Signed! Legislation to Protect Access to Health Care, Stabilize Health Care Safety Net

SB25-290 will support medical providers that serve low-income communities, protecting access to essential health care for thousands of Coloradans

LAFAYETTE, CO – Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senator Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, and Representatives Kyle Brown, D-Louisville, and Shannon Bird, D-Westminster, to protect access to essential health care for thousands of Coloradans was signed into law yesterday.

SB25-290, also sponsored by Senator Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, will provide immediate financial support to a broad cross-section of safety net health providers, including rural hospitals, community health centers, and behavioral health clinics.

“In every corner of Colorado, our health care safety net is in crisis. Senate Bill 290 is a much-needed lifeline to ensure the most vulnerable people in our state continue to have access to health care,” said Mullica. “Between higher costs and workforce shortages, our safety net providers are facing unprecedented pressures, with more than half reporting operating in the negative. This new law fills an immediate need to ensure these safety net providers can keep their doors open and the people of Colorado can still receive the care they need.”

“Our health care safety net providers that take care of our low-income, older, and vulnerable community members are in crisis,” said Brown. “Our law fills an immediate funding need to prevent our safety net providers from closing their doors and leaving hundreds of Coloradans without the health care they need. These dollars will help protect essential health care for so many low-income and working Coloradans now.”

“Without our safety net providers, many Coloradans won’t have access to the preventive and primary care that helps them lead healthier lives,” said Bird. “Higher costs and workforce shortages mean our safety net providers are shouldering enormous financial pressures just to keep the doors open. This law provides immediate, short-term support to our safety net providers so our community members can receive the health care they need.”

Safety net providers include primary care and family clinics that provide critical health care to communities across Colorado, like seniors, hardworking families, and rural Coloradans. These safety net providers have been under an enormous financial strain as demand and costs increase. 

SB25-290 will create the Provider Stabilization Fund within the Department of the Treasury to distribute stabilization payments to safety net providers who provide care to Medicaid recipients and low-income, uninsured individuals on a sliding scale or for free.  

The new law will transfer interest earnings and, if necessary, principal from the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund to the Provider Stabilization Fund as an interest-free loan to be repaid by 2045. Payments will be distributed based on the proportion of low-income and uninsured individuals that the provider serves. 

Congressional Republicans’ proposed budget reconciliation bill would further strain safety net providers, especially rural hospitals that depend on Medicaid funds. Without access to preventive and primary care services, Coloradans are more likely to seek emergency care, increasing costs in the health care system as a whole and leading to worse health outcomes.