The act prohibits debt collectors and collection agencies, when attempting to collect debt that they know or should know is medical debt or to obtain information about a consumer in relation to an attempt to collect medical debt, from making a false, deceptive, or misleading representation that the medical debt will be included in a consumer report or factored into a consumer's credit score unless the information is used in connection with a credit transaction involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount that exceeds the national conforming loan limit value determined annually by the federal housing finance agency. "Medical debt" is debt arising from health-care services or health-care goods, including products, devices, durable medical equipment, and prescription drugs. The act also prohibits a consumer reporting agency from making any consumer report containing any adverse information that the agency knows or should know concerns medical debt. The department of revenue is required to study the effect of prohibiting medical debt reporting and, on or before January 1, 2028, report its conclusions from the study to certain legislative committees. In its initial written communication to a consumer, a debt collector or collection agency is required to include a statement regarding the new prohibitions. Current law prohibits a consumer reporting agency from reporting certain types of information. However, the prohibition does not apply to: A credit transaction involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount of $150,000 or more; or The underwriting of life insurance involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of $150,000 or more. The act eliminates both of these exceptions to the prohibition and substitutes a new exception, which applies to a credit transaction involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount that exceeds the national conforming loan limit value for a one-unit property as determined annually by the federal housing finance agency. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a contract to sell residential real estate to contain, and a landlord of residential real estate to provide to prospective tenants, in writing: A warning statement about the dangers of radon and the need for testing; Any knowledge the seller or landlord has of the residential real property's radon concentrations and history, including tests performed, reports written, and mitigation conducted; and The most recent brochure published by the department of public health and environment that provides advice about radon in real estate transactions. If a landlord fails to provide the written disclosures or fails to mitigate an elevated radon level, the tenant may void the lease in accordance with the statutes governing the implied warranty of habitability; except that after January 1, 2026, the tenant may void the lease only if the lease is greater than one year in duration. The real estate commission is required to promulgate rules requiring that these warnings and disclosures are made in real estate transactions that use a broker. Colorado law requires a radon professional to be licensed. The act exempts a tenant from needing a license when the tenant is testing the property leased by the tenant. APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
In 1942, Colorado entered into an interstate compact (compact) with Nebraska and Kansas regarding the allocation of water from the Republican river basin (basin). Colorado ratified the compact in 1943. In 2016, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas signed a resolution (resolution) regarding a dispute about Colorado's compliance with the compact, through which resolution and its amendment Colorado agreed to retire 25,000 acres of irrigated acreage in the basin by 2029. The act requires the Colorado water center (center) in the Colorado state university to study the anticipated economic effects of the forced elimination of groundwater withdrawals within and surrounding the Colorado portion of the Republican river basin that could occur if Colorado fails to comply with the resolution. The center is required to prepare a progress report and, on or before January 1, 2026, a final report of the center's findings and conclusions from the study and to post both reports on the center's website. The center must present the progress and final reports to certain legislative committees. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $146,286 from the general fund to the department of higher education for allocation to the Colorado water center. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act permits a hospital that has fewer than 50 beds and is a county public hospital, a hospital formed by a health service district, or a hospital affiliated with either such hospital (hospital) to enter into collaborative agreements with one or more hospitals. The act declares the general assembly's intent to exempt from state antitrust laws, and to provide state action immunity from federal antitrust laws for, certain activities that might be characterized as anticompetitive or that might result in displacement of competition in the provision of hospital, physician, or other health-care-related services or administrative or general business services. Further, the general assembly declares its intention to provide a system of review of collaborative agreements by the department of health care policy and financing (department), the division of insurance in the department of regulator agencies (division), if applicable, and the attorney general to ensure that any potential benefits of the collaborative agreements are not outweighed by the harm to competition in rural and frontier communities. Collaborative agreements may include agreements to engage in the following activities: Ancillary clinical services, acquisition of equipment, clinic management, or health-care provider recruitment; Joint purchasing or leasing arrangements, including medical and general supplies, medical and general equipment, pharmaceuticals, or temporary staffing through staffing agencies; Consulting services with a focus on public health in rural and frontier communities and non-hospital-specific innovations in health-care delivery in those communities; Joint purchasing of insurance; Shared back-office services; Shared data services; and Negotiating with health insurance or government payers as described in the act. The act does not grant immunity or other protections to hospitals entering into collaborative agreements that have the effect of setting reimbursement rates or other compensation from any commercial self-insured or commercial health insurance or government payer, dividing or allocating specific markets for the delivery of any general acute care or specialty lines of health-care services, or negotiating compensation for hospital employees that results in a reduction of wages for hospital staff. Prior to engaging in a collaborative agreement, the hospitals shall jointly submit the proposed collaborative agreement for approval to the department and to the division, if applicable. If approved, the proposed agreement must be submitted to the attorney general's office to determine that the benefits of the collaborative activity are not outweighed by any anticompetitive harm that may arise from the collaborative activity. The act includes time frames for the review of collaborative agreements and allows for a request for reconsideration if the collaborative agreement is denied. The department, the division, if applicable, or the attorney general may review a collaborative agreement annually to ensure the outcomes related to the collaborative agreement are consistent with the act. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $30,260 is appropriated to the department from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to implement the act. The department anticipates receiving $30,259 in federal funds to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado youth advisory council (advisory council) is set to repeal September 1, 2023. The act continues the advisory council until September 1, 2028. The act renames the Colorado youth advisory council review committee as the Representative Hugh McKean Colorado youth advisory council review committee. The act appropriates $50,000 from the general fund to the Colorado youth advisory council cash fund. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the department of corrections (department) to contract with a third-party organization to assign an employee of the organization (program developer) to develop and study strategies for implementing a pre-release and reentry program (program) at the Sterling correctional facility (facility). The program must be designed in consultation with the facility's residents and provide program participants with resources to support their rehabilitation and to reduce recidivism. The act requires the department to allow the program developer to work in the facility with residents. The program must provide participants with training in skilled or professional trades and other employment-focused activities, education in skills beneficial to a participant following release from confinement, and mental and behavioral health counseling sessions. The program developer is required to report, on or before December 31, 2023, to the house of representatives judiciary committee, the senate judiciary committee, and the department, about the development of the program. The act requires the department to begin operating the program at the facility no later than September 1, 2024. The act appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the department for contract services related to the program. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a health insurance carrier (carrier) that issues, sells, renews, or offers a dental coverage plan to file, beginning in 2024, dental loss ratio forms with the division of insurance (division) for the preceding calendar year in which dental coverage was provided. The division is required to post dental loss ratio information on its website or submit the information to the administrator of the all-payer health claims database (APCD). If the information is submitted to the APCD administrator, the administrator is directed to make the information available to the public. Once the division has collected dental loss ratio information for 2 years, the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) shall promulgate rules that create a process to identify any carriers that significantly deviate from average dental loss ratios and to investigate the causes of the deviation. The act requires the commissioner to adopt rules that require each carrier that provides a dental coverage plan to issue to covered persons to whom a dental coverage plan identification card is issued a standardized written or virtual card containing plan information. The act also requires prepaid dental plans to file rates with the division. The act appropriates $64,252 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance for personal services and operating expenses. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires adult education providers (providers) that participate in the department of education's (department) adult education and literacy grant program (program) to offer eligible adults basic education in literacy and numeracy that leads to additional skills acquisition, postsecondary credential attainment, and employment. The act adds "digital literacy" to the basic education offered to eligible adults and adds that an eligible adult may earn a high school diploma or equivalency certificate. The act describes services that providers may offer to eligible adults, which include in-person or online instruction, the development of learning plans, coaching, and mentorship. The act amends the reporting requirements for providers of the program, including that administrative costs not exceed 10% of the awarded funds. The act permits the office within the department that is responsible for adult education to use data matching with relevant state agencies to determine post-program participation outcomes. The act allows community colleges, area technical colleges, and local district colleges (colleges) to develop and implement minimum graduation requirements for a high school diploma based on the high school graduation requirements of a school district within the geographic area of the colleges. Colleges are required to award a high school diploma to a student who successfully completes the high school graduation requirements implemented by the colleges. The act appropriates $2 million from the general fund to the department for the program. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to annually prepare a written hospital expenditure report. The act changes the name of the report to the hospital transparency report (transparency report). The act adds specified information that each hospital shall report to the state department for the transparency report. No later than July 1, 2024, the act requires each hospital to provide specified information to the state department for previous fiscal years. The act authorizes the state department to impose certain enforcement mechanisms against a hospital that does not provide all of the information required to be reported to the state department. Current law requires the state department to submit the transparency report to the house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services committee. The act requires the transparency report to also be submitted to the house of representatives health and insurance committee. The act requires the state department to report on the transparency report during the state department's "SMART Act" hearing. Beginning July 1, 2024, the act requires any patient bill to follow industry standard billing practices, including, at a minimum, the date of service, the patient's name, the provider's name, a description of the services provided, and the charges for each service. The act appropriates $75,167 to the state department from the healthcare affordability and sustainability cash fund to implement the act. It is anticipated that the state department will receive an additional $75,165 in federal funds for the implementation of the act. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act codifies the Colorado access to justice commission (commission). The governor, legislative leadership, supreme court of Colorado, and Colorado legal organizations appoint the 17- to 20-member commission, and the Colorado supreme court justice liaison, the executive director of Colorado legal services, the executive director of the legal aid foundation of Colorado, and a representative of the Colorado attorney general serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the commission. The act directs the commission to make recommendations regarding legislative and regulatory changes that could help improve access to justice for all Coloradans, and allows the commission to hire staff. The act creates the Colorado access to justice commission cash fund. The commission is authorized to receive gifts, grants, and donations to fund the commission's duties. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law criminalizes auto theft as "aggravated motor vehicle theft in the first degree" and "aggravated motor vehicle theft in the second degree." The penalties for both aggravated motor vehicle thefts are based on the value of the vehicle or vehicles stolen. The act changes the term "aggravated motor vehicle theft" to "motor vehicle theft," changes the elements for motor vehicle theft in the first degree and second degree, and creates the offense of motor vehicle theft in the third degree. The penalties for motor vehicle theft are no longer based on the value of the vehicle or vehicles stolen. The act makes motor vehicle theft in the first degree a class 3 felony, motor vehicle theft in the second degree a class 4 felony, and motor vehicle theft in the third degree a class 5 felony. The act creates the offense "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" and makes it a class 1 misdemeanor, or a class 5 felony for a second or subsequent offense. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, $24,409 is appropriated from the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account in the highway users tax fund to the division of motor vehicles in the department of revenue for DRIVES maintenance and support. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE July 1, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act increases monetary penalties for cruelty and aggravated cruelty to service animals, certified police working dogs, and police working horses. APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2023 EFFECTIVE June 2, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
