{"id":466588,"date":"2026-02-13T16:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466588\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:37:07","slug":"denver-public-schools-moves-to-drop-kaiser-permanente-after-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/466588\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver Public Schools moves to drop Kaiser Permanente after 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 53-year-old alliance between Denver Public Schools<\/a> and Kaiser Permanente Colorado<\/a> may be coming to an end, a split that has pitted two of the metro area\u2019s largest employers against each other, left one district administrator on leave and, if realized, would force thousands of educators and their families to switch doctors in a matter of months.\n<\/p>\n

The potential breakup comes as leaders of Colorado\u2019s largest K-12 district have asked the Board of Education to approve a plan to remove Kaiser Permanente as a provider available to employees who purchase health insurance via DPS and instead require staff to get coverage from either MotivHealth Insurance Company<\/a> or UnitedHealthcare<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

The seven-member board is scheduled to vote on the plan next week, but directors could decide during the Feb.19 meeting to extend DPS\u2019s current health insurance contracts\u00a0 \u2014 including with Kaiser, MotivHealth and UnitedHealthcare \u2014 for a year and restart the bidding process. That proposal was added after the teachers union raised concerns about educators losing access to their doctors.\n<\/p>\n

About 5,800 people \u2014 DPS employees and their family members \u2014 receive their health care via Kaiser, said Rob Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association<\/a>.\u00a0Kaiser is the insurer that DCTA members use most.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant disruption in the system,\u201d Gould said. \u201cI\u2019m not really sure why they want to get rid of it other than cost and trying to push us to a lower cost system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship between DPS and Kaiser soured after district officials said the provider was outbid last year by three other insurers on a three-year contract. Kaiser submitted a revised proposal for DPS last year, an action that drew criticism from the district and, ultimately, spurred an outside investigation into the bidding process as DPS officials placed the district\u2019s human resources director on administrative leave.<\/p>\n

The feud escalated this week in response to The Denver Post\u2019s questions about potential changes to the district\u2019s health care plans.\n<\/p>\n

In the middle of the potential breakup is the teachers union, which alleges employees were unaware they would lose access to their doctors until Kaiser sent a notice in December alerting them that coverage for DPS staff would end on July 1. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked I learned, not from DPS, but directly from Kaiser, that it would no longer be an option during enrollment,\u201d Susan Fortney, an occupational therapist with the district, told the school board last week.\n<\/p>\n

In a statement, DPS spokesman Scott Pribble accused Kaiser leaders of repeatedly violating the district\u2019s bidding process, including by speaking during the school board\u2019s public comment session last week \u2014 an attempt, he alleged, to \u201cimproperly influence the decision that had been made during a legal and appropriate process.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Amy Whited, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente Colorado, disputed DPS\u2019s claims\n<\/p>\n

\u201cKaiser Permanente has carefully followed the DPS procurement process,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Health care expenses are increasing<\/p>\n

At the crux of the DPS-Kaiser dispute are rising health care costs.<\/p>\n

K-12 districts across Colorado are facing significant financial constraints as enrollment, and therefore state per-pupil funding, declines.<\/a> Uncertainty swirls around the future of state and federal funding amid a nearly $1 billion shortfall<\/a> in the Colorado budget and the Trump administration\u2019s threats to cut K-12 money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, costs, including health insurance, are going up. School districts spend most of their money on employees, and districts such as DPS have begun\u00a0reducing their budgets<\/a> by placing raises and unfilled positions on the chopping block.<\/p>\n

DPS\u2019s budget for employee health insurance has increased 20% \u2014 or by about $12 million \u2014 since the 2023-24 fiscal year, from $60.2 million to more than $72 million for 2025-26.\n<\/p>\n

Unlike some of its peers in metro Denver, DPS is expected to balance its $1.5 billion budget this year without having to use any money set aside in reserves. In fact, DPS officials project the district will have a $4.4 million surplus for the 2025-26 year, according to its proposed budget.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

But that may not always be the case. DPS is projected to run a deficit starting in the 2027-28 fiscal year. Such projections can always change, but DPS could find itself in a more dire situation<\/a> \u2014 and sooner \u2014 if the Trump administration pulls K-12 funding.\n<\/p>\n

Four providers placed bids to offer health insurance for DPS employees last year, including Kaiser, MotivHealth, UnitedHealthcare and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield<\/a>. A fifth company, National Script Rx Services<\/a>, was non-compliant, so the company\u2019s bid was not reviewed, according to a document<\/a> posted to the agenda for the school board\u2019s Feb. 19 meeting.\n<\/p>\n

The insurers competed for a three-year contract that will run from July 1 through June 30, 2029, with the option for renewals.\n<\/p>\n

A team of nine people, including representatives from DPS\u2019s human resources and finance departments, evaluated the insurers\u2019 bids and gave them scores out of 100, based on costs, technology and other criteria.\n<\/p>\n

MotivHealth and UnitedHealthcare received the highest scores, 77.7 and 76, respectively. Kaiser received the lowest score, 69.3, mostly because the review team gave the insurer such a low score \u2014 8.9 out of 20 \u2014 for costs, the document showed.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cDenver Public Schools is accountable to the Denver taxpayers and good stewards of money that is provided to the district,\u201d Pribble said. \u201c\u2026(W)ith health care costs rising across the country, employers and employees will see higher costs no matter which vendor or vendors are selected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaiser officials defended the nonprofit\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026(W)e believe there is a fundamental mistake or misunderstanding related to the total cost of our Kaiser Permanente health plan coverage,\u201d Whited said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Kaiser officials have contacted DPS\u2019s team three times in an effort \u201cto clear up this misunderstanding and have received zero responses,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n

An investigation and a top administrator on leave<\/p>\n

DPS officials criticized actions they said Kaiser took after it became apparent the district no longer wanted to include the nonprofit as a health insurance option for employees.<\/p>\n

Pribble said Kaiser \u201cviolated\u201d the proposal process by reaching out to Moreton & Company<\/a>, a third-party consultant retained by DPS, \u201cto ascertain the validity of their bid.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they learned that they were not competitive, they then submitted an additional proposal after the (bidding) process had closed,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they learned they had not been selected, they directly contacted DPS staff, calling out the district for not choosing them as an insurance provider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whited pushed back on DPS\u2019s allegations, saying that a Moreton representative contacted the insurer rather than the other way around. A broker for the consulting firm reached out a second time on Nov. 18, 2025, asking \u201cexplicitly\u201d on behalf of DPS Chief of Talent Edwin Hudson for Kaiser to reduce an administrative fee in its proposal, which the insurer agreed to do that same day, she said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cKaiser Permanente did not initiate contact with a Moreton broker,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have nothing to hide and would welcome transparency about this process. We have done nothing but dutifully follow DPS\u2019s direction and that of its authorized agents throughout this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whited copied the DPS school board on her response to The Post\u2019s questions, adding at the end of her email that Kaiser officials \u201care troubled by these accusations and believe transparency is essential and would welcome the opportunity to speak to the Board of Education, share documentation such as call logs, text messages and emails to verify this version of events.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

DPS officials, after seeing Kaiser\u2019s email to The Post, responded by revealing that the district had conducted an outside investigation after \u201cquestions were raised by a Denver Public Schools administrator\u201d about the health insurance proposal process.\n<\/p>\n

DPS leaders also placed Hudson, the chief human resources officer, on administrative leave on Nov. 21, 2025 \u2014 three days after Kaiser said it was asked to revise its proposal, according to a memo obtained by The Post.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation found that the (proposal) process was run with integrity and that Mr. Hudson did not have inappropriate communication with Kaiser Permanente or any other vendor,\u201d Pribble said.<\/p>\n

DPS hired Employment Matters<\/a> to conduct the investigation, which ran from Dec. 1 to Jan 26, Pribble said.\n<\/p>\n

He declined to share the findings of the investigation with The Post, saying the results are \u201cprivileged.\u201d DPS does not know the total cost of the investigation because the district has not yet received the bill, Pribble said.\n<\/p>\n

Hudson\u2019s leave was lifted by DPS on Jan. 27, but district officials declined to say whether he has returned to work.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur (proposal) selection process for medical provider vendors was conducted diligently, resulting in the selection of the most cost-effective providers for all employees and the district,\u201d Hudson said in a statement to The Post. \u201cThroughout the process, committee members refrained from engaging in any direct or indirect communication, except for a reminder to a vendor that DPS would not accept any communication during the silent period of the selection process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hudson did not respond to a question asking whether he was still on administrative leave.<\/p>\n

A Moreton representative could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026(E)rodes employee trust\u2019<\/p>\n

DPS administrators sent an email to employees on Dec. 8 \u2014 the same day Kaiser alerted staff that their coverage would end \u2014 apologizing for not telling them first. District officials, in the letter reviewed by The Post, said Kaiser sent its notice out \u201cprematurely.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease know that we will do everything we can to ensure a smooth transition,\u201d district officials wrote. \u201c\u2026This means if you are pregnant, are undergoing cancer treatments or have another significant medical need, we will work with you and our other providers to develop a plan to transition at the appropriate time.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the damage was done. DCTA filed a grievance with DPS, alleging administrators violated the teachers union\u2019s contract by bypassing the district\u2019s benefits board in deciding not to move forward with Kaiser.<\/p>\n

Two other employee unions \u2014 the Denver School Leaders Association<\/a> and the Association for Building, Grounds and Warehouse Workers<\/a> \u2014 also filed grievances, DCTA spokewoman Angelina Reed said.\n<\/p>\n

Pribble declined to comment on the unions\u2019 claims, saying that DPS doesn\u2019t comment on grievances.<\/p>\n

\u201cA final decision hasn\u2019t been made,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026(T)he district has a plan in place for continuity of care for critical cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

At last week\u2019s board meeting, DPS employees asked the school board to extend Kaiser\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanceling Kaiser would force educators to change providers mid-care, disrupt prescriptions and delay critical services,\u201d East High School educator Tyler Knauer told the school board last week. \u201cThat\u2019s not a small inconvenience. It\u2019s a real health risk.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He said that not only will his children have to change providers, but East High employees, who are receiving mental health services from Kaiser after shootings at or near the campus in 2023, will have to find new therapists.\n<\/p>\n

DPS teacher Rhys Conly\u2019s partner, who has multiple sclerosis, is now facing the possibility of losing her entire medical care team \u2014 which consists of seven providers \u2014 in a matter of months, the educator told the board.\n<\/p>\n

The discontinuation of Kaiser\u2019s contract means Conly\u2019s partner will have to \u201crapidly schedule a highly time-sensitive infusion designed to prevent her from prematurely losing the use of her legs within two weeks,\u201d the teacher said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way the district handled the decision erodes employee trust,\u201d Knauer added.<\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 53-year-old alliance between Denver Public Schools and Kaiser Permanente Colorado may be coming to an end, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[77105,150,687,3832,66885,9045,1840,217097,217098,217099,3281,97808,217100,526,939,4142,159,97,252,9041,253,9042,7206,9537,2558,1341,259,5004,3,3858,232,36532,3198,38888],"class_list":["post-466588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield","tag-budget","tag-cancer","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-budget","tag-colorado-news","tag-denver","tag-denver-classroom-teachers-association","tag-denver-east-high-school","tag-denver-public-schools","tag-doctors","tag-dps","tag-east-high-school","tag-education","tag-finance","tag-front-range","tag-funding","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-insurance","tag-healthcare","tag-insurance","tag-k-12-education","tag-kaiser-permanente","tag-latest-headlines","tag-medicaid","tag-mental-health","tag-multiple-sclerosis","tag-news","tag-school","tag-schools","tag-teacher","tag-teachers","tag-unitedhealthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}