Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Federal, exists in every state

Using Health First Colorado with insurance you already have

Health First Colorado can sit behind your work plan. The work plan pays first.

What it is

Health First Colorado can sit behind your work plan. The work plan pays first.

This explains the federal rule behind the state card. You do not need a second application.

Billing protection
  • Colorado generally bars an enrolled provider from billing a Health First Colorado member for the employer plan’s deductible, copay or coinsurance on covered, properly authorized care—even when Medicaid pays nothing extra. The provider must follow Colorado’s billing and third-party-insurance rules. The social worker can help check provider enrollment, authorizations, coverage dates and any claimed noncovered-service agreement.
What you get
How two plans work
  • The other insurer usually pays first. Medicaid applies its own coverage and payment rules; it does not automatically pay every remaining or uncovered charge.
  • A clinic in the work plan’s network does not necessarily take Medicaid. Planned out-of-state treatment needs coverage and payment arrangements confirmed.
  • For example, suppose covered, approved care has a $5,000 private allowed charge, an unused $3,000 deductible and 20% coinsurance on the other $2,000. The private plan pays $1,600 and shows $3,400 cost sharing. If Medicaid’s calculation pays $0 extra, Colorado’s billing protection can still leave the member owing $0 for that service, assuming active coverage and an enrolled clinic. This is a billing restriction, not a promise of a $3,400 Medicaid payment.
If you decide to apply
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Health First Colorado work with our existing insurance, and would our care team accept both?”

Why I’m asking: I want to reduce what we pay without disrupting our child's treatment or assuming every remaining bill will be covered.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Give both cards to every billing office and the pharmacy, and report any insurance change to Medicaid.

Your social worker

Points you to the billing specialist who handles dual coverage and checks which oncology providers do not bill Medicaid.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The state Medicaid agency and each provider's billing office
Ask the billing office
“My child has both a private plan and Medicaid. Is Medicaid registered as the secondary payer on every account, and does each provider treating my child participate in Medicaid?”

How to apply

First step: Give both cards to every billing office and pharmacy and ask them to register Medicaid as secondary.

  1. Keep both cards active.
  2. Register Medicaid as secondary with every billing office and the pharmacy.
  3. Ask about premium help the same month.

Where it starts: Apply for Medicaid and disclose the plan. Give both cards to every provider

What to gather

  • Both insurance cards and your plan's summary of benefits
  • Explanation-of-benefits statements for bills you have paid
  • Names of every treating provider and the specialty pharmacy

How long: Nothing to wait for once Medicaid is active. Each provider registers the second payer the day you hand over the card.

What a yes looks like

Bills that show your plan's payment, then Medicaid's, and a patient balance of $0 on covered care.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A bill for a balance after both paid: call the Medicaid plan's coordination-of-benefits line and ask whether the provider participates.

Watch out

  • Do not drop the private plan when Medicaid starts. The disability options often require you to keep it, and the network is yours.
  • A doctor who takes your plan does not necessarily take Medicaid. Ask before each new provider.
  • Medicaid can pay $0 on a claim your plan already paid well. The provider still cannot bill you the difference.
  • For medically necessary treatment in another state, ask the plan and receiving hospital to arrange authorization and provider payment before travel. Emergency care, unsafe return travel, more available care elsewhere and customary cross-border care have federal protections.
  • For qualifying American Indian or Alaska Native members, Medicaid cost-sharing exemptions depend on the regulation’s Indian-health-service conditions. Ask the Medicaid worker to check the exemption; IHS referred care has separate last-payer rules.
  • An authorization decision is not the same as a completed agreement with the receiving hospital. Do not assume a pediatric provider-enrollment shortcut is already in force; have both offices confirm enrollment and payment arrangements.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

Copays and deductibles on Medicaid-covered care picked up, plus Medicaid-only extras. A participating provider takes Medicaid's payment as payment in full.

Covers: Secondary payment on Medicaid-covered care · Rides to treatment · Home nursing, equipment and personal care under EPSDT

Legal protection: A participating provider must accept Medicaid's payment as payment in full, even $0

What it costs the family: Depends on the Medicaid option.

The eligibility facts, as published

Medicaid required
yes
Private insurance allowed
yes

Decisions this site cannot make: Medicaid eligibility · Claim coordination

Expect friction on: Providers must bill both payers · A doctor who takes the plan may not take Medicaid

The trap: Dropping the private plan when Medicaid starts. The disability options often require you to keep it, and the network is yours.

What changes by state: Whether the state's children's range is open to an insured child (Georgia, Texas and California: yes) and how premium help is run.

Where I read this

← Back to your options