Oct. 24, 2023

Hospital Discounted Care Newsletter

This newsletter provides information and updates on the implementation of House Bill (HB) 21-1198, Health Care Billing Requirements for Indigent Patients, otherwise known as Hospital Discounted Care. Low-income patients who aren't enrolled in Health First Colorado or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) will have the opportunity to apply for financial assistance or charity care programs at the health care facility where they receive care.


Please visit our Hospital Discounted Care webpage for more information.

Hospital Discounted Care Updates

Contact Reminder


All facilities will soon receive an email from the State Programs Section Manager that will detail any complaints or appeals HCPF has received for the facility and contain a few reminders about Office Hours, contacting physician groups and audits. 


Office Hours


The new format for Office Hours will begin Oct. 25. In this new iteration, there will be a discussion topic each week that will last for approximately half an hour. Providers will continue to have time to ask any other questions they may have outside of that week's topic. Topic requests will be accepted on an ongoing basis and can be sent to hcpf_HospDiscountCare@state.co.us.


The following are the topics for the next few weeks. Additional weeks of topics will be posted to the HDC website as they are chosen.


  • Oct. 25: Notification of Licensed Health Care Professionals
  • Nov. 1: Collections
  • Nov. 8: Data Errors


CICP Advisory Council Invitation


As a reminder, HCPF would like to invite all of the non-Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP) hospitals to attend the October CICP Advisory Council meeting, scheduled for Oct. 30, 2023, from 1 to 3 p.m. The Council will be discussing updates to the Uniform Application and the CICP/HDC cards, as well as the potential to add discussion of HDC topics during future council meetings. We encourage all hospitals to attend even if your facility is not a CICP provider as these changes to the Uniform Application and card would impact all HDC hospitals. The discussion will also help increase the knowledge of how the CICP and HDC portions of the application and card interact.


Collections


HCPF wants to remind providers that HDC and CICP patients should not be sent to collections prior to the 182nd day past their date of service.


Providers must meet all following requirements prior to sending a patient to collections:

  • Screen any uninsured patient and any insured patient who requests screening for eligibility for public health coverage and discounted care;
  • Discount the charges for any patient who has been determined eligible for CICP or Hospital Discounted Care;
  • Provide in the patient’s primary language a plain language explanation of the services and charges being billed and notify the patient of potential collection actions; and
  • Bill any third-party payer that is responsible for providing health care coverage to the patient, regardless of whether the health insurance is in- or out-of-network.


Additionally, patients must be notified in writing at least 30 days prior to the provider beginning any collection activities. 

Office Hours


HCPF is holding office hours every Wednesday at 9 a.m. No registration is required. The Zoom link and call in information are available on the Hospital Discounted Care website.

Stay Informed

Sign up for the Hospital Discount Care newsletter to stay informed about the implementation of HB 21-1198.


Sign up for our newsletter.