Senate Health and Human Services Committee Unanimously Passes Senator Moreno’s Hospital Transparency Bill

March 7, 2019

Denver, CO – The Senate Health and Human Services Committee today voted unanimously to advance HB19-1001, Hospital Transparency Measures to Analyze Efficacy, a bill sponsored by Senator Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City) to help increase hospital spending transparency and ultimately save Coloradans money on healthcare costs. This bill now heads to the Committee of the Whole with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar for consideration.

While hospitals are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from state and federal governments, particularly in rural areas, privately insured individuals are somehow paying more for care. In fact, hospital care appears to make up roughly 40 percent of Colorado’s total healthcare costs.

“I’m proud that we have the support of not just Colorado voters, but the hospitals as well, as we work to get a better understanding of hospital spending,” said Senator Moreno. “By allowing a closer look into hospitals’ finances, we will be able to find new ways to lower healthcare costs for every Coloradan.”

HB19-1001 will require that hospitals provide annual reports tracking their spending, allowing state officials to get to the bottom of where this money is going. The final expenditure report would be available online to all Coloradans, as well as presented to the Governor and certain legislative committees.

The bill passed the Colorado House of Representatives on January 31, 2019 with a vote of 39-22 with 3 abstaining.

To learn more about HB19-1001, please visit https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1001.