Three Colorado Hospitals Will Cap or Cover Medical Expenses of Uninsured Aurora Shooting Victims
Three of the five Colorado hospitals currently treating those injured in the Aurora theater massacre have announced that they will either limit or erase altogether the medical expenses of uninsured victims.
Children's Hospital Colorado will dip into donations and its own charity care fund to pay for health care costs. Insured victims will also have their co-pays waived.
Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center — both owned by HealthOne — will place a cap or cover entirely the medical expenses of uninsured victims on a case-by-case basis.
Though the two holdouts, Denver Health Medical Center and University of Colorado Hospital, have not made known their intentions toward the uninsured, their standing as Colorado's top "safety net hospitals" suggests they plan to provide at least some free care to needy patients.
The number of uninsured victims has not been publicly released, but the Associated Press reports that one in three Coloradans (1.5 million) has either no insurance or an inadequate amount.
The most well-known uninsured victim of the Aurora shooting is Caleb Medley, an aspiring stand-up comic who may have as much as $2 million worth of medical expenses to look forward to — once he pulls out of his coma.
His family and friends have started an online fund to help Medley pay for what will be a long road to full recovery.
In addition to assistance from hospitals, the uninsured will also be eligible to receive financial aid from a state program for victims of crime.
