Yuma District Hospital & Clinics is among 29 rural facilities being asked to give back money to the State of Colorado.
It stems from UCHealth recently winning a lawsuit against Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. UC Health sued the department over the classification of Memorial Hospital in Colorado Spring sand Poudre Valley Hospital Hospital in Fort Collins, arguing it cost UCHealth nearly $60 million in hospital provider fee reimbursements. The state classified them as governmental entities when they are privately owned.
Hospitals pay a fee for the care they provide patients, and it goes to a state administered enterprise fund, which is used to collect a match from the federal government. Then, the state reimburses hospitals part of that fee in a way that helps providers that disproportionately provide care for Medicaid patients.
At the end of June, the state held a virtual meeting with 28 rural hospitals asking if it would be a hardship if they could give back money that had been given to the facilities in 2023 and 2024.
Yuma District Hospital & Clinics share would be $1.3 million, and Wray Community District Hospital $1.4 million. According to a post on the YDHC Facebook page, the total for Eastern Plains facilities is nearly $18 million.
Every facility responded that it would be a hardship. Some facilities feared closure if they had to pay back the money.
YDHC stated it would not be in danger of imminent closing, “but as you all know that an additional $1.3 million hit on our budget makes the grown and stability that we’ve been trying to achieve just that much more difficult.”
It was reported that the Colorado Hospital Association and the Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium are working with each of the facilities on this list, the state of Colorado and UCHealth to come to an equitable solution.
In an article on 9news.com, UCHealth stated it deeply cares “about our rural and safety net partners, and UCHealth stands ready to discuss HCPF’s options to correct this while following state and federal law.”
A department spokesman told 9news.com there is nowhere to pull funds to comply with the court order except from the other hospitals.
This development is coupled with the federal legislation that was passed last week and signed by President Trump on July 4. The far-reaching legislation significant cuts to federal spending on Medicaid, putting more of that responsibility on the states.
In Yuma County, 22.5 percent of residents utilize Medicaid, based on 2023 data from the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. That includes 36 percent of the children in the county, and 17.3 percent of seniors. It is 20.3 percent in Washington County, including 10.7 percent of seniors and 35.7 percent of children.
Eighteen percent of the Yuma District Hospital & Clinics’ annual revenue comes from Medicaid payments.
With the Medicaid cuts more people eventually will not have coverage and will fall into the “single payor” category if needing service — the district’s 2024 audit report showed it receives approximately $1 in payment for every $10 of service provided to single payors.
A more-detailed impact on YDHC by the Medicaid cuts is still being determined. Look for more in future editions of the Pioneer.
The YDHC Facebook post noted that future funding streams are uncertain due to the provider fee payback request and the reconciliation bill.
The post concluded: “This will no doubt hamper the speed of improvements we’ve been making, but continuing our growth is not in doubt. Because we must. Because our hospital is vitally important to the people of Yuma and Washington Counties. Because we all deserve health care no matter where we live.”