Economic damages: documented, and never capped
Economic damages are the receipt-backed part of a claim: medical expenses already incurred, lost wages, property damage, and reasonably anticipated future medical care or lost earning capacity tied to the injury. In Colorado, this category has no statutory ceiling at all.
Non-economic damages: the $1.5 million category
Non-economic damages cover pain, suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, and impairment of the quality of life. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5, this category is capped at $1,500,000 for suits filed on or after January 1, 2025.
The third category Colorado treats separately
This is the genuinely distinctive part of Colorado law: compensatory damages for permanent physical impairment or disfigurement — think scarring, amputation, or a lasting disability — are not folded into the non-economic category at all. The statute's own subsection (5) carves them out explicitly, and Colorado courts recognize them as a separate category a jury can be instructed to award on its own, with no cap attached.
Why the classification genuinely matters
Because the cap turns entirely on which bucket the damages fall into, the stakes of this classification can be enormous. The same dollar figure, characterized as ordinary pain and suffering, might be reduced to fit within the $1.5 million cap — while characterized as permanent impairment or disfigurement, it isn't limited at all. This distinction is actively litigated in Colorado right now, including before the state's appellate courts.
Future costs still count as economic
Anticipated future medical treatment tied to the injury — a planned surgery, ongoing physical therapy, or expected lost earning capacity — remains an economic damage alongside expenses already paid, provided it's reasonably supported by medical documentation, and stays fully uncapped regardless of how the non-economic or impairment categories are resolved.