Changes To Health Care Coverage In Colorado PDF Download

Achieving universal access to health care in Colorado is vital and a goal shared by policymakers, hospitals, providers, advocates, insurance carriers, business groups and, most importantly, Coloradans. Historically, one driver of high costs was that health care providers had to recoup losses from uncompensated care and underpayment by public programs, like Medicaid, by charging other people higher prices. They did that by cost shifting: increasing costs for people who were insured in the private marketplace to cover shortfalls from public payers. The mechanisms put in place in 2009 to course correct rising health care costs surpassed initial hospital projected savings. Yet, since these changes have been implemented, we have not seen cost-shifting decrease.