Colorado's BHASOs manage non-Medicaid behavioral health across four regions. Here is how BHASO contracting works, how it differs from the Medicaid RAE track, and what the Signal and Rocky Mountain Health Plans networks expect from providers.
If you deliver behavioral health in Colorado, you now live in a two-track world: Medicaid through your RAE, and non-Medicaid safety-net funding through your BHASO. Understanding the BHASO track — and how it differs from Medicaid — is essential to getting contracted and paid. Here is the operator's version. For the market context, see the Colorado CoBHRM guide.
A Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organization is a Colorado Behavioral Health Administration-contracted regional entity that builds and manages the provider network for non-Medicaid, safety-net behavioral health — handling contracting, payment, care coordination, and data collection. Four regions went live July 1, 2025: Rocky Mountain Health Plans serves Region 1, and Signal Behavioral Health Network serves Regions 2 through 4. See the BHA BHASO page.
The two tracks are easy to conflate because they share the same four-region map, but they are separate payers with separate contracts. RAEs are HCPF's Medicaid entities that administer the capitated behavioral health benefit for Health First Colorado members. BHASOs are the BHA's entities for non-Medicaid, safety-net dollars. One quirk worth knowing: in Region 1, Rocky Mountain Health Plans operates on both tracks, which can blur the line — elsewhere, the Medicaid RAE and the BHASO operator are different organizations. Confirm which entity you are contracting with and for which funding.
BHASO contracts sit under the BHA's Universal Contracting Provisions, which standardize obligations across behavioral health contracts to heighten accountability and reduce provider burden. Practically, that means the network expects consistent contracting terms, accurate data submission (now through CoBHRM and TMS), and compliance with the reporting and quality expectations built into the provisions. Get your network and submission specifications directly from your BHASO rather than assuming they match the Medicaid side.
Navix is the operating record designed to support CoBHRM reporting through TMS and clean claims to both your RAE and BHASO tracks — and CollaborateMD, our RCM partner, processes the claims across payers. Because the two tracks share a region map but not their rules, keeping one clinical record that can produce the right output for each payer is what keeps a dual-track program from doubling its administrative work. Confirm current specs with your BHASO or RAE.
See how one record serves both tracks — schedule a demo, or read about CoBHRM going live.
