Colorado hospitals provided $141 million in charity care to patients who couldn’t pay during the first quarter of 2025, continuing the steep increases seen in recent years.

The cost of charity care rose 26% compared to the first quarter of 2024, and was roughly double what it had been in 2023, according to data from the Colorado Hospital Association .

Generally speaking, hospitals keep track of two types of uncompensated care: charity care, which they never expected to get paid for, and bad debt, when they couldn’t collect bills they determined a patient should owe. A more generous charity care policy could lead to a reduction in bad debt, though both could increase at the same time if significant numbers of patients showed up without the ability to pay.

The Colorado Hospital Associat

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