Publication Library

Browse by tag

referendum c state budget tabor fmap recovery act 2010 colorado legislature health reform medical loss ratio taxes jobs and economic security transparency and accountability revenue annual report colorado center on law and policy snap food stamps health coverage health affordability earned income tax credit children health law and policy update child tax credit exempla hospitals colorado benefits management system public benefits weston v hammons election 2010 poverty health insurance work supports self-sufficiency standard jobs and economy unemployment insurance health access mental health high-risk pool health co-ops pre-existing conditions medicaid aiming for the middle gallagher amendment amendment 23 public option 2009 colorado legislature grandfathered health plans cobra health insurance exchange income 2007 colorado legislature arveschoug-bird tobacco securitization federal budget rainy day fund refund anticipation loans 2008 colorado legislature welfare reform colorado works deficit reduction act citizenship referendum d 2010 colorado legislatutre old age pension tax credits tax exemptions tax deductions provider rates state of working colorado government election 2008 education income tax single sales factor state children's health insurance program social security early retiree reinsurance program hospital provider fee insurance access sustainable growth rate formula recission prescription drugs medicare false claims act colorado all-payer health claims database insurance affordability 2011 colorado legislature election 2011 immigration child health plan plus health law and policy refugees family economic security economic self-sufficiency hospital conversion sidebar newsletter elder economic security long-term care accountable care collaborative 2012 colorado legislature

Sign Up

Receive email updates

Thanks To Our
Generous Donors Like:

Aloha Foundation

Fact Sheet: Hospital Payment Assistance Act

The “Hospital Payment Assistance Act” (SB12-134) helps working families who cannot afford insurance to responsibly pay their hospital bills.

Uninsured patients, who do not have the bargaining power of large insurance companies or public programs, are charged much higher prices for hospital care than those with insurance. Public programs and private insurers negotiate lower prices with hospitals. Uninsured patients are the only group that pays the full listed prices for hospital care. These higher prices are a significant hardship for working families that already struggle to afford medical care, forcing many patients to go into debt, or even declare bankruptcy.

Why is SB12-134 Needed?

Colorado Background Information:

  • A Colorado Health Access Survey reported that 21% of Coloradans have difficulty paying their medical bills.
  • The Colorado Center on Law and Policy’s study, The Cost of Care: Can Coloradans Afford Health Care found that families that spend more than 5% of their annual income on health care are forced to reduce or eliminate savings and educational investments.
  • The latest Medicare cost reports show that total hospital charges in Colorado were 384% of total hospital costs, demonstrating that charges were significantly more than the cost of delivering care.
  • In a survey of Colorado hospitals, the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative found that hospital charity and discount care policies were not always available online and in several cases the policies that were online were not easily accessible.

National Background Information:

  • An American Journal of Medicine Study reported that 62.1% percent of all US bankruptcies in 2007 were attributable to high medical costs.
  • Families that experienced bankruptcy due to medical debt were more likely to have a lapse in health coverage in the two years before they filed.
  • The average out-of-pocket medical costs for a family that declared bankruptcy were $17,943.

The Three Components of the Hospital Assistance Program:

1. Increased transparency standards: SB12-134 would require hospitals to make information about discount programs and charity care available in hospitals and on hospital websites. Patients could also receive this information while they are in the hospital and it would be included with their hospital bills.

2. Debt collection standards: SB12-134 would require hospitals to offer to screen uninsured patients for the discount program established by the bill, as well as any other financial assistance or charity care programs offered by the hospital. The bill would also require hospitals to offer reasonable payment plans to uninsured patients before initiating collection proceedings.

3. Limits on hospital prices for the uninsured: SB12-134 would limit the amount that low-income uninsured patients (250% of Federal Poverty Level or below) would be required to pay on a hospital bill to not more than the lowest negotiated rate paid to the hospital by a private insurer.

SB12-134 gives working families important information about hospital discount policies and charity care and a chance to responsibly pay their medical bills.

Contacts:

Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Policy Director,
Debra Judy, Esq.
303-839-1261
djudy@cohealthinitiative.org

Colorado Center on Law and Policy
Health Care Program Director
Elisabeth Arenales, Esq.
303-573-5669, ext. 302
earenales@cclponline.org

Mendez Consulting
Senior Associate
Jeff Thormodsgaard
303-653-5563
Jeff@mendezconsultinginc.com

Miles Consulting
President
Jennifer Miles
720-407-3381
Jennifer@milesgovtrelations.com

Released Feb. 3, 2012
Updated Feb. 24, 2012

View PDF Document