In recent years, health care price transparency tools have become increasingly popular as more states begin to prioritize cost transparency initiatives. Legislation mandating health care price transparency has passed at the state and federal levels in an effort to empower consumers with understandable, actionable information on health care costs.
However, while some states are just beginning this work, Colorado is a longtime leader of price transparency initiatives.
As early as 2008, Colorado became one of the first states to pass mandated hospital price transparency under HB08-1393, requiring the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) and Colorado Hospital Association to publicly publish hospital prices. This set the stage for a continued focus on data collection and public reporting.
In 2010, Colorado built on this momentum by passing groundbreaking legislation establishing the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) with HB10-1330, and also mandating the administrator of the CO APCD to create a consumer-friendly health care shopping tool. To meet this mandate, CIVHC created the Shop for Care tool which was first published in 2012, and established Colorado as one of few states to have a price transparency tool based on APCD data as opposed to self-reported provider data.
Building on these early efforts and the increased need for price transparency information for policy implementation and employer use, among others, Colorado now has multiple valuable price transparency tools to enable decision-making. A new cost transparency tool matrix released by CIVHC details the suite of state-backed tools that help illuminate health care pricing in Colorado.
Different Tools for Different Needs
Colorado offers a multitude of tools, all regularly maintained and updated to ensure relevance even in a quickly changing health care landscape. This comparative list details each tool developed by Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC), the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF, the state’s Medicaid department), and other state entities. For each tool, the matrix lists the intended purpose, audience, and function so users with different needs can identify which tool will be most helpful to them. While some explore similar topics, the variety in Colorado’s price transparency tools address diverse needs across the health care spectrum:
- Consumers: Tools like Shop for Care and the Colorado Price Transparency Report help patients investigate costs for services and specific facilities, enabling cost comparisons that lead to smarter health care decisions.
- Employers and Payers: Use resources such as the Medicare Reference Base Price Report and Breakeven Analysis to inform rate negotiations and control costs
- Policymakers: Several tools are reinforced through statutory requirement, help ensure compliance with federal and state mandates and help identify areas to improve affordability and equity.
Available via interactive dashboards and downloadable reports, these tools make cost data accessible, user-friendly, and practical for decision-making. Explore the public price transparency tool matrix and Colorado’s state-backed tools to see how Colorado continues to lead the way in health care price transparency.