Overview
The adoption of House Bill (HB) 23-1215 creates a Steering Committee to develop a report detailing the impact of outpatient facility fees, which are fees hospitals charge for using their facilities in addition to treatment costs and fees charged, individually, by doctors. This report will be delivered to the state House of Representatives Health and Insurance Committee and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, or their successor committees.
Along with detailing the impact of outpatient facility fees on the Colorado health care system, the report will also include the impact on consumers, employers, health care providers, and hospitals in Colorado. The Hospital Facility Fee draft report is due August 1, 2024, while the final report is due to the respective legislative committees by October 1, 2024.
Facility Fee Survey Data Request
As required by House Bill (HB) 23-1215, to complete the data requirements for HB23-1215 Limits On Hospital Facility Fees, the Hospital Facility Fee Steering Committee with the administrative support of the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing requests that hospitals and health systems and independent providers complete the following survey:
- Hospitals and health systems
- Independent providers
- Insurance Carriers
HB23-1215 entitles the Hospital Facility Fee Steering Committee to determine the form and manner to facilitate the submission of information to ensure the report is well-informed by the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. The surveys were developed for this purpose. Section 25.5-4-216 (4) and (6), C.R.S. describes the authority for the questions for the specific surveys.
Evaluating the Impact of Hospital Facility Fees in Colorado
The HB23-1215 Hospital Facility Fee report will specifically evaluate the following as it relates to facility fees:
- Payer reimbursement and payment policies, provider billing guidelines, and practices.
- Coverage and cost-sharing across payers and payer types and denied claims by payer and provider type.
- Impact on coverage policies for consumers, employers, and the Medicaid program.
- Impact on policies and charges for independent practitioners, including a comparison of professional fee charges and facility fee charges.
- Charges for services rendered by health system affiliated practitioners, including a comparison of professional fee charges and facility fee charges.
- Impact on the Medicaid program and uncompensated and under-compensated care.
- Impact on access to care, health equity, and the health care workforce, and history and legal parameters concerning facility and professional fee billing.
The Steering Committee is entitled to receive and request data from the All Payers Claims Database, hospitals, and health systems, Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), Division of Insurance (DOI), commercial payers, and independent providers.
HCPF will provide administrative support to the committee and additional resources are available for the procurement of contractors to perform actuarial and economic modeling and to help facilitate the committee's work.
Hospital Facility Fee Steering Committee Members
- Isabel Cruz, Policy Director, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, representing a health care consumer advocacy organization
- Diane Kruse, Health Care Consumer, representing a consumer of health care
- Dr. Omar Mubarak, Managing Partner, Vascular Institute of the Rockies, representing health care providers not affiliated with or owned by a hospital or health system or who has independent physician billing expertise
- Dan Rieber, Chief Financial Officer, University of Colorado Hospital Authority, representing a statewide association of hospitals
- Bettina Schneider, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, designee of the Executive Director of the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
- Kevin Stansbury, Chief Executive Officer, Lincoln Community Hospital, representing a rural, critical access, or independent hospital
- Karlee Tebbutt, Regional Director, America's Health Insurance, representing a health care payer
2023-24 Meeting Schedule and Handouts
- April 9, 2024
This meeting will be held on April 9, 2024, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM remotely via Zoom. Please register to attend the Zoom meeting here.
- March 12, 2024
This meeting will be held on March 12, 2024, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM remotely via Zoom.
- February 13, 2024
This meeting will be held on February 13, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in a hybrid capacity (in-person and remote).
In-person location: Health Care Policy and Financing, 303 E. 17th Avenue, 11th floor, Conference Rooms ABC. Directions for getting to the conference room: from the lobby, please use the elevators to access the 11th floor. The ABC conference rooms are through the double-doors (north side).
Information on parking: 1740 Grant St. (303 E 17th Ave. Covered Garage); 1682 Logan St. Lot; or 2-hour metered street parking available on Grant Street and E. 17th Avenue.
- January 9, 2024
This meeting will be held on January 9, 2024, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, virtually via Zoom.
- December 12, 2023
This meeting will be held on December 12, 2023, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, virtually via Zoom.
- November 14, 2023
This meeting will be held on November 14, 2023, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, virtually via Zoom.
- October 25, 2023
This meeting will be held on October 25, 2023, from 11:30AM to 1:00PM, virtually via Zoom.
References
- House Bill 23-1215 is the statute establishing the committee, signed May 30, 2023.
- Steering Committee Member's Shared Materials
- If you require support or assistance with the digital materials we have provided, please contact us at hcpf_facilityfee@state.co.us.
Contact Us
Nancy Dolson
Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing
303 E. 17th Ave.
Denver, CO 80203
303-866-3698 phone
303-866-4411 fax
hcpf_facilityfee@state.co.us
If you require support or assistance with the digital materials we have provided, please contact us at hcpf_facilityfee@state.co.us.