Medical bills in Colorado: free care, credit reports and your rights

Can I get my bill reduced in Colorado?

Colorado has a law that requires hospitals to give free or discounted care to people with income up to 250% of the federal poverty level.

These are the income levels written in the law. Each hospital decides using its own policy.

The law

Hospital Discounted Care

Law: Health-Care Billing for Indigent Patients, HB 21-1198; C.R.S. 25.5-3-501 to 25.5-3-507; C.R.S. 10 CCR 2505-10 secs. 8.920-8.928

Which hospitals

Licensed general hospitals, including for-profit hospitals; University of Colorado Hospital and Denver Health; licensed freestanding emergency rooms; hospital outpatient departments on or off campus (not federally qualified health centers); and, by name since July 1, 2026, critical access hospitals.

Who can get help

Colorado residents (you attest that you live in Colorado) with household income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level who received inpatient or outpatient hospital care.

The most you can be charged

If you qualify, you can be charged no more than the discounted rate set each year by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). The rates approximate, and are not less than, 100% of the Medicare rate or 100% of the Medicaid rate, whichever is greater.

Deadline to apply

State law sets no deadline for you to apply. An uninsured patient must be screened within 45 days of the date of service or discharge; an insured patient who asks must be screened within 45 days. You then have 45 days to send the documents the hospital asks for, and the hospital must decide within 21 days after it has everything.

Law: C.R.S. 25.5-3-501 to 25.5-3-507; C.R.S. 10 CCR 2505-10 secs. 8.920-8.928

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Check your income level

Find out what percent of the federal poverty level your household income is, and compare it with the income levels in Colorado law.

Is my debt too old in Colorado?

A lawsuit to recover a debt or a set amount of money owed must be filed within 6 years. Other contract claims generally have 3 years.

What can restart the clock

A new promise or acknowledgment counts only if it is in writing and signed by you. The law says this rule does not change the effect of a payment of principal or interest.

When the clock starts

A claim for a debt starts when the money becomes due. A claim for the balance on an open account for goods or services starts on the date of the last item or service on the account.

Law: C.R.S. 13-80-103.5(1)(a), 13-80-101(1)(a), 13-80-108(4)-(5), 13-80-113

A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.

Check my dates with the free tool →

Can they sue me or report it in Colorado?

Credit reports

Partial limit

A credit bureau may not include in a credit report any negative information it knows or should know is about medical debt.

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Waiting rules

For hospital bills, no one collecting the debt may take a collection step that needs a legal or court process (for example placing a lien on property, freezing or seizing a bank account, or garnishing wages) until 182 days after the date you received the hospital care. Foreclosure on your home is never allowed for hospital bills. Before sending your bill to collections or taking those steps, the hospital must screen you, give you any discount you qualify for, explain the bill in plain language, bill your insurance, and send you a notice at least 30 days ahead with information on discounted care. A collection agency must wait 30 days after its notice or until the validation period ends, whichever is later. If you have an established discounted-care payment plan, these steps can start only after you miss three payments in a row without asking for a deferral, and the provider must notify you at least 30 days before starting them. If you told a provider about your insurance within 30 days after care and insurance paid only part, the provider must mail you a notice at least 30 days before sending the balance to a collection agency. While an insurance appeal is pending, or was pending in the last 63 days, a collector may not report the debt, contact you to collect, sue you or sell the debt.

Interest

At most 3% a year

Interest on medical debt is capped at 3% a year. The state's consumer credit administrator must adopt rules or guidance by December 31, 2026 on how the cap applies to consumer credit for medical debt.

Liens on your home

No one may start foreclosure on your primary home (including a mobile home) to collect a debt for hospital care. Other liens on property for hospital bills must wait 182 days after the care and require court action.

Wage garnishment

For hospital bills, wage garnishment must wait 182 days after the care and the other notice steps. For any debt, no more than 20% of your weekly disposable earnings may be taken, and none of the amount below 40 times the state or federal minimum hourly wage; you can ask the court to protect more if you need it for basic living expenses.

Bank account

For hospital bills, freezing or seizing a bank account must wait 182 days after the care. Up to $2,500 in your bank accounts is exempt for any debt.

Selling the debt

A hospital debt may be sold only under a written agreement in which the buyer agrees never to foreclose on your home, to return the debt if you should have received discounted care or public coverage, and to make sure you never pay more than you owe. A collector may not sell a medical debt while an insurance appeal is pending.

Lawsuit rules

Anyone suing you on a medical debt must attach a redacted itemized list of the charges to the complaint. Before a default judgment, the plaintiff must file business records showing the original creditor, account number, amount and itemization, last payment and the date the debt arose; an affidavit alone is not enough.

Law: 10 CCR 2505-10 sec. 8.926; 6-20-201(5), (7)

Payment plans and interest in Colorado

• Hospitals must offer a payment plan

If you qualify for Hospital Discounted Care, the hospital and professionals must let you pay in monthly installments: no more than 4% of your gross monthly household income on a hospital bill, 2% on each separate professional's bill, and 6% on a combined hospital-and-professional bill. After 36 months of payments, the bill is paid in full and collection must stop. A provider may not push you into a loan with fees or interest instead. For any medical debt, a collector who agrees to a plan of four or more payments must give you a written copy within 7 days showing the interest rate and payoff date, and must try twice to reach you and warn you in writing before ending the plan.

Law: C.R.S. 25.5-3-503(1)(b)-(c), 5-16-109.5(1); C.R.S. 10 CCR 2505-10 sec. 8.923

Surprise bills and ambulance bills in Colorado

State law

Colorado out-of-network billing law

Law: HB 19-1174, HB 22-1284; C.R.S. 10-16-704(3), (5.5); C.R.S. 12-30-112, 12-30-113

Which plans it covers

Health insurance plans regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance. Self-funded employer plans are generally covered only by federal law.

What it adds

For emergency care and for non-emergency care at an in-network facility, an out-of-network provider must bill your insurer and may charge you only your in-network copay, coinsurance and deductible.

Ground ambulance

The state protects you

If you have a state-regulated plan and a private ambulance company that has no contract with your plan takes you by emergency ambulance, you owe only your in-network deductible, coinsurance or copay; the plan pays the company a set rate.

Law: C.R.S. 10-16-704(5.5)(d); C.R.S. 3 CCR 702-4, Regulation 4-2-66

Law: C.R.S. 10-16-704(3), (5.5); C.R.S. 12-30-112, 12-30-113

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Itemized bills and price estimates in Colorado

Colorado law gives you a right to an itemized bill.

If you ask in writing, a debt collector collecting a medical debt must stop collecting until it sends you a free itemized statement: the provider's name and address, dates of service, each service or item, the original amount, interest, fees, payments, insurance and discounts, and for hospital debt whether you were screened and found eligible for financial assistance. Before a hospital bill goes to collections, the hospital and professionals must give you a plain-language explanation of the services and fees. A provider that charges a facility fee must give you a standardized itemized bill.

Law: C.R.S. 5-16-109(5), 25.5-3-506(1)(c), 6-20-102(3)(a)(II)

Price estimates

If you plan to pay for care yourself, a provider or facility must give you a written estimate of the total cost before the service if you ask, itemized by component, in English or Spanish. The final bill may be no more than 15% or $400 above the estimate, whichever is less, unless an emergency or unforeseen necessary care happens. Hospitals must also tell you of your right to an estimate of the average charge for a common inpatient procedure before admission, and must post their Medicare rates. A hospital that was not in material compliance with federal price transparency rules on the date of your care may not send that bill to collections, sue you or report it to a credit bureau.

Law: C.R.S. 25-49-106, 6-20-101, 25.5-1-903, 25.5-1-904

Health coverage and Medicaid in Colorado

Health First Colorado is Colorado's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:

Apply: Health First Colorado · 1-800-221-3943

Where to complain in Colorado

• Hospital bills and financial assistance: Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), Hospital Discounted Care · 303-866-2580
  A hospital or professional did not screen you, charged more than the discounted rate, did not offer a proper payment plan, did not give you the patient-rights notice, or sent your bill to collections without the required steps.
• Health insurance: Colorado Division of Insurance, Consumer Services · 303-894-7490
  A surprise out-of-network bill, an ambulance bill under a state-regulated plan, or another problem with health insurance regulated by the state.
• Debt collectors: Colorado Attorney General, Consumer Credit Unit
  A collection agency or debt collector broke Colorado collection rules, for example on medical debt credit reporting, itemized statements or interest.
• Medicaid: Health First Colorado (Colorado Medicaid) · 1-800-221-3943
  Questions about applying for Medicaid or CHP+, which can cover hospital bills.

Free help in Colorado

• Colorado Legal Services (free legal aid) · 303-837-1313
• Colorado Division of Insurance Consumer Services (help with health insurance problems) · 800-930-3745
• LawHelp.org
• No Surprises Help Desk (CMS) · 1-800-985-3059

Good to know in Colorado

• If you qualify for Hospital Discounted Care, your bill is treated as paid in full after 36 months of payments, even if a balance remains.

  Law: C.R.S. 25.5-3-503(1)(c)

• A hospital or professional that skips the required screening, discount or notice steps before collections can be sued for your actual damages plus up to $1,000 and attorney fees.

  Law: C.R.S. 25.5-3-506(2)

• If a court finds a hospital was materially out of compliance with price transparency rules when you got care, the hospital must refund what you paid, pay you a penalty equal to the debt, dismiss its lawsuit and remove the credit report entry.

  Law: C.R.S. 25.5-1-903(3)

Changes in 2024–2026

August 7, 2024: SB 24-116 limited Hospital Discounted Care to Colorado residents receiving inpatient or outpatient hospital care, added the 6% cap for combined bills and made professionals responsible for their own bills; HB 24-1380 added rules on who may be the plaintiff in a collection lawsuit. July 1, 2025: HB 24-1399 ended the Colorado Indigent Care Program screening and created the Hospital Discounted Care Advisory Committee. July 1, 2026: SB 24-121 listed critical access hospitals as covered facilities. August 12, 2026: SB 26-138 changed screening (third-party data or a state questionnaire, then a uniform application if needed, with notices of your poverty-level percentage and maximum monthly payment); HB 26-1426 requires the state consumer credit administrator to issue rules or guidance on the 3% medical-debt interest cap by December 31, 2026. The medical-debt credit-reporting rule is set to end July 1, 2028, and the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act on September 1, 2028, unless extended. A 2025 bill on ground ambulance billing was vetoed.

Law: HB 25-1088

Questions about medical bills in Colorado

More help

• A collector is calling about this bill (Debt Collector Map)
• Sued over a bill (Debt Suit Map)
• Overwhelming debt (Bankruptcy Help Map)
• Medical bills after an accident (Accident Claim Map)
• Other legal problems (RobinClaim)

Nearby states

Sources