COLORADO, USA — A new report claims a lot of Colorado hospitals are not complying with a 2022 law meant to make healthcare more affordable. The Hospital Discounted Care law requires hospitals to tell patients about their rights and offer discounts or payment plans based on their income.
The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI) was a major supporter of law and surveyed hospitals to see if they were implementing it correctly.
"It should be easy to find information that you need so that you can afford your care," said Priya Telang, communications manager at CCHI.
CCHI surveyed 89 Colorado hospitals. The report states that 100% of the hospitals mentioned "hospital discounted care" somewhere on their website, but many did not fully meet the website requirements.
In addition to providing affordable care options to low income individuals, the law required hospitals take extra steps to make sure patients know about the possible discounts. According to the law, hospitals are required to post the information "conspicuously" or in a noticeable way. They are also required to link the information to the hospitals main page.
According to the report, 58% did all the expected website requirements.
"The other 42% were not posting the applications or didn't have information in an area that was conspicuous for consumers. It wasn't easy to find. It wasn't easy to access," Telang said. "If information isn't being posted to a website in a way that's easily findable, then there's not as much access."
The report also attempted to get the discounted care details via telephone. While the law does not require hospitals to provide that information over the phone, the report claims only 18% of English speakers were able to get details about discount care. That dropped to 4.5% for Spanish speakers.
"It's hugely important that consumers are able to access information in their own language," Telang said. "People shouldn't have to worry about going to go get a routine appointment and being saddled with hundreds of dollars in medical debt."
The report suggests hospitals make changes to their website. They also encouraged officials with facility to utilize the training videos the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing put together to make sure they are making affordable healthcare options accessible for those that need it most.
"In general, consumers are already avoiding care because the their medical bills are too high," Telang said. "So if they don't know about these programs that exist that are there to help them, then they're less likely to seek care in the future."
The Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), an organization that represents dozens of hospitals and health systems throughout the state, does not agree with the report.
A CHA spokesperson sent a statement to 9NEWS regarding the report:
"Colorado hospitals work diligently to comply with the hundreds of state and federal regulations, and compliance is a result of constant training and administrative work. Our hospitals continue to dedicate significant staff hours and resources to implement Hospital Discounted Care (HDC) requirements in their facilities, and the results are showing, as thousands of Coloradans have received care through this program in its first two years.
It’s important to remember that there are specific requirements that hospitals must meet through HDC, and much of this “report” instead focuses on the findings of secret shoppers and their experience, not actual compliance with the law. For example, the law does not require specific actions by hospitals related to phone calls about HDC, yet the report lists a “compliance issue” related to phone calls for many hospitals.
Many hospitals actually go above and beyond what is required in HDC, ensuring that every patient at every encounter is offered this information and sign that they have received it).
Finally, it is important to understand that the rate of charity care reported by Colorado hospitals continues to increase significantly – up 60 percent in the last year and more than 150 percent since before COVID. This is due to the increase in patients applying for and receiving coverage through the HDC program, as well as hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who find themselves without coverage because of Medicaid redetermination. Hospitals want patients to have meaningful health insurance coverage so they can receive the health care they need at the right time and at the right place."