A few years ago, many Colorado hospitals faced a common problem: how to cover the cost of patients without insurance.
Hospitals can't turn away the sick, and if uninsured patients couldn't pay for their care, or public programs did not cover the hospital's cost, the bill for that "uncompensated care" was passed on, or shifted, to individuals and businesses with health-care coverage.
In 2009, lawmakers passed the Colorado Health Care Affordability Act to help address this problem. The Colorado Hospital Association and doctors and consumer groups supported the law.
