The act changes current state law to align with the federal "No Surprises Act" (federal act) by: Allowing a covered person who requests an independent external review of a health-care coverage decision to request a review to determine if the services that were provided or may be provided by an out-of-network provider or facility are subject to an in-network benefit level of coverage; Requiring that payments made for health-care services provided at an in-network facility or by an out-of-network provider be applied to the covered person's in-network deductible and any out-of-pocket maximum amounts as if the services were provided by an in-network provider; Requiring that emergency health-care services, regardless of the facility at which they are provided, be covered at the in-network benefit level; Requiring each health insurance carrier (carrier) to cover post-stabilization services to stabilize a patient after a medical emergency at the in-network benefit level; Requiring carriers to develop disclosures to provide to covered persons that comply with the act; Requiring the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) and certain regulators of health-care occupations to adopt rules concerning disclosure requirements, including a list of ancillary services for which a provider or facility cannot charge a balance bill; Requiring the commissioner to convene a work group to facilitate and streamline the implementation of the payment of claims for services provided by an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility and for services surrounding a medical emergency; Prohibiting a carrier from recalculating a covered person's cost-sharing amount based on an additional payment made as a result of arbitration; Requiring the parties to an arbitration over health-care coverage to split the costs of the arbitrator if the parties reach an agreement before the final decision of the arbitrator; Authorizing the commissioner to promulgate rules to implement the requirements of the act, including rules necessary to implement the requirements of the federal act; Changing the amount of time that a managed care plan must allow a person to continue to receive care from a provider from 60 after the date an in-network provider is terminated from a plan without cause to up to 90 days after a carrier provides notice that the contract is terminated; Implementing specific requirements for health-care coverage and services for covered persons who are continuing care patients of a provider or facility whose contract with the patient's health insurer is terminated; Authorizing the regulator of health-care providers, in consultation with the commissioner, to adopt rules concerning consumer disclosures; Allowing an out-of-network provider and an out-of-network facility to charge a covered person a balance bill for health-care services other than ancillary services if the out-of-network provider complies with specific notice requirements and obtains the covered person's signed consent; and Requiring a carrier offering an individual health benefit plan or short-term limited duration health insurance policy to make consumer disclosures. The act changes from January 1 to March 1 the date by which a carrier is required to submit information to the commissioner concerning the use of out-of-network providers and out-of-network facilities and the impact on health insurance premiums for consumers. $233,018 is appropriated from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use in the 2022-23 state fiscal year for personal services, operating expenses, and to purchase legal services, and of that amount, $88,713 is reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services for the department of regulatory agencies. $7,506 is appropriated from the health facilities general licensure cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use in the 2022-23 state fiscal year by health facilities and emergency medical services division to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act prohibits a hospital or other person or entity collecting on behalf of the hospital from initiating or pursuing collection actions against a patient or patient guarantor for debt incurred by the patient on the date or dates of service when the hospital was not in material compliance with federal hospital price transparency laws. Nothing in the act: Prohibits a hospital from billing a patient or health insurer for items or services provided to the patient; or Requires a hospital to refund a payment made to the hospital for items or services provided to a patient. If a patient believes that a hospital was not in material compliance with price transparency laws, the patient or patient guarantor may file a lawsuit. If a judge or jury finds the hospital out of material compliance with federal hospital price transparency laws, the hospital is subject to a penalty equal to the amount of the debt, must refund any amount paid on the debt, dismiss any court action initiated by the hospital, and pay attorney fees and costs the patient or patient guarantor incurred relating to the action. Critical access hospitals have until February 15, 2023, to comply with federal hospital price transparency laws before the provisions of the act apply. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act repeals the provision that repeals the conservation district grant fund (fund) on December 31, 2022. The act also requires, on an annual basis: The state treasurer to transfer $148,000 from the general fund to the fund; and The department of agriculture to distribute $2,000 from the fund to each conservation district.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act corrects defects in the definitions of "bulk transfer and terminal system" and "gasoline", which defects resulted from legislation enacted in 2021. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a refundable income tax credit (credit) that is available for the income tax year commencing on January 1, 2022, for a qualifying senior, which means a resident individual who: Is 65 years of age or older at the end of 2022; Has federal adjusted gross income (AGI) that is less than or equal to $75,000; and Has not claimed a homestead property tax exemption for the 2022 property tax year. The amount of the credit is $1,000 for a qualifying senior with federal AGI that is $25,000 or less. For every $500 of AGI above $25,000, the amount of the credit is reduced by $10. In the case of 2 taxpayers who share the same primary residence and who may legally file a joint return but actually file separate returns, both taxpayers may claim the credit, but the maximum credit for each taxpayer is $500 and, for every $500 of adjusted gross income above $25,000, the amount of the credit is reduced by $5. Notwithstanding the income-based reductions in the allowable credit amount, a taxpayer who also qualifies for a property tax and rent assistance grant or heat assistance grant during calendar year 2022 is eligible to receive the full credit. The property tax administrator is required to provide reports from counties related to taxpayers who are eligible for and actually claim the homestead property tax exemption. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a board of county commissioners (board), in consultation with its fire protection district or fire authority, to apply to the state engineer for the designation of a pond as a fire suppression pond. The director of the division of fire prevention and control (director) in the department of public safety is required to promulgate rules to establish criteria for boards, in consultation with fire protection districts or fire authorities, to use to identify and evaluate potential fire suppression ponds. Before applying for the designation of a pond as a fire suppression pond, a board, in consultation with its fire protection district or fire authority, must identify ponds in areas where the outbreak of a fire could result in a major wildfire disaster and perform a needs assessment of each such pond. If a pond that is under consideration for designation as a fire suppression pond is located in whole or in part upon private property, a board must acquire the voluntary written approval of each owner of private property that abuts the pond before the board applies to the state engineer for the designation of the pond as a fire suppression pond. For each pond that is identified and under consideration as a potential fire suppression pond, a board must provide notice of such fact to the state engineer. The act prohibits the state engineer, with exceptions, from ordering any pond to be drained or backfilled: While the pond is under consideration for designation as a fire suppression pond; If the state engineer has designated the pond as a fire suppression pond; or On and after the effective date of the act, and until the date upon which the director promulgates rules. The state engineer may not designate more than 30 total surface acres of pond in any county as a fire suppression pond or designate any pond as a fire suppression pond unless the pond satisfies certain requirements and the board that requested the designation provided notice of the request to interested parties included in the substitute water supply plan notification list established for the water division in which the pond is located. The state engineer may impose reasonable requirements on a board as a condition of designating a pond as a fire suppression pond, including requirements for measuring and recording devices. A board and its fire protection district or fire authority must inspect a designated fire suppression pond at least annually. The designation of a pond as a fire suppression pond expires 15 years after the date of the designation. Before the expiration, the board and the fire protection district or fire authority may perform a needs assessment of the pond. If the needs assessment demonstrates that the pond is in compliance with criteria established in the director's rules, the board and fire protection district or fire authority shall notify the state engineer of such fact, and the state engineer shall redesignate the pond as a fire suppression pond. If the needs assessment demonstrates that the pond is not in compliance with the criteria, the board and fire protection district or fire authority must either: Notify the state engineer that the designation of the pond as a fire suppression pond should be rescinded or allowed to expire; or Provide to the state engineer a plan and a timeline for bringing the pond back into compliance with such criteria. Within 70 days after the state engineer designates a pond as a fire suppression pond, a holder of a decreed water right may file with the water clerk of the water division in which the fire suppression pond is located a petition for review of the state engineer's decision. Upon receiving a petition, a water judge must conduct a review of the state engineer's decision. A water judge may nullify the state engineer's designation of a pond as a fire suppression pond if, after considering the entire record, including any evidence of material injury, the judge finds that: In applying for the designation, the board did not describe a pond that complies with criteria established by rules promulgated by the director; or The state engineer's decision did not accord with certain other requirements in the act concerning fire suppression ponds. The act states that a fire suppression pond and the water associated with it: Are not considered a water right; Do not have a priority for the purpose of determining water rights; and May not be adjudicated as a water right. The act states that a proposed fire suppression pond is presumed to not cause material injury to vested water rights. A holder of a decreed water right may rebut the presumption by providing evidence to the state engineer sufficient to show that material injury has occurred or will occur to the decreed water right. The act appropriates, for the 2022-23 state fiscal year, $19,428 from the general fund to the department of natural resources for use by the executive director's office, to be used as follows: $11,828 to be reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services; and $7,600 to be reappropriated to the office of information technology for the provision of information technology services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act renames the area agency on aging grant program to the strategic investments in aging grant program (grant program). The grant program administers state assistance to finance projects across the state that are intended to assist and support older Coloradans. The act extends the grant program indefinitely to continue the support of projects that promote the health, equity, well-being, and security of older Coloradans across the state. The act renames the area agency on aging cash fund to the strategic investments in aging cash fund (fund). Money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department of human services to fund programs and projects consistent with the grant program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the Colorado water conservation board (board) to develop a statewide program to provide financial incentives for the voluntary replacement of irrigated turf with water-wise landscaping (turf replacement program). The act defines water-wise landscaping as a water- and plant-management practice that emphasizes using plants with lower water needs. Local governments, certain districts, Native American tribes, and nonprofit organizations with their own turf replacement programs may apply to the board for money to help finance their turf replacement programs. The board will contract with one or more third parties to administer one or more turf replacement programs in areas where local turf replacement programs do not exist. The state treasurer is required to transfer $2 million from the general fund to the turf replacement fund, which fund is created to finance the turf replacement program. The money is appropriated to the department of natural resources for use by the board to implement the turf replacement program, with $11,400 of the money reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology to provide information technology services to the department of natural resources. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows a board of county commissioners (board) to adopt a local resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements to regulate massage facilities for the sole purpose of deterring illicit massage businesses and preventing human trafficking. If a board adopts a resolution or ordinance to establish business licensure requirements, the board may only include the business licensure requirements outlined in the act. The act allows the board to charge an administrative licensure fee for a massage facility. The act allows a board to adopt a resolution or ordinance to regulate and prohibit activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses. If a municipality adopts a resolution or ordinance to license a massage facility or prohibit activities to prevent the operation of illicit massage businesses that engage in human trafficking-related offenses, the act requires municipal police departments to conduct background checks on the applicant's or licensee's criminal history and provide the municipality information to determine whether the applicant or licensee is approved or denied for a license based on the criminal history record information. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies (department), as specified in the department's sunset review of and report on the "Colorado Veterinary Practice Act" (practice act), as follows: Continues the practice act for 11 years, until September 1, 2033; Requires a veterinarian to notify the board of veterinary medicine (board) if the veterinarian suffers from a physical illness or condition or a behavioral or mental health disorder that renders the veterinarian unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety; Repeals the requirement that the board send a letter of admonition by certified mail; Requires veterinarians to create a written plan for the storage, security, and disposal of patient records; and If the board has reasonable cause to believe a veterinarian is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety due to a physical condition, authorizes the board to order the veterinarian to submit to an examination and to suspend the veterinarian's license for failing to comply with the board's order. The act makes other amendments to the practice act as follows: Authorizes a person who is not a licensed veterinarian in this state to administer rabies vaccinations in a clinic setting under direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian, or through the indirect supervision of a licensed veterinarian if the person is working on behalf of an animal shelter for shelter-owned animals, if the person has been trained in rabies vaccine storage, handling, and administration and in the management of adverse events; Adds two members to the board who are veterinary technicians; Requires credit hours of practice act jurisprudence as part of veterinarians' continuing education program and permits veterinarians to take nonbiomedical courses as part of the program; and Repeals and reenacts the veterinary peer health assistance program to allow veterinary technicians access to the program and to require veterinary professionals, including veterinary technicians, to self-refer to the program upon arrest for a drug- or alcohol-related crime. The act also creates the regulation of veterinary technicians. Effective January 1, 2024, a person who practices as a veterinary technician in this state must be registered by the board. To be registered, a person must have and maintain a credential in good standing from a national veterinary technician credentialing organization. For an individual who is not yet nationally credentialed but who has been practicing as a veterinary technician, the board may issue a provisional registration of limited duration under specified circumstances. Veterinary technicians are subject to discipline by the board for engaging in conduct that is grounds for discipline. The act gives title protection to veterinary technicians and grants standard registration, rule-making, and disciplinary powers to the board. The act also repeals the regulation of veterinary technicians on September 1, 2033, subject to and consistent with the sunset review of the practice act. The act replaces the term "humane society" with "animal shelter" to update and make terminology in the practice act and other statutes consistent. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $80,708 to from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department for use by the division of professions and occupations to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the office of health equity (office) in the department of public health and environment to: On or before January 1, 2023, create a culturally relevant and affirming health-care training grant program (program) to provide money to nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers to develop new, culturally responsive training programs for priority populations; and Contract with a third-party administrator to administer the program. "Priority populations" is defined as people experiencing homelessness; people involved with the criminal justice system; black people, indigenous people, and people of color; American Indians and Alaska natives; veterans; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning; people of disproportionately affected sexual orientations and gender identities; people who have AIDS or HIV; older adults; children and families; and people with disabilities, including people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people who are blind and deafblind, people with brain injuries, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people with other co-occurring disabilities; and other populations as deemed appropriate by the office of behavioral health. The third-party administrator is required to: Issue a grant application for nonprofit entities and statewide associations of health-care providers who wish to participate in the program to develop culturally relevant and affirming health-care training for health-care professionals; and Submit the list of the qualified applicants for the program to the health equity commission in the office for approval. Each regulator in the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies for the applicable health-care professional is required to provide information concerning the training courses available to the licensee, certificate holder, or registrant. The regulator is required to encourage participation in the training courses. $900,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for allocation to the office to administer and support the program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The legislative oversight in connection with any telecommunications coordination within state government is moved from the joint technology committee of the general assembly to the department of public safety's legislative oversight committee pursuant to the "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act". On July 1, 2023, the powers, duties, and functions related to public safety telecommunications coordination within state government (public safety communications) are transferred from the chief information officer in the office of information technology to the department of public safety (department). The transferred powers, duties, and functions are allocated to the division of homeland security and emergency management (division) in the department. In addition, employees, property, and policies of the office of information technology related to public safety communications are transferred to the division on July 1, 2023. The office of public safety communications (office) and the director of the office are created in the division. The public safety communications revolving fund (revolving fund) is also created. The money in the revolving fund is continuously appropriated to the office to pay the direct and indirect costs, including personal services and operating costs, associated with administering public safety communications. The office is required to develop a method for billing users of the office's services the full cost of the services. The billing method is required to be implemented on or before July 1, 2023. Revenue generated from such billing is credited to the revolving fund. The office is authorized to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, donations, and bequests from private or public sources for the direct and indirect costs associated with administering public safety communications. The existing state public safety communications network is relocated to the office. The act specifies the duties and responsibilities of the director of the office that were formerly the duties and responsibilities of the chief information officer of the office of information technology. The duties and responsibilities include: Formulating recommendations for a current and long-range public safety communications plan and administering the plan; Reviewing all existing and future state-owned public safety communications applications, planning, networks, systems, programs, equipment, and facilities and establishing priorities for those applications; Approving or disapproving the acquisition of public safety communications equipment by any state entity; Establishing and enforcing public safety communications policies, procedures, standards, and records for management of public safety communications networks and facilities for all state entities; Reviewing, assessing, and ensuring compliance with federal and state public safety communications regulations pertaining to the needs and functions of state entities; Advising the governor and general assembly on public safety communications matters; Administering the public safety communications trust fund; Adopting recommended standards for the replacement of analog-based radio equipment with digital-based radio equipment for purposes of dispatching and related functions within the department of public safety; and For purposes of serving the radio communications needs of state departments, adopting standards and policies and setting a recommended timetable for the replacement of existing radio public safety communications equipment with a system that satisfies the requirements of the federal communications commission public safety national plan. The director of the office may enter into contracts, formerly entered into by the chief information officer, with specified public entities and may act as a public safety communications network provider to provide public safety radio communications between or among 2 or more counties or state agencies. The act specifies when users of public safety radio systems, including public entities and privately owned businesses, will be charged fees for the service, including the cost of material, labor, and overhead. The executive director of the department is required to exercise the powers, duties, and functions regarding the existing tactical and long-term interoperable communications plan to improve the ability of the public safety agencies of state government to communicate with public safety agencies of the federal government, regions, local governments, and other states. The director of the office is required to update and revise the tactical and long-term interoperable communications plan at least once every 3 years. The act relocates the existing public safety communications trust fund, specifies the sources of money in the trust fund, specifies the purposes for which money in the trust fund must be used, and requires $7,250,000 to be transferred from the general fund or any other fund to the trust fund during state fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. The chief information officer is required to begin the transfer of the public safety telecommunications program to the department of public safety on July 1, 2022. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
