I remember the good old days, when $93 million was considered a lot of money.
You know — back when people still gasped at numbers that could build an entire rural hospital, or pave all the county roads, or maybe even buy every kid in Chaffee County a new bike and a college savings account. Apparently, those days are over. For five glorious years, Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy & Financing told its transportation broker: “Hey, just bill those extra-large wheelchair vans as specialty ambulances.”
So they did.
A trip that should have cost about $65 suddenly rang up at $669.
Tens of millions improperly billed became nearly $100 million a year.
The meter kept running. For five years.
Nobody hit the brakes until November 2025.
And when the story finally dropped in January 2026?
The reaction was… polite.
Lawmakers said “Wow, that’s a lot.”
HCPF said “We’re investigating outliers.”
The press wrote a few stories.
Then everyone went back to whatever they were doing. Here’s the part that should make your blood boil on a slow simmer:
Not a single person lost their job.
Not the person who wrote the bad policy in 2020.
Not the supervisor who signed off on it year after year.
Not the director who presided over the slow-motion train wreck.
Nobody. So, here’s my cynical take:
Why on earth would anyone in government ever bother to do their job properly? When a private company makes a $93 million mistake, heads roll, bonuses vanish, and sometimes the whole C-suite gets walked out by security.
When government does it, we call it an “administrative error,” issue a press release about “lessons learned,” and move on to the next budget hearing.
This isn’t just a billing goof.
It’s a master class in why competence is optional in public service.
And we can’t even claw the money back, because people were gleefully following government instructions.
If you can cost taxpayers nearly $100 million a year for half a decade and still collect a paycheck, pension, and health benefits, what exactly is the incentive to be competent?
The message sent to every bureaucrat in Colorado is now crystal clear:
“Relax. The worst thing that can happen is a mildly embarrassing newspaper story and a few lawmakers shaking their heads. Then it’s back to business as usual.” No wonder Colorado State Government claims they have run out of money.
Vince Phillips
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