medicaid
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Healthcare freefall: Economic ripple effects grow as Colorado hospitals face financial strain
Colorado’s hospital systems aren’t just a network of clinics and emergency rooms — they are also one of the state’s largest economic engines. So some 10 hospitals identified at any given time as vulnerable to closure, the alarm extends far beyond patient care. Hospitals anchor local workforces, sustain regional economies and stabilize entire communities —…
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Healthcare Freefall: Finger‑pointing intensifies as Colorado’s healthcare system strains under rising costs, shrinking coverage
Editor’s Note: Colorado’s healthcare system is entering a period of accelerating instability — a “tsunami,” as multiple leaders describe it — driven by collapsing hospital finances, shrinking Medicaid reimbursements, disappearing services and a political fight over who is responsible for this unraveling. Healthcare Freefall is a multipart series examining how Colorado arrived at this moment,…
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Colorado faces $8M repayment demand after federal Medicaid audit
Colorado failed to follow federal and state requirements for certain Medicaid personal care service payments, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general, which is now seeking an $8 million repayment from the state. Additionally, HHS is restricting another $45.7 million in federal payments while the state and…
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Aurora church tied to group that exploited homeless people is under scrutiny
Two regional Seventh-day Adventist conferences that oversee the activities of its member churches across several states have launched inquiries into an Aurora-based congregation tied to a Medicaid operation that exploited the homeless. The Rocky Mountain Conference and the Central States Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church — based in Denver and Kansas City, Kansas, respectively,…
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Colorado kids’ health, education challenges persist, report shows
Despite having one of the country’s highest median incomes, Colorado families are struggling to afford essentials like food, housing, health care and child care. That’s according to the Colorado Children’s Campaign, which released its annual Kids Count report recently. It provides an overview of how the state’s infants, children and teens are faring compared to…
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Colorado hospitals poised to receive $455 million Medicaid funding boost
After years of losing out on the federal dollars, Colorado has been approved to tap a well-known Medicaid financing tool that is expected to bring more than $450 million to hospitals. Colorado did not pursue the financing tool until more recently, with hospital system executives earlier saying that decision had “set Colorado back.” The Centers…
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Colorado health officials say federal budget adds pressure to already stressed system
As the first anniversary of H.R. 1 approaches, Colorado Democrats and hospital executives say the law’s Medicaid reductions and eligibility rules are accelerating financial stress in a system where many facilities were already operating on the brink. Signed by President Trump on July 4 last year, H.R. 1, which the president has nicknamed the “one…
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‘The program’: Caretakers got millions, some homeless were evicted
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Colorado Watch series that looked into how homeless people were offered housing and “donations” from a church in return for becoming clients of a home health care agency that billed Medicaid millions. Read the other stories here. Barely 5-foot tall on her tip toes, Stephanie Swabacker is a pistol of a…