By Mary Kate Morr
Yesterday, the Colorado State Senate passed SB25-290 to stabilize Colorado’s health care safety net in the wake of the state’s Medicaid disenrollment crisis. The bill, which is sponsored by Senators Kyle Mullica (D-Thornton) and Barbara Kirkmeyer (R-Weld County) and Representatives Shannon Bird (D-Westminster) and Kyle Brown (D-Louisville), passed with strong bipartisan support on a vote of 33-1-1.
SB25-290 establishes a Provider Stabilization Fund consisting of a minimum of $130M from available state revenue, private contributions, and federal matching funds available through Medicaid. Through this new fund, the bill will preserve access to essential safety net services for thousands of Coloradans, provide immediate financial support to a broad cross-section of safety net health care providers, and protect critical health care jobs and infrastructure in the short term while a comprehensive, longer-term solution can be developed.
“Our health care safety net has been strained over the last five years, and it is at a breaking point today,” said Senator Kyle Mullica. “Coloradans and Colorado communities are struggling. This is a necessary and important step to stabilize the safety net in the short term while we work on longer-term conversations about how we sustainably support our health care system in Colorado.”
“Colorado’s hospitals and health systems are proud to support Senate Bill 25-290, the framework for a public-private partnership to strengthen the health care safety net,” said Jeff Tieman, president and CEO of Colorado Hospital Association. “With rising numbers of uninsured patients and growing uncompensated care following the Medicaid unwind, this bill helps a broad set of providers continue to deliver essential care. As part of the Save our Safety Net Coalition, the hospital community is committed to raising $40 million over the next two years to help protect access statewide.”
SB25-290 was developed collaboratively by the Save Our Safety Net coalition, a group of health care providers, consumer advocacy groups, and other health care stakeholders – entities that are not always aligned but together recognize the critical need to address Colorado’s Medicaid unwind crisis immediately. The coalition is led by Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Colorado Community Health Network, Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Safety Net Collaborative, and Healthier Colorado.
In 2023 and 2024, an estimated 575,000 Coloradans lost their Medicaid coverage as continuous enrollment under the pandemic ended. Many of those individuals were unenrolled for procedural reasons, not eligibility reasons, meaning they are not receiving health care benefits to which they are entitled under federal law.
The loss of Medicaid coverage is driving significant increases in the number of uninsured Coloradans seeking health care services. Safety net clinics have experienced 25% to 50% increases in uninsured patients, and there has been a 230% increase in hospital charity care since 2019. This increasing number of uninsured Coloradans is financially unsustainable for the state’s health care safety net – before even taking into account looming federal threats to Medicaid:
- 65% of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have reported negative operating margins in the past year, and 81% have already reduced their workforce or instituted hiring freezes.
- 70% of Colorado hospitals are operating on thin or negative margins, and Colorado saw two hospital closures in the first quarter of 2024 for the first time since the 1980s.
- Community mental health centers have scraped reserves, consolidated programs, left dozens of open positions vacant, and laid off staff in response to multimillion-dollar budget deficits.
“Senate Bill 25-290 provides crucial and timely funding that will help keep clinics going so that Coloradans – whether they have commercial coverage, Medicaid, or no coverage at all – can continue to get the care they need, close to home,” said Lydia McCoy, CEO of Colorado Center on Law and Policy. “Our health as a state, and our economy, depend on the doors of our safety net providers staying open.”
According to polling conducted by Magellan Strategies and Keating Research in December 2024, 78% of voters want the state to prioritize investing in solutions to streamline Medicaid access.
SB25-290 will now move to the Colorado House of Representatives. The First Regular Session of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly is scheduled to end on May 7.
Mary Kate Morr is Director of Communications, Healthier Colorado.