The Colorado Supreme Court said Monday it will not hear a case involving the state’s hospital provider fees, bringing an end to the six-year legal battle over the program.
The lawsuit was initially filed by the Tabor Foundation in 2015, challenging the constitutionality of the fees, which are collected by the state Department of Health Care Policy & Financing from hospitals and matched by the federal government. The money is redistributed to hospitals to help them cover Medicaid patients and people in rural areas.
“Our Department is now providing health care coverage to about 1.5 million Coloradans through Colorado Medicaid,” said Kim Bimestefer, executive director of the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing in a statement. “The (hospital provider) fee is critical to our ability to fund and serve more than one-third of those individuals.”
A previous ruling by the Denver District Court found hospital provider fees were fees, therefore not subject to the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.