Colorado HCBS gets four updates between June 2026 and July 2027. Everyone asks for more of your records. Here are the changes, and how a cloud-based EHR makes each one easy.
Change is coming, and that is good news if you are ready. The Joint Budget Committee approved four updates: family caregiving, caregiver hours, skilled nursing, and shared setting billing. They look separate, but they share one demand. Everyone asks more of your documentation than the rule before it.
On paper, each change is a fire drill. On a connected, HIPAA-compliant EHR that captures work in real time, each one is routine. Here is the playbook.
01Family caregiver hours: one simple cap
Two caregivers at 5 hours each becomes a single weekly cap of 7 hours per member, pending the June 12, 2026, vote. With real-time visit logging and EVV, your EHR shows each household's hours as they happen and flags the cap before you cross it. Rebalancing turns into a quick, planned fix, not a month-end scramble.
02Caregiver hours: a phased weekly cap
A per caregiver cap steps down over the year: 84 hours in July 2026, 70 in January 2027, 56 in July 2027. Members keep every hour, and exceptions stay open if you can show the history. Your EHR already holds a continuous, timestamped record, so the proof you need is one click away. Exceptions become winnable, not frantic.
03Skilled nursing: a new 60-day benefit
A new acute benefit gives you up to 60 days of private duty nursing with no prior authorisation when a member's condition changes or they come home from the hospital (January 2027, pending federal approval). Capture the change at the point of care, log doses in the eMAR, and your EHR lets you start and bill the benefit the same day. Faster care, members at home, revenue captured right.
04Shared settings: fairer group rates
When one worker serves several members together, new group rates apply across CFC Personal Care, Homemaker, HMA, and LTHH aide services (January 2027, at each member's next CSR). With EVV and integrated billing, your EHR logs who was served, when, and together, then applies the right rate automatically. You bill exactly what you delivered. No leakage, no duplicate flags.
Why an EHR wins when the rules change
Always audit-ready
Real-time, timestamped, HIPAA-compliant records that hold up to any review.
Integrated billing
The right rate on every claim. Fewer denials, less recoupment risk.
Less admin
Cloud-based access means no 8 pm paperwork, so your team stays.
One source of truth
EVV, eMAR, notes, and billing in one cloud platform, reachable from anywhere.
Get ready once. Win four times.
The same capability carries all four: documentation that works in real time. Prepare once, not four times, and every rule change becomes a win you keep.
Frisco is the cloud-based EHR built for Colorado IDD and HCBS agencies. EVV, eMAR, integrated billing, and HIPAA-compliant records in one place, so you are ready before any deadline.
This summarizes publicly released Colorado HCPF information as of May 2026. Rule language remains subject to Medical Services Board and, where noted, federal CMS approval. Review the official rule drafts before acting.