In March 2022, the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Department) learned that after a multi-year investigation, the Justice Department (DOJ) has concluded that Colorado is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., for unnecessarily segregating people with physical disabilities in nursing facilities. A press release, which includes a link to their findings, may be found here. (Note, the findings do not relate to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or to children; the findings are specific to adults with physical disabilities.) 

These findings do not detract from our shared, deep commitment to creating a system that ensures people with disabilities always have the option to receive their care in the community. Over the past decade, the Department, in collaboration with many of you, has made extraordinary progress in strengthening and enhancing the home and community-based services that are available to people with disabilities. And we view the DOJ’s review and findings as an opportunity to help us better meet the needs of adults with physical disabilities, and we are approaching these findings and our response in that way. 

Over the past months, we’ve talked with stakeholders about ways to address the DOJ’s specific findings. We are asking people to fill out the following survey to help us tackle the big ideas that will make a difference for members. This survey will ask you to rank various ideas about how we can address the DOJ’s findings, which will help the Department prioritize initiatives. We estimate the survey to take approximately 5-10 minutes. 

Thank you for your time and input! If you have any questions, please reach out to hcpf_accessunit@state.co.us

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