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Tag: H.R. 1

Colorado Rural Hospitals Fight to Survive as Costs and Regulations Mount
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Rural Hospitals Fight to Survive as Costs and Regulations Mount

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Editor’s Note: Colorado’s healthcare system is entering a period of accelerating instability — a “tsunami,” as multiple leaders describe it — driven by collapsing hospital finances, shrinking Medicaid reimbursements, disappearing services and a political fight over who is responsible for this unraveling. Healthcare Freefall is a multipart series examining how Colorado arrived at this moment, what H.R. 1 will do next and why communities across the state are bracing for deeper shocks. Healthcare Freefall Colorado’s rural hospitals are facing severe financial strain — with 75% operating on unsustainable margins and some worrying they may have to close. Southwest Health CEO John Theine said the situation is especially frustrating, given ...
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Colorado Lawmakers Grapple With Strict Rules for $200 Million Rural Health Program
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Grapple With Strict Rules for $200 Million Rural Health Program

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Members of the Colorado legislature’s new Commission on Medicaid raised concerns Wednesday about the federal Rural Health Transformation Program created under H.R. 1. The bipartisan, bicameral commission, created in the last legislative session to guide implementation of Medicaid changes under H.R. 1, met Wednesday to begin shaping its recommendations. Cristen Bates, deputy Medicaid director at the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, told members that Colorado is slated to receive $200 million in federal funding each year for the next five years to support rural health care initiatives. CMS requires states to apply for the Rural Health Transformation Program by November, with awards expected by year’s...
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Colorado Filed a Pre-Big Bill Application that Could Save Provider Payments
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State, Approved, The Colorado Sun

Colorado Filed a Pre-Big Bill Application that Could Save Provider Payments

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing submitted an application for a state directed payments program seven days before the bill became law. Colorado is hoping a just-under-the-wire application to the federal government will help soften the blow of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the recently signed tax and spending measure. The application is to create what is known as a state directed payments program. Such programs pull down extra federal Medicaid funding that can then be paid to health care providers with the goal of expanding access to care and improving the quality of the care. Colorado submitted its application to federal health care authorities June 27. Seven days later, President Donald Trump signed t...
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