DENVER - Today Governor Jared Polis signed HB19-1001 into law, a landmark, bipartisan transparency bill that requires Colorado hospitals to make more of their financial information available to the public.
Coloradans -- especially in rural communities outside the Front Range -- pay some of the highest health care costs in the country, and hospitals account for 39 percent of all health care costs in the state.
“Coloradans are tired of overpaying for health care, and this landmark, bipartisan transparency bill is the first step in the process of getting a handle on these costs," said Governor Jared Polis. “This bill will enable clearer analysis of how each hospital is utilizing public dollars and will allow us to identify and address the cost drivers that leave Coloradans with exorbitant hospital bills. This is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to reducing health care costs, but it's an important one, and I thank the legislators for their hard work on getting it passed."
The legislation requires hospitals to disclose audited financial statements as well as utilization and other financial data.
Access to this data will allow policymakers to differentiate between hospitals in different regions of the state, adopt policies that will lower costs, and track whether or not savings from reform efforts are passed on to consumers.
The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the Colorado General Assembly led by Representative Kennedy and Senators Rankin and Moreno with 38 cosponsors in the House and 14 cosponsors joining in the Senate.