prior year.
• R. 1 – the new federal law – will cut more than $10 billion in hospital financing over five years and lead to more than 100,000 Coloradans losing Medicaid coverage, exacerbating all of these pressures.

“The financial condition of our hospitals is at a critical juncture,” said Tom Rennell, CHA senior vice president, financial policy and data analytics. “With nearly seven in 10 hospitals operating on unsustainable margins and rising levels of charity and uncompensated care, the ripple effects for patient access, quality of care and community health are profound.”

CHA calls on policymakers, payers, and health care stakeholders to recognize the urgency of these trends and collaborate on sustainable funding models that preserve access and quality of care across Colorado. Without intervention, the risk of hospital closures, service reduction, and diminished patient access is real.

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.