Colorado Healthcare Payment System Analysis

Overview

During its 2025 regular session, the Colorado General Assembly commissioned the Colorado Healthcare Payment System Analysis (HPSA), a research initiative at the Colorado School of Public Health's Department of Health Systems, Management, and Policy, to conduct a new study that will analyze options for implementing a universal healthcare payment system that ensures access to high-quality care for all Coloradans.

Authorized by Senate Bill 25-045 at the school, HPSA will study the implementation and impact of a statewide universal health-care payment system for Colorado, including the system’s overall costs, financing mechanisms, payment policies, and its impact on patients, healthcare providers, employers, rural communities, the statewide economy, and the public’s health.

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Who We Are & What We Do

The Health Systems, Management, and Policy Department is a team of health services researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Our research explores how the U.S. healthcare system functions and what can be done to improve outcomes and control costs.

SB 25-045 charges the School with: (1) analyzing draft model legislation for implementing a single-payer healthcare payment system in Colorado; and (2) exploring other reforms that would achieve universal healthcare in Colorado.

HPSA will utilize rich Colorado-specific data sources and employ state-of-the-art statistical and econometric analysis methods to produce reliable scientific evidence for Colorado’s legislature and the people it serves. SB 25-045 also authorizes an advisory body, the Statewide Healthcare Analysis Collaborative, to advise the school in conducting the HPSA study.

Project Leadership & Team

Research Team

Cathy Bradley, PhD

Glen Mays, PhD, MPH

Beth McManus, PT, MPH, ScD

Elizabeth Molina Kuna, MPH

Tran Doan, PhD, MPH

Gregory Tung, PhD, MPH

Research Assistants

Noor Alrubaye, MPH

Paola Tapia Muñoz

Sharper Sikota

Project Operations, Finance, and Administration

Travis Leiker, MPA

Latest Team Reports

May 2026 – July 2026: The HPSA research team continues to clean, aggregate and analyze data from the Colorado All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) and related state and national data sources required for measuring health insurance enrollment, healthcare utilization, and healthcare payments for all Colorado residents with public and private health insurance coverage. The team has developed statistical models for imputing data for population groups that are incompletely represented in the HPSA data sources, including individuals who are uninsured, individuals enrolled in non-reporting ERISA health plans, and individuals who receive services for substance use disorders.

The team has developed statistical models for forecasting future demographic changes in the Colorado resident population, using estimates from the Colorado State Demography Office, including mortality, natality, and net migration patterns into and out of the state. The team is currently completing statistical calibration and weighting analyses to ensure that the HPSA data and statistical models accurately reflect distributional characteristics of Colorado’s resident population, its healthcare providers, and its current patterns of healthcare utilization and spending.

Finally, the research team continues to receive, review and catalogue comments submitted by members of the study advisory committee and the public at large via the study’s dedicated email account (hpsa@cuanschutz.edu). Key ideas and common themes continue to be identified and synthesized to ensure that these comments inform the research team’s approaches to data analysis, interpretation, and communication of study findings.

Over the last four months, the Colorado School of Public Health has made significant progress with fundraising, workforce development, data analytics, and strengthening stakeholder relationships. On the fundraising front, the project successfully completed its full fundraising goal of $750,000 in February 2026, ensuring the resources needed to advance upcoming phases of work. In terms of workforce, we have assembled a strong team of doctoral students and core project faculty and, in February, added an additional faculty member with subject-matter expertise in the areas of hospitals and hospital administration. The team is well-rounded with expertise in health economics, healthcare delivery, large database analysis, and policy evaluation. Team members are actively engaged in preparatory data analytics, including cleaning, formatting, and creating the analytic CIVHC database. Additionally, the team is synthesizing current literature and statewide initiatives to develop specifications for the health system options to be modeled. The team is also finalizing the application for the Health and Retirement Survey data to provide cost estimates for the long term care options. Lastly, core project members engaged with the Statewide Healthcare Analysis Collaborative on February 23, 2026. This was a productive meeting where Collaborative members shared questions, considerations, and opportunities. At this meeting, the email address for public comment was shared (hpsa@cuanschutz.edu), and the project team welcomes questions and feedback. These developments reflect our continued commitment to creating robust cost estimates of relevant and innovative healthcare policy options while working alongside the community to chart next steps.

Over the past two months, the ColoradoSPH team has made meaningful strides toward advancing our research, funding, and operational goals. We successfully completed the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application and are now awaiting final approval—a critical milestone that will allow us to move forward with data analysis. In parallel, our request for data from the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) has been approved, and we are in the process of finalizing the purchase. While data delivery will occur only after IRB clearance, these steps position us well for the next phase of the project. On the funding front, we are thrilled to report nearly $320,000 raised to support project activities. This achievement reflects the success of recent community meetings and virtual fundraising events, which have not only generated resources but also strengthened relationships with key stakeholders across Colorado. Looking ahead, we are actively assessing staffing needs to ensure we have the right expertise in place for data analysis and community outreach. In addition, we are working to identify internal researchers within the Colorado School of Public Health who can contribute specialized knowledge to our efforts. Building a strong, interdisciplinary team remains a top priority as we prepare for the next stage of implementation. These developments underscore our commitment to creating a robust, collaborative framework for improving health care payment systems in Colorado.

ColoradoSPH faculty and staff made meaningful progress on the Colorado Healthcare Payment System Analysis study. The team delivered a presentation to the collective of organizations who supported the passage of SB 25-045--to introduce the research team and to emphasize our research approach. The project received another $100,000 in funding commitments, further strengthening the financial foundation to move the project forward. As of August 31, 2025, the team of supporters and university staff have raised more than $135,000. In-person and virtual fundraisers are underway. To enhance the project’s value as a resource, we added several benchmark studies from across the United States to the project site. These additions provide the public with comparative insights and to help frame this research within a broader national context.

Draft model legislation has been identified and pursuant to SB 24-045, the content has been posted in order to meet the July 1, 2025, deadline. In addition, individuals and organizations are stepping up to support the Colorado School of Public Health and its newly established Health Payment System Analysis (HPSA) study, with $25,500 in initial funds secured to cover immediate project startup costs including administrative needs, website development, legal and fiscal compliance, and researcher time.

Draft Model Legislation

Pursuant to Senate Bill 25-045, the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care has drafted model legislation for implementing a single-payer, nonprofit, publicly financed, and privately delivered universal healthcare payment system for Colorado. The HPSA study will analyze this model legislation as one option for achieving a universal healthcare system, and compare it with alternative options for achieving universal healthcare.

To ensure objectivity, this model legislation was developed independently by the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care and it does not necessarily represent the views and recommendations of the Colorado School of Public Health, the Colorado General Assembly, the Statewide Healthcare Analysis Collaborative, or others involved in the HPSA study.

Research and Other Resources

Public Meetings

Access the First Public Meeting agenda.

Access the Health Payment System Analysis Agenda

Access the Health Payment System Analysis Presentation

Access the Health Payment System Analysis Agenda

Colorado School of Public Health

CU Anschutz

Fitzsimons Building

13001 East 17th Place

3rd Floor

Mail Stop B119

Aurora, CO 80045

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