Colorado Access Reviews
Updated Apr 18, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
- "I may have happily stayed if it weren't for the toxic environment that is created by some in senior leadership." (in 6 reviews)
- "Workload is extremely high, each case manager is responsible for 140 clients and has to cover vacant caseloads since there is high turnover." (in 2 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Colorado Access and is not affected by filters.
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- Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Inspiring mission; solid executive leadership; culture of compassion and excellence; treat employees, members, and healthcare providers well.
Cons
The majority of its business is dependent on a successful state HCPF RFP award.
Thank you for your review of Colorado Access. We are committed to providing the best care for our members and are proud of the culture we have created. We are happy to hear that you have found it to be a positive and compassionate place to work. If you'd like to share more about your experience, please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com
- Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out
Feb 9, 2023 - Management in Aurora, CORecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Mission oriented work. High salaries and generous time off if your boss is aloof. Top talent in pockets.
Cons
I had quite the long-winded list of cons I wanted to write here, but like most at COA I've come to realize that airing these will do no good. To a potential incoming employee, take a peek at all of these reviews. Like me, I am guessing they will not sway you as you're a mission driven individual and love the idea of working for Medicaid and think you'll be the one who will make a difference. I can assure you, you will not be. I have seen so many people come in full of optimism only to be beaten down by the complete lack of real leadership at this organization. A lot of us had hope that things would change with a new CEO coming in. She seems to have bought into the story line that the exec team has sold her, the same exec team that has driven this organization into the ground for the last 5 years. Instead of real change, we got a minor shuffling of senior leadership and we still allow their poor behavior and performance.
Continue readingColorado Access Response
Recruiter
We appreciate you taking time to review our company. We are also proud of our mission-oriented work and the impact it makes on our members, and we’re glad you found a good work-life balance. If you’d like to share more about your experience, please email peopleservices@coaccess.com.
- Former Employee, more than 8 years★★★★★
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Apr 18, 2023 - Anonymous EmployeeRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
...it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. Well, maybe Dickens was right, at least when it comes to Colorado Access. But before I get into that, I guess I can give credit where credit is due. Colorado Access has excellent work life balance. Most managers will be respectful of your time as long as you get the work done and do a good job. If you're lucky you'll also have a manager who supports your professional growth and development, hardworking peers, interesting projects, and opportunities to learn new skills. Throw in 5 floating holidays, a hybrid-work environment where employees can choose if they want to be in the office or fully remote, and a flexible day-to-day schedule; it almost makes up for the insane politics, crushing workload, and lack of direction from the executive team. And if you're lucky enough to work in IT, your compensation is probably decent, but that doesn't apply to anyone else in the company. But I'm getting ahead of myself. All jests aside, the people at Colorado Access are some of the best people you'll ever meet. The majority of folks are mission driven, compassionate, supportive, and genuinely care about serving our members and community. The people are what make it bearable to go to work every day and what kept me around for so long.
Cons
This place will chew you up and spit you out without a care in the world (or any contribution to non-profit student loan forgiveness which they don't mention doesn't apply to employees who work for a business arm of the company). The executive team (minus a few) largely turns a blind eye to talent, loyalty, and strong work ethic while simultaneously rewarding the incompetent and the absurd. And prioritize recruiting externally rather than promoting from within. In the three administrations I managed to survive, my experience with the most recent group of executives was the most disheartening. To bring us back to Dickens, the crowning of a new CEO in 2022 was what Charlie boy might call, "the spring of hope". Annie began her term with a renewed sense of energy, a refreshing dose of optimism and honesty, and dare I say even attempted to hold others accountable for previous wrongs and mishaps of previous leadership. But in the light of day, and in the months to follow, my colleagues and I feared that the optimism and hope that we all shared was to be short lived. The new executive team has proven to be out of touch, aloof, incompetent, and prideful to a fault. Now, I'm sure you're wondering, do I have examples or is this just the rant of a disgruntled employee? There's so many things that I could speak to, but I'll share the top three most egregious things I experienced in my eight years at this company. The executive team has shown time and again that they are incapable of developing a concrete organizational strategy, direction setting, or decision making. Instead decisions are made at the Director level by those who understand the work and care about being innovative and executing on actual work. Unfortunately, the in-fighting of the executive team and lack of communication between senior leaders makes it impossible to move anything forward. If you're looking for opportunities for growth and upwards mobility, this ain't it. Many of the teams are small, and the company does not support role-based promotions so unless your manager leaves you're stuck where you are. To add insult to injury, merit based raises are minimal (at most 5%) and only occur once a year and are completely dependent on input from your supervisor. To make things worse, there is no standard evaluation process which results in inconsistent scoring across the company and extreme variation in evaluations between teams. And, as I mentioned in the pros section, fairness of compensation is solely dependent on what team you're on - IT or not IT. Protection and support for employees was abhorrent. Many employees are too scared of retaliation to bring legitimate concerns and challenges forward. And if you do manage to work up the nerve to speak up, don't expect to be met with support, tangible solutions, or confidentiality. I could go on, but I digress for fear that this might turn into a novella that rivals A Tale of Two Cities. Plus recounting all these "opportunities" is probably not the best for my mental health, and I've been through enough with this place. To my colleagues who have managed to hang in there despite this all, I wish you the best of luck. You're better than me.
Continue readingColorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for taking the time to review our company. We are glad that you found a good work-life balance while working here and that you value our employees. We are always working to improve processes and appreciate your feedback. If you’d like to share more about your experience, please email peopleservices@coaccess.com.
- Former Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Potential bungled by leadership
Mar 16, 2022 - Anonymous EmployeeRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Some good people with good intentions. The overall mission is important. If you are in the right department work life balance is generous. Some real potential to make positive differences.
Cons
Colorado Access (COA) is a company that contracts with the state of CO to administer the Medicaid benefit in the Denver area. On the surface this isn't a con, however once you have been exposed to the knee jerk political decision making of Medicaid, and COA's frantic and strange attempts to make the state happy, you might find it troubling. I'm not sure COA has really needed to compete for this contract over the last many years, and it shows with absent leadership. There are a few leaders I enjoyed working with and I don't want put them all in the same box, but for the most part senior leadership is lacking a great deal. Seems like 2 or 3 talented directors do everything. Leadership at the executive level is remarkably detached and divided, more so than I have ever experienced. Bickering among themselves in general meetings is common. Calling subordinates names like 'stupid' happens unfortunately. The former CEO and some other execs are part time, perhaps that doesn't work very well. Maybe their childish behavior was some kind of internal competition for the retiring CEOs position, or maybe that's just who they are. I don't know, but the new CEO was an external candidate, thankfully. Hope she straightens things out.
Colorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for reviewing our company. We are proud of our mission and the impact we are making on members of our local community. We're glad you found a good work-life balance. We are also excited to welcome our new CEO and look forward to continuing to serve the needs of our members. If you'd like to share more about your experience, please email peopleservices@coaccess.com.
- Former Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★
Pros
Colorado access used to have some amazing people working in the front lines. The longer that I’ve been away from that place the fewer of those amazing people are left. Really all that you’re left with, is a place that does not hold any of its leadership accountable for any of their poor decisions, repercussions of those poor decisions and poor management.
Cons
This place is a hypocritical joke. What they tout as core values will only apply to Certain people. Their customer service agents are held to higher and stricter standards than the executive team. I lack the words to appropriately describe how horrific of a culture this place has cultivated. But hey, if you get hired, just know that when you leave they may offer you a non-disclosure agreement from those tax dollars that all of us pay to fund this poorly run and horrible organization. I declined that nondisclosure agreement. You won’t silence all of us.
Continue readingColorado Access Response
Recruiter
We appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. We’re sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience in the five plus years with our company. Thank you for your attention during that time to the communities we serve. If you’d like to share more about your experience, please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com.
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Collaborative, Analytical work culture environment
Cons
Nothing I felt as a cons working for the organization
Colorado Access Response
Recruiter
We appreciate you taking time to review our company. As one of our five core values is collaboration, we are happy to hear that you have found the work environment positive and collaborative. If you'd like to share more about your experience, please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
COA’s new CEO, Annie Lee brings a fresh approach to our role in the community and commitment to the members we serve. Annie invites everyone to bring who they are. I can be my authentic self at work.
Cons
Our work is complex and ever changing.
Colorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for your review of Colorado Access. We are so happy that you feel you can be authentic and are grateful for all of our staff's commitment to the members we serve. We'd love to hear more about your experience. Please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com.
- Current Employee, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
Everyone is really, truly awesome
Cons
You can't work outside the state
Colorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for taking the time to review our company. We are proud of our employees and their commitment to the people of Colorado. We are also continuing to review our policies to best meet the needs of our staff. If you'd like to share more about your experience, please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
Colorado Access is out to do some good things. The recent CEO hire has me feeling optimistic about the future of the company. There are some really talented people here and I can't wait to see what they do.
Cons
The company seems a little top heavy and it seems that everyone is a "senior" something. Do we really need so many senior this or senior that?
Continue readingColorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for your review of Colorado Access. We are also excited to welcome our new CEO, Annie Lee, and are optimistic about the future of our company. We are proud of the work our employees do for our community and are glad you are part of our team. If you’d like to tell us more about your experience, please email peopleservices@coaccess.com.
- Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Great work/life balance but low pay
Jun 8, 2022 - Health Programs Specialist in Denver, CORecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Work/life balance, management, remote work
Cons
low pay, questionable HR policies
Colorado Access Response
Recruiter
Thank you for your review of Colorado Access. We place great value in ensuring our employees have a good work/life balance, and we’re glad you found that here. If you’d like to share more about your experience, please email us at PeopleServices@coaccess.com.
Colorado Access Reviews FAQs
Colorado Access has an overall rating of 3.1 out of 5, based on over 82 reviews left anonymously by employees. 47% of employees would recommend working at Colorado Access to a friend and 39% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has improved by 8% over the last 12 months.
47% of Colorado Access employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Colorado Access 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.0 for culture and values and 2.7 for career opportunities.
According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at Colorado Access to be work life balance, coworkers, benefits and the cons to be management, career development, senior leadership.
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