FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2025
Media Contact
Marc Williams
Department of Health Care Policy & Financing
720-626-0801 (Cell)
Denver, CO - The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and UCHealth have reached a settlement agreement, and HCPF will dismiss its appeal of a Denver District Court decision from May 2025.
Two UCHealth hospitals, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins and Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, had been classified as non-state government in determining hospital payments funded through the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise (CHASE) hospital provider fee. Following the court ruling, HCPF agrees to classify those hospitals as private beginning with the federal fiscal year 2024-2025.
“We thank UCHealth for working with us to resolve this issue in a manner that protects all Colorado hospitals,” said HCPF Executive Director, Kim Bimestefer. “Colorado’s CHASE program is essential to our state’s hospitals and to the 1.3 million Coloradans covered by our safety net programs.”
Changing the classifications could have resulted in 28 rural hospitals and Denver Health repaying $59.7 million of CHASE payments received for the 2023-2024 federal fiscal year so funds could be moved to the private hospital category; however, as part of negotiations with HCPF, UCHealth has supported a plan to forgo changes in the 2023-2024 period. This means hospitals will not have to refund any payments made through CHASE in 2023-2024, and UCHealth will not receive any additional funding.
The CHASE Board oversees Colorado’s hospital provider fee, which is intended to increase funding to hospitals for care provided to Medicaid members while also financing Medicaid expansion coverage under the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of coverage under the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) program. In the current and future years, HCPF and the CHASE Board will share more detailed information about methodologies and data used to calculate CHASE fees and payments with all Colorado hospitals.
“UCHealth is dedicated to providing the highest quality care for all Coloradans, and we are honored to be our state’s largest provider of Medicaid services,” said Elizabeth B. Concordia, UCHealth president and CEO. “We strongly support the CHASE program, and we thank the state and HCPF for their collaboration and support of providers who care for patients covered by Medicaid. The greatest successes for patients and our state happen when hospitals, HCPF and the administration work together collaboratively.”
Importantly, the change in classification for these two hospitals does not change the total federal funding for the CHASE program, which would be the same in total regardless of the hospitals’ classification.
About the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing: The Department administers Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid program), Child Health Plan Plus, and other programs for Coloradans who qualify. These health care programs now cover about one in four Coloradans. For more information about the Department, please visit hcpf.colorado.gov.