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Hospital Discounted Care

​​​​House Bill (HB) 21-1198​, also known as Hospital Discounted Care, establishes requirements for hospital financial assistance policies for low income patients. Patients must be given the opportunity to apply for financial assistance or charity care programs at the health care facility where they receive care, and the patient’s determination covers services received from licensed health care professionals while they received services within the hospital. Service charges are set annually by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) to the greater of either the Medicare rate or Medicaid base rate. Payment plans that are established for patients to pay their bills from a health care facility may not exceed four (4) percent of the patient's monthly household income. For bills from health care professionals, the limit is two (2) percent of the monthly household income. If a bill from a hospital also includes charges for health care professionals, the payment plan cannot exceed six (6) percent of the monthly household income. Once 36 months of payments have been made, the remainder of the bill is forgiven. Hospital Discounted Care also sets rules for hospitals that limit collection actions against a​​ patient.

Helpful Links

Advisory Committee

The Hospital Discounted Care Advisory Committee created under House Bill 24-1399 25.5-3-507 advises the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) on operations and policies for Hospital Discounted Care and makes recommendations to the Medical Services Board regarding rules.

Please visit the Advisory Committee webpage for information on current seated members, meeting dates and materials, and other information.

Hospital Discounted Care Operation Manual and Rules

Questions about the policies and procedures contained in the Operations Manual can be sent to hcpf_HospDiscountCare@state.co.us. In your email, please include the article and/or section number your question stems from.

Rules

The current version of the Hospital Discounted Care rules can be accessed on the Secretary of State website. The rules begin at section 8.920. 

Hospital Office Hours

HCPF will be holding Office Hours on the third Wednesday of each month from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. for Hospital Discounted Care providers to attend as needed to ask questions about the rules, policies, etc. No advance registration is required. 

Hospital Discounted Care Office Hours, third Wednesday of each month at 9:00 a.m.

Call in number: +1 720 707 2699

Meeting ID: 960 6539 2091

Upcoming Office Hour Dates

  • August 20, 2025
  • September 17, 2025
  • October 15, 2025 
  • November 19, 2025
  • December 17, 2025
Professional Office Hours

The Professional Office Hours session on Thursday, September 11, 2025, is cancelled.

HCPF will be holding Office Hours every second Thursday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., and every fourth Thursday from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. for professionals to attend as needed to ask questions about the rules, policies, reporting, etc. No advance registration is required.

Hospital Discounted Care Professional Office Hours, Thursdays at 9:00 a.m.

Call in number: +1 720 707 2699

Meeting ID: 992 4027 1118

Hospital Discounted Care Professional Office Hours, Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.

Call in number: +1 720 707 2699

Meeting ID: 992 4027 1118

Forms
Patient Rights

Per HB 21-1198, the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) developed a Patient Rights form using feedback from numerous stakeholders. The form is provided below in both English and Spanish.

Effective September 1, 2022, Health Care Facilities, which include general acute care and critical access hospitals and free standing emergency departments, must have this patient rights form available to the public and to each patient. This includes: 

  • Posting the Spanish and English patient rights form conspicuously on the Health Care Facility’s website, including a link to the information on the Health Care Facility’s main landing page;
  • Making the form available in patient waiting areas;
  • Making the information available to each patient, or the patient's legal guardian, verbally, which may include using a professional interpretation service, or in writing in the patient's or legal guardian's preferred language before the patient is discharged from the Health Care Facility; and
  • Informing each patient or the patient's legal guardian on the billing statement of the patient rights, including the right to apply for discounted care, and provide the website, email address, and telephone number where the information may be obtained in the patient's preferred language.

Hospital Discounted Care - Patient Information Page

Decline Screening Form

Patients may decline the screening for public health care coverage and/or discounted health care. The decision to decline screening is not final. 

Generally, a decline screening form only covers one episode of care and any services provided related to the original episode of care. A decline screening form may cover additional past dates of service if the patient or their guardian signs a decline screening form that notes those specific past dates of service or a past date range that includes those specific past dates of service. A decline screening form cannot be collected for dates of service that have not occurred yet and are not related to a previous episode of care.

A patient’s decision to decline the screening that is documented and complies with Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing CCR Rule is a complete defense to a claim brought by a patient under CSR Section 25.5-3-506 (2) for a violation of CSR Section 25.5-3-506 (1)(a) OR (1)(b).

Determination Notice Samples

HCPF has created the following sample Determination Notices for Eligible and Ineligible patients that apply for financial assistance under Hospital Discounted Care.

Google Doc versions of these sample notices are available for download for ease of use for hospitals to add information specific to their facilities.

Services and Rates
What services are covered?

Health care services that must be discounted for eligible patients include all medically necessary care received in a general acute or critical access hospital or free-standing emergency department. Services provided by health care professionals in these settings must also be discounted for eligible patients. HB 21-1198 requires that all uninsured patients be screened for eligibility for Health First Colorado, CHP+, Medicare, Emergency Medicaid, and discounted health care. Uninsured patients must be screened or formally waive their screening. Insured patients may request to be screened by requesting financial assistance for their bills.

Hospital Discounted Care Frequently Asked Questions

Hospital Discounted Care Rates

Rates for Hospital Discounted Care and the Maximum Payment Calculator are available online. Hospital Discounted Care limits the cost of hospital care for low income Coloradans receiving services through hospitals’ financial assistance programs. Rates approximate 100% of Medicare or 100% of Medicaid, whichever is greater. These rates are the maximum that can be charged for hospital services under Hospital Discounted Care. 
Rates will be updated and posted annually by July 1 and updated with new codes January 1. Contact us by email at the Hospital Discounted Care inbox hcpf_HospDiscountCare@state.co.us with any questions regarding these rates. 

Hospital Discounted Care Rates

Implementation

There have been three bills that have directly impacted Hospital Discounted Care:

  • HB 21-1198, known as Health Care Billing Requirements for Indigent Patients, created the statute now referred to as Hospital Discounted Care and was originally effective June 1, 2022. This bill has been fully implemented.
  • HB 22-1403 pushed back the HB 21-1198 implementation date for 3 months, resulting in Hospital Discounted Care going into effect on September 1, 2022. This bill has been fully implemented.
  • SB 24-116 known as Discounted Care for Indigent Patients, was signed by the Governor on May 31, 2024. HCPF is currently working on the implementation of this bill.

If you would like to stay up to date with the implementation processes and receive information on how you can participate, you can sign up to receive the Hospital Discounted Care newsletter.

Stakeholder Meetings

HCPF will be hosting stakeholder meetings for the implementation of SB 24-116 and HB 24-1399. These meetings will be open to all stakeholders and are intended for HCPF to share information and receive feedback from the stakeholders. 

Meetings have been scheduled for various days and times in an effort to ensure stakeholders are able to attend at least a couple of meetings. The topics include but are not limited to updates on rules, and plans, timeline, and updates of Presumptive Eligibility (PE) implementation (topics may be subject to change). Interested parties can join via the Zoom link. The schedule of the stakeholder meetings are as follows:

Training
Spring Training 2025

Hospital Data Reporting

Income Documents & Calculations

Screening & Decline Screening Forms

Physician/Groups Data Reporting

Hospital Discounted Care Q&A

  • Question & Answer sessions Slides
Past Training
Winter Training 2025

Professional Data Reporting

Spring Training 2024
Hospital Data Reporting

Data reporting for Hospital Discounted Care is due annually to HCPF by September 1 covering the previous State Fiscal Year which runs from July 1 to June 30. Data will be submitted directly to HCPF using a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) site. Submission data files must be in the template HCPF has created, linked below. Any questions regarding the use of the template should be sent to hcpf_HospDiscountCareData@state.co.us.  In addition, we have added in the template a Definitions, Troubleshooting and Instruction tab for extra resources. Please note that any elements not included in the data reporting may be subject to a more thorough audit in order for HCPF to meet statutory requirements.

Professional Data Reporting

Data reporting for Hospital Discounted Care is due annually to HCPF by September 1 covering the previous State Fiscal Year which runs from July 1 to June 30. Data will be submitted directly to HCPF using a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) site. Submission data files must be in the template HCPF has created, linked below. Any questions regarding the use of the template should be sent to hcpf_HospDiscountCareData@state.co.us. In addition, we have added in the template a Definitions, Troubleshooting and Instruction tab for extra resources. Please note that any elements not included in the data reporting may be subject to a more thorough audit in order for HCPF to meet statutory requirements.

Updates and Communications
Legislative Information
Newsletters

Contact Information

Email:  HCPF_HospDiscountCare@state.co.us