DENVER—Proposed federal cuts could cost Colorado hospitals $150 million a year and end preventive care for uninsured patients, Sen. Ken Salazar and health-care officials said Tuesday.
“We have a huge issue that is facing health care in Colorado that requires the urgent attention of our president and Congress,” Salazar said. “My hope is we are able to fight back.”
Salazar, D-Colorado, discussed the cuts with Colorado Hospital Association and hospital officials.
He said new rules proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and supported by President Bush would cut nearly $5 billion from the federal portion of the Medicaid program over the next five years.
Salazar said the rules would have “a significant and immediate impact” on Colorado, hurting 25 “safety net” hospitals for low-income patients.
Hardest hit would be Denver Health, which would lose $81 million a year, and the University of Colorado Hospital, which would lose $40 million. The University of Colorado said the hospital would be forced to stop providing any non-emergency care for uninsured patients.
Other states have responded by forming quasi-governmental agencies to get around the new rules, but Salazar said the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights makes that all but impossible in Colorado.
Steven Summers, president of the hospital association, said the change puts the state’s most vulnerable citizens—women and children—at risk.
“There is no doubt it would have a drastic impact,” Summers said.
Patricia Gabow, chief of the Denver Health and Hospital Authority, said her hospital would be forced to cut back on preventive medicine and focus on emergency treatment, which will raise health care costs.
“You do the opposite of trying to prevent the need for health care,” she said.
