by Christopher Cornue

I've written before about the unique opportunity we have in the United States to pilot many solutions to our healthcare needs and challenges. We have 50 unique laboratories in which we can try these solutions...and hopefully some wonderful and innovative strategies will emerge to help us all.

Tuesday saw the culmination of many long and tireless hours of work in Colorado with the signing of the Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act. While this act isn't unique in the United States (approximately 22 other programs exist in other states, under other titles such as "Provider Fee" or "Provider Tax"), this particular act has some unique aspects to it, which I'll describe in a second.

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The nature of the Act is that each hospital in the state would pay a tax or fee into a general fund that, through a complex distribution formula, would be reallocated to hospitals across the state that have a disproportional percentage of uninsured and medicaid patients. Matching federal dollars would be used to offset these costs further. This reallocation would help to address the costs associated with patients who are unable to pay for their care.

This will significantly help some hospitals in more urban settings and in other areas where their patient populations cannot afford healthcare. It is estimated that this program will help to provide healthcare to more than 100,000 additional citizens of Colorado. The unique aspect to this program, in comparison to other states, is the effort to address hospitals who might otherwise "lose" in this program--meaning, they would pay into the program, but wouldn't receive funds back due to their lower percentage of uninsured or medicaid patients.

A redistribution agreement was established with the Act that will allow for an additional pool of dollars to be created, that will then go out to hospitals who would have lost in this program, but will then be kept whole. This is a wonderful way to make sure that all hospitals are able to continue to provide the care needed, and not have to suffer additional losses (especially at a time where hospitals are faced with decreasing reimbursement and other challenges).

I was very fortunate to see first-hand how a similar program could make a significant impact when I worked at a safety-net hospital in Chicago. This program helped to support the amazing efforts that hospital put forth in taking care of the uninsured and Medicaid populations, many of whom who would never have received healthcare without these funds. I see this effort in Colorado as a significant accomplishment, especially with the provision of making sure all hospitals are, at a minimum, kept whole in addressing the increasing needs of our patients and community.

I was proud to be associated with these efforts in Colorado, and applaud the Colorado Hospital Association, the bill sponsors, and everyone else involved for their foresight and commitment to addressing issues with our healthcare system (especially during a time when so many other programs are being cut). There's more work to be done, but the future for healthy Coloradans looks a little brighter now because of the efforts of these pioneering citizens. Thank you!