Active threads this episode
New This Episode · Fraud · Special Investigations Unit
Medicaid Fraud — Dead Patients, Billed Services, and the SIU Report
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) presented its annual report. The headline: providers billing Medicaid for services rendered to patients who were already dead. This is not a metaphor. Someone billed the government for treating a deceased person. The SIU exists specifically to find this. They also investigate identity theft, fraudulent billing, and provider fraud across the county's health and human services programs. The report is public. The numbers are in it. The cases are real. If you work in health services and have seen something that didn't sit right, the SIU tip line exists for a reason.
↳ Annual Report · Fraud Confirmed · SIU Tip Line Available
New This Episode · Infrastructure Study
Front Range Passenger Rail — The Study Nobody Asked For (Or Did They?)
The BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) received a presentation on the Front Range Passenger Rail study — a proposed rail corridor running along the Front Range connecting Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins. The study is in progress. No decisions were made. The question nobody answered on the record: did El Paso County residents ask for this? The answer is complicated. Some did. Most weren't asked. A public forum is scheduled for March 26th at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center — 3:30 PM. Show up if you have thoughts. The study will proceed either way.
↳ Forum: March 26 · 3:30 PM · Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center
New This Episode · Transportation Funding
PPRTA Road Projects — Your Gas Tax, Finally Visible
The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) presented an update on road projects funded by the regional transportation tax. These are the roads you drive on. The money comes from a voter-approved sales tax — you have been paying it, and the PPRTA decides where it goes. The projects approved this cycle include road resurfacing, intersection improvements, and drainage work in unincorporated El Paso County. The full project list is public. If your road isn't on it and you think it should be, the next PPRTA public comment window is the moment to say so.
↳ Project List Public · pprta.com · Your Tax, Your Roads
New This Episode · Process Observation
A $20 Donation Required a Formal Board Vote
Someone wanted to donate twenty dollars to a county program. The donation was accepted — unanimously. But it required a formal agenda item, a motion, a second, and a recorded vote from the full Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). This is not a joke about bureaucracy. This is the actual rule. Any acceptance of gifts or donations by the county, regardless of dollar amount, requires board authorization. It's a transparency mechanism — it means every dollar accepted on behalf of the county is on the public record. That's actually the right policy. It's also extremely funny when the amount is twenty dollars.
↳ Passed 5–0 · Correct Policy · Very Funny
What happened · BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) · February 27, 2026
SIU Annual Report — Medicaid Fraud, Dead Patients, Billed Services
↳ Annual Report · Fraud DocumentedThe Special Investigations Unit (SIU) presented its annual report to the board. Key finding: providers billing Medicaid for services rendered to patients who had already died. The SIU also documented identity theft, fraudulent billing, and provider fraud across health and human services programs. The SIU's job is to find this. They found it. Cases are referred to the Colorado Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for prosecution. The report is a public document — request it via CORA (Colorado Open Records Act) through El Paso County Human Services or directly from the county.
Front Range Passenger Rail Study Presentation
↳ Study In Progress · No VoteThe board received a presentation on the Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) feasibility study — a proposed rail corridor connecting Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins. The study is examining ridership projections, station locations, funding models, and environmental impacts. No vote was taken. The BOCC received the information. The public forum is March 26th at 3:30 PM at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center. If you have opinions about passenger rail in the Front Range — for it, against it, or confused about who is paying for the study — that is the room to be in.
PPRTA Road Project Updates — Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority
✓ Projects ApprovedThe Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) presented updates on road projects funded by the regional transportation sales tax. Projects include resurfacing, intersection improvements, and drainage work across unincorporated El Paso County. You have been paying the PPRTA sales tax every time you buy something in El Paso County. The full project list is at pprta.com. If your road is in bad shape and isn't on the list, the PPRTA has a public comment process — visit their website to ask how to participate.
$20 Donation — Accepted by Formal Board Vote
✓ Passed 5–0 · $20.00A donation of twenty dollars to a county program was placed on the agenda, motioned, seconded, and approved by a five-to-zero vote of the full Board of County Commissioners. This is correct procedure — county policy requires board authorization for any gift or donation, regardless of amount. Every dollar accepted on behalf of the county is a public record. It is also, objectively, very funny. The policy is right. The optics are a lot. Twenty dollars. Five commissioners. One formal vote. The county kept moving.
Key votes · BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) · February 27, 2026
| Who | Item | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| BOCC | SIU (Special Investigations Unit) Annual Report — received and accepted · Medicaid fraud including billing for deceased patients documented | Received |
| BOCC | Front Range Passenger Rail study presentation — information only, no action taken | Received · No Vote |
| BOCC | PPRTA (Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority) road project updates — resurfacing, intersections, drainage in unincorporated county | Approved |
| BOCC | $20 donation to county program — accepted by formal board authorization per county policy | Passed 5–0 · $20.00 |
Source: El Paso County BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) Meeting, February 27, 2026 · agendasuite.org/iip/elpaso · Not affiliated with El Paso County government.
The Short Version — Episode 003 at a glance
- The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) reported Medicaid billing for dead patients. This happened. Cases are referred for prosecution.
- Front Range Passenger Rail study was presented. No vote. Public forum: March 26, 3:30 PM, Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center.
- PPRTA (Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority) road projects approved. Your sales tax. Your roads. The list is at pprta.com.
- A $20 donation required a formal five-to-zero board vote. This is correct policy. It is also extremely funny.
- The season's longest episode — 19 minutes 40 seconds. The county had a lot going on. So did we.
Full summary
"The most consequential decisions sometimes get the least discussion. And the least consequential decisions sometimes get the most careful procedure. Twenty dollars. Five votes. One very long Tuesday."
Episode 003 is the season's longest — nearly twenty minutes — because the February 27th meeting covered more ground than most. Fraud. Infrastructure. A rail study. A donation worth less than lunch. All of it treated with equal procedural seriousness by a five-person board that had nowhere else to be.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) annual report is not a document most residents will ever read. It should be. The SIU documented Medicaid billing for services rendered to patients who were already dead. Someone submitted claims. Someone processed them. The SIU found it. Cases are referred to the Colorado Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The report is a public document. The number of cases, the dollar amounts recovered, and the categories of fraud are all in it. If you work in health and human services and you've seen something that didn't add up, the SIU tip process exists specifically for that.
The Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) study was presented without a vote. The board received information. Whether El Paso County residents want passenger rail connecting Colorado Springs to Denver and Pueblo is not a settled question — and the study's public forum on March 26th is the formal opportunity to say so. Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center. 3:30 PM. Show up if you have thoughts. The study will proceed either way, but the public comment record matters for what gets built and where.
The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) road projects are funded by a voter-approved sales tax that every resident of El Paso County pays at the register. The projects approved this cycle are on the PPRTA website. If your road is in bad shape and it isn't on the list, the question is why — and the PPRTA public comment process is where that question gets answered or doesn't.
The twenty-dollar donation is a perfect object lesson in how county government actually works. The donation was real. The vote was required by policy. The policy is correct — every dollar accepted on behalf of the county belongs in the public record. It is also, objectively, the funniest thing that happened at a BOCC meeting this season. Five commissioners. One motion. One second. A unanimous vote to accept twenty dollars. The county kept moving.
Upcoming · Dates worth knowing
Front Range Rail Forum
Mar 26
3:30 PM · Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center · Front Range Passenger Rail public input session
PPRTA Project List
Check Now
pprta.com · Your road may be on it · If it isn't and should be, there's a comment process
SIU Fraud Tip Line
Any Time
Health and human services fraud in El Paso County · elpasoco.com · SIU contact through county website
Take action · Four things, four minutes each
Check the Road List
The PPRTA (Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority) project list is at pprta.com. Find your area. If your road is in bad shape and not on the list, the public comment process is the next step.
Report Medicaid Fraud
The SIU (Special Investigations Unit) investigates Medicaid fraud in El Paso County. If you've seen billing irregularities, identity theft, or provider fraud in health services, contact El Paso County Human Services or the Colorado Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud tip line.
Front Range Rail Forum
March 26, 3:30 PM · Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, Colorado Springs · Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) public input · Show up with your questions. They're building the record right now.
Submit a Tip
Have more context on any of these items? Work in health services and saw something off? Know why the Rush Cafe keeps getting continued? Upload here. We read everything.
Watch for · What's coming and why it matters to you
Front Range Passenger Rail — Public ForumMarch 26 · 3:30 PM
The Front Range Passenger Rail (FRPR) study is building a public comment record right now. The forum at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center on March 26th is the formal opportunity for El Paso County residents to weigh in on whether, where, and how passenger rail along the Front Range should be built. Station locations, funding structures, and route decisions will eventually follow from this study. The residents who show up and comment are the ones whose concerns get documented. The study moves forward either way — the question is whether your perspective is in the record.
SIU Annual Report — Follow-Up ProsecutionsOngoing · Colorado AG
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) refers its cases to the Colorado Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for prosecution. The outcomes of those cases — whether charges are filed, whether providers lose billing privileges, whether money is recovered — are public records at the state level. If you want to track what happens to the fraud documented in this report, the Colorado AG's office publishes case outcomes. The SIU did its job. Watch what happens next.
Episode 004a — The Human StuffUp Next
The next BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) meeting covers opioid recovery funding — $705,266 from Region 16 opioid settlement funds, legally restricted to treatment and recovery services. Deputy pay — dead last among Front Range agencies. And the horses. The horses are professionals. If episode 003 was the bureaucratic end of the county, 004a is the human end. They're part of the same county.