MEDIA RELEASE
March 26, 2018
Contact: Adam Fox, 303-563-9108, afox@cohealthinitiative.org
Katie Reinisch, 303-653-1009, Katie@progressive-promotions.com
DENVER – Today, the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, the state’s leading advocate for healthcare consumers, praised the House of Representatives for supporting legislation that will help policy-makers better track the costs at Freestanding Emergency Rooms (FSERs) that are affiliated with a hospital. On a vote of 58-3, the House approved House Bill 1282.
Right now, many FSERs file claims and cost information under the identification number of a hospital with which they are affiliated. This makes it nearly impossible to analyze and understand the costs associated with FSERs when compared with emergency services at an actual hospital.
HB 1282 requires that each FSER has their own identification number rather than being included in their parent hospital number. This will ensure that Colorado can correctly link costs and claims information to these facilities and make that information available to patients and policymakers.
“Simply creating a unique ID number will provide essential information about the overall costs from FSERs as opposed to those from hospitals,” said said Adam Fox, Director of Strategic Engagement of CCHI. “This will help policymakers better understand how FSERs are affecting consumers’ costs. We hope the Senate will also support this proposal and send it on to Governor.”
HB 1282 now advances to the Senate.
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Colorado Consumer Health Initiative represents 45+ Colorado health organizations with more than 500,000 health care consumer members, advocating for high-quality, affordable, and equitable health care for all Coloradans.