Hospital Transparency Measures To Analyze Efficacy

Hospitals - healthcare affordability and sustainability enterprise board - annual hospital expenditure report - hospital report card and hospital charge report recommendations. The act requires the department of health care policy and financing (department), in consultation with the Colorado healthcare affordability and sustainability enterprise board, to develop and prepare an annual report detailing uncompensated hospital costs and the different categories of expenditures made by hospitals in the state (hospital expenditure report). In compiling the hospital expenditure report, the department shall use publicly available data sources whenever possible. Each hospital in the state is required to make available to the department certain information.

Prior to issuing the hospital expenditure report, each hospital referenced in the report has 15 days to review the report and submit clarifications or corrections to the department. Additionally, the department is required to provide a statewide hospital association any information it receives from hospitals in the development of the hospital expenditure report.

The department is required to submit the hospital expenditure report to the governor, specified committees of the general assembly, and the medical services board in the department by January 15, 2020, and each year thereafter. The department is also directed to post the hospital expenditure report on the department's website.

The act requires the department, in consultation with the department of public health and environment and the division of insurance, to determine whether the hospital report card and the hospital charge report that exist under current law require any structural or substantive changes. Any such recommendations to that effect are required to be made to the general assembly by November 1, 2019.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)