Colorado Gets Approval for Medicaid Expansion Program; Other State Programs Expected Under Health Reform Law

CMS has approved Colorado's Medicaid eligibility expansion program that requires charging Colorado hospitals $600 million in fees to access matching federal Medicaid funds, according to a report by the Denver Post.

The plan would add 100,000 more people to the state Medicaid rolls. Colorado hospitals that take high numbers of Medicaid and indigent patients and rural hospitals with fewer than 25 beds would pay discounted fees.

Colorado submitted its proposal to CMS almost a year ago, but as of April 1, states can apply for federal funding to expand their Medicaid programs as the first step in the health reform law's plan to expand Medicaid coverage, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

The law's Medicaid expansion, covering low-income people earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level, is expected to bring 15 million more people into the program nationwide.

Read the Denver Post's report on Colorado Medicaid.

Read Kaiser Health News' report on health reform.