Time frame: Please call committee members before the hearing on the Senate Bill 12-134, which will take place tomorrow (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m.

Issue: The Hospital Payment Assistance Act helps working families that cannot afford insurance to responsibly pay their hospital bills. The Senate Health and Human Services committee will vote on the bill tomorrow. It is important that committee members support the bill and take the next step toward allowing working families to receive necessary health care services, without the fear of debt or bankruptcy.

Background: Uninsured patients, who do not have the bargaining power of large insurance companies or public programs, are charged much higher prices for hospital care than those with insurance. Public programs and private insurers negotiate lower prices with hospitals.  Uninsured patients are the only group that pays the full listed prices for hospital care. The lack of transparency surrounding hospital prices makes it difficult for uninsured patients to negotiate a discounted rate for their medical care. The higher prices are a significant hardship for working families that already struggle to afford medical care, forcing many patients to go into debt, or even declare bankruptcy.

Please see the Hospital Payment Assistance Act fact sheet, for more information on SB12-134.

Action needed: Please contact members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and ask them to vote yes on SB12-134.

Contact information for each of the committee members is available on the Colorado General Assembly website.

What you might say:

Hello Senator __________,

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. My name is ____________.  I am concerned about the lack of transparency around hospital charity care and the high prices charged by hospitals to uninsured patients in our state.

For that reason, I am calling to ask you to vote yes on SB12-134, the Hospital Payment Assistance Act. The bill, which will be considered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday, gives working families important information about hospital discount policies and charity care and a chance to responsibly pay their medical bills.

Thank you for your consideration and I hope that I can count on you to vote yes on the Hospital Payment Assistance Act.