Recent Work in this Area
Health Equity Statement: The status quo in health care has led to the highest per capita expenditures and worst health outcomes in comparison to economically-similar peer countries. Consumers with the highest barriers to care have suffered disproportionately from these systemic failings. The needs and voices of directly-impacted people must be front and center to ensure that efforts to reimagine our health care system, from workforce to payment and delivery models, advance health equity and improve health outcomes for those with the greatest need.
Encouraging investments in culturally responsive, high-quality care to ensure equitable outcomes for consumers
Traditional fee-for-service reimbursement models in the health care system are not only linked to higher health care expenditures, but also perpetuate health disparities by impeding whole-person care models that meet the needs of consumers with the highest barriers to accessing care. CCHI participates in numerous alternative payment model (APM) initiatives to ensure APMs in Colorado advance investment in health equity and work for consumers. We supported the passage of HB19-1233 which created the Primary Care Payment Reform Collaborative and have continuously had staff appointed to represent the consumer perspective as members of the Collaborative. CCHI also participates in the statewide APM Alignment Advisory Group that will decide by consensus a unified set of recommendations for public and private payers to implement while shifting away from fee-for-service payment models. Additionally, we continue to participate in workgroups and coalition efforts to ensure Medicaid APM initiatives center equity and address pressing health disparities
Ensuring hospitals are accountable to community feedback and deliver on their responsibility to leverage their resources for community benefit.
Non-profit hospitals are not subject to the same taxes as for-profit hospitals, and in return they are expected to provide a benefit to the community they serve. We continue to monitor the implementation of HB19-1320, which built on existing reporting requirements for non-profit hospitals to better ensure the community benefits non-profit hospitals provide align with the needs expressed by the community and help address social determinants of health. Additionally, we are involved in efforts to ensure other investments in improving hospital care, including participating in the Hospital Transformation Program Community Advisory Council, are accountable to community feedback and optimized to improve health equity and outcomes.
Our Work
Protecting Consumers
Coloradans should not face financial hardship because they need access to health care or because they have received health care services. CCHI works to protect consumers from health care industry practices that jeopardize the health and financial security of Colorado families.
Access & Affordability
All Coloradans should have access to the health care they need, when they need it, and be able to afford it. While the Affordable Care Act has helped many Coloradans obtain health insurance, we know there are many that still struggle to access and afford the care they need because they cannot find a doctor or because the out-of-pocket costs are too high.
Social Determinants of Health
Structural barriers based on race, ethnicity, income, LGBTQ status, and age among others, prevent individuals from getting the health care they need and deserve. We work toward health equity by addressing systems of oppression and barriers that lead to disparate health outcomes.
Prescription Drug Affordability
Every year health care costs continue to rise, becoming an even bigger percentage of our economy and an increasingly unsustainable portion of family budgets. We are working to control costs and hold the health care industry accountable to patients.
At the Capitol
Every year, CCHI fights for policies and bills that improve health care for Coloradans during the legislative session and year round within Colorado’s agencies that oversee health care. CCHI ensures consumers interests are advanced and protected in private insurance, Medicaid, hospitals and physicians’ offices, and access to prescription drugs. We empower Coloradans to use their own health care experiences to make positive change.
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
303 E 17th Ave, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80203
303.839.1261
General: inform@cohealthinitiative.org
Assistance: help@cohealthinitiative.org
Media: afox@cohealthinitiative.org