Kim Bimestefer (Photo courtesy Gov. Jared Polis’ office)
The longtime head of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing reached a nearly $40,000 settlement with the state over disputed wages days before she announced her resignation in the face of a legislative no-confidence vote.
Kim Bimestefer announced March 30 that she planned to resign April 10 as executive director of the state agency that oversees Medicaid, a job she had held since 2018.
At the time, state Sen. Kyle Mullica, a Thornton Democrat, said 28 out of 35 senators had signed onto a no-confidence resolution, which he would have introduced if Bimestefer hadn’t resigned.
Lawmakers had been increasingly vocal in their criticisms in recent years of the department’s increasing budget and of mistakes, such as overpaying providers to transport Medicaid members to their appointments in passenger vehicles.
Bimestefer signed the seven-page settlement, which The Denver Post obtained through an open records request, on March 27.
The agreement waived her right to sue for any conduct by other state officials, including age discrimination. She could still file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Colorado Civil Rights Division, but couldn’t receive any money even if those bodies found evidence of discrimination.
The document also said she would receive $38,117 in “disputed wages,” but didn’t specify why they were in dispute.
No one responded to a message left at a number listed to someone with Bimestefer’s name. Representatives for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Gov. Jared Polis didn’t respond to questions before the close of business Friday.
A public records request showed the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing hadn’t paid any other settlements to former employees since at least 2024.
The new executive director, Gretchen Hammer, was the department’s Medicaid director from 2015 to 2018. Bimestefer took the top job at the beginning of Polis’ first term, making her the department’s longest-serving executive director.
Denver Post staff writer Sam Tabachnik contributed to this report.
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