Colorado Enacts Hospital Community Benefit Transparency and Accountability Law

Earlier this month Colorado enacted HB23-1243 relating to hospital community benefit. According to the a press release from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, the bill, which takes effect in August 2023, does the following:

1. It requires hospitals to provide more specific and detailed spending information, so policymakers and communities across the state can tell what activities and initiatives are being funded, and how those initiatives compare with what the community asked for. 
2. The bill requires the hospital to solicit, consider, and provide the community the opportunity for feedback in creating their community benefit spending plan and any changes to spending priorities, improving on the current annual public engagement process.  
3. The bill expands requirements for HCPF to undertake stakeholder work to develop community engagement best practices and efficiencies.
4. The bill includes the calculation of the value of the nonprofit hospitals’ tax exemption. Colorado’s communities need sound estimates of the value of the tax exemption to understand the value of hospitals’ community benefit spending in lieu of paying taxes.
5. The bill adds reasonable non-compliance measures.

Coverage: Denver Post (subscription required); Greeley Tribune.

Lloyd Mayer