Colorado Medicaid Cuts Rates By 2%, Changes Behavioral Health Safety Net Reimbursement Model

On July 1, 2026, the Colorado Medicaid program cut reimbursement rates by 2% for most provider organizations. This comes on top of a rate alignment that took place on April 1, 2026, which reduced fee-for-service payment rates to 85% of the 2025 Medicare rate.

The state is also changing the reimbursement model for its behavioral health safety net provided by Comprehensive Safety Net Providers (CSNPs), which are paid a prospective payment system (PPS) rate for a set of nine comprehensive services. Those services include care coordination and a required set of eight other behavioral health safety net services . . .