Diagnosis: Debt Colorado
- Lorena Sanchez shows court summons and bills sent to her after she was involved in a car accident in Colorado Springs in 2021 and was taken to the hospital for a brief visit and X-ray. A year after the accident, Sanchez was sued for $24,000. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
About the Project
“Diagnosis: Debt Colorado” is a reporting partnership led by COLab and KFF Health News with The Colorado Sun, 9News and Colorado Newsline. It explores the causes, scale and impact of medical debt in Colorado. The ongoing series branches from KFF Health News’s award-winning reporting on medical debt in the United States.
The first story reveals that Colorado’s largest hospital system, UCHealth, sues thousands of patients a year for unpaid debt while keeping its name off the lawsuits and away from public scrutiny.
Future stories will include a breakdown of the overall scale of medical debt in Colorado and the state’s outsized racial and ethnic disparity in medical-debt collections.
The Stories
Hospital Doesn’t Use Its Own Name When Suing Patients
UCHealth Sues Thousands of Patients Every Year. But You Won’t Find Its Name on the Lawsuits.
UCHealth Demanda a Miles De Pacientes Cada Año. Pero No Encontrarás Su Nombre En Los Documentos
Colorado Leads On Medical Debt Protections, Even As Health Care Costs Remain ‘Out of Control’
Medical Debt Affects Much of America, but Colorado Immigrants Are Hit Especially Hard
The $1.3 Billion-Plus Problem: Explaining Medical Debt in Colorado Using 7 Charts
Reporting and Editing Team
Noam Levey is a Senior Correspondent for KFF Health News.
John Ingold is a co-founder of The Colorado Sun and a reporter currently specializing in health care coverage.
Chris Vanderveen is the Director of Special Projects at 9NEWS in Denver, Colorado.
Sara Wilson covers state government, Colorado's congressional delegation, energy and other stories for Newsline.
Rae Ellen Bichell, Colorado Correspondent for KFF Health News, is based in Longmont.
Lindsey Toomer covers politics, social justice and other stories for Newsline.
Matt Volz is Mountain States Editor, coordinating KFF Health News coverage and partnerships in Montana and Colorado.
Quentin Young is the editor of Colorado Newsline.
Tina Griego is the Managing Editor for the Colorado News Collaborative.
Reflections
The Heavy Burden of Medical Debt
An Interview With The Colorado Sun’s John Ingold on Recent Reporting About UCHealth Suing Patients Over Unpaid Medical Bills
This project was made possible through collaboration between multiple newsrooms and journalists across the state, who are active partners in the Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab.
To support the statewide effort, donate to the Colorado News Collaborative.