New State Program Unit Members

The Special Financing Division is happy to announce two new State Programs Unit members, Mercedes Vieira-Gomes and Alondra Yanez Sanchez. Mercedes is new to Colorado and has experience in public health insurance programs in her home state of New York. Mercedes will be working with Hospital Discounted Care (HDC) and the Colorado Indigent Care Program (CICP). Alondra is the State Programs Unit's administrative assistant, and will be assisting with the CICP Advisory Council, Dental Advisory Committee, and various other aspects of HDC and CICP. Alondra comes to the Department with a wealth of knowledge from the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. We are very excited to have both Mercedes and Alondra joining our team, and look forward to them getting to know all of our providers.

Office Hours Extension

The State Programs Unit will continue to hold Office Hours through the end of February for HDC and CICP questions and discussion. A new Zoom link will be available on the Hospital Discounted Care website under the Office Hours section. Office Hours will not be held during holiday weeks.

Patient Rights

Providers need to ensure that all patients are provided a copy of the Patient Rights document during their visit or admission at the hospital, clinic, or emergency room as mandated by rule. The Patient Rights document may be provided to patients as a physical copy, emailed to the patient, available in the patient's portal, etc., but must be provided to the patient in some way in which they have access to it after they have left the hospital, clinic, or emergency room. 

Additionally, providers need to confirm that the digital copy of the Patient Rights document that is available on their websites includes the contact information at the top of the form. The Department has found provider websites that have a Patient Rights document posted without the contact information included. The contact information can be a phone number and/or an email address that the patient can contact to set up a screening application or request additional information about Hospital Discounted Care.

Frequently Asked Questions for Professionals

The Department has received multiple emails inquiring when a health care professional is required to follow the HDC law. A frequently asked questions document for health care professionals has been developed, and is available on the HDC website for providers to access and distribute to health care professionals who provide services within their facilities, or for health care professionals to access directly themselves. Any additional questions not answered by the FAQ document can be sent to the hcpf_HospDiscountCare@state.co.us inbox.

Rates Clarification

Providers are reminded that the rates listed in the Hospital Discounted Care rates files represent a maximum limit on what a provider is allowed to charge for a given episode of care. This maximum limit is set equal to the greater of the Medicare or Medicaid Base Rates. Providers may always choose to charge less for services, especially if rates charged previous to the implementation of HDC were less for uninsured/self-pay patients.