An Aurora, Colo., hospital has gone more than 10 months without payment for care it provided to immigration detainees, culminating in about $4 million in uncompensated services, according to the hospital’s parent health system.
UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital has been unable to submit claims for approximately 150 hospital admissions, clinic appointments and emergency visits tied to detainees held at GEO Group’s Aurora detention facility since Oct. 1, spokesman Dan Weaver told Colorado Public Radio, which reported the figure Aug. 18.
“Like other healthcare providers, UCHealth has been unable to submit claims and has not been reimbursed for care provided since October 1, 2025, because of a disruption in the Department of Homeland Security’s medical payment system,” Mr. Weaver told CPR, adding the system will continue providing care for Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.
The freeze traces to a change in how the federal government pays for detainee care. The Department of Veterans Affairs processed ICE medical claims for more than 20 years before abruptly stopping in fall 2025, according to records obtained by watchdog group American Oversight. ICE has since awarded two no-bid contracts worth more than $110 million combined — about $45 million of it to Acentra, the rest to Ardent — to manage reimbursements.
Providers say payments for services on or after Oct. 1 still have not resumed, even as the VA cleared claims with service dates through Sept. 30, according to the records.
The unpaid care extends beyond Colorado. ICE logged 233,772 medical claims between Jan. 1 and Oct. 7, 2025, totaling more than $96 million, the documents obtained by American Oversight show. The claims include high-acuity, high-cost care: 520 heart attacks, 453 ischemic strokes and 936 cases of acute kidney failure.
The Department of Homeland Security defended the delay.
“ICE pays contractors for their services. ICE does not pay contractors while services are paused during government shutdowns,” a spokesperson told Becker’s, referring to two federal shutdowns in fall 2025.
A spokesperson for Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., called the situation “totally unacceptable,” saying the failures “put people’s health at risk.”
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