Barbers, cosmetologists, estheticians, nail technicians, and hairstylists - examination for license - foreign work experience substitute - rules. The act allows an applicant for a barber, cosmetologist, esthetician, nail technician, or hairstylist examination to substitute foreign work experience for the required contact hours. The act authorizes the director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies to promulgate rules to determine the manner in which an applicant must submit proof of foreign work experience and when an attestation of work experience may replace employment records as proof of experience. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Drug manufacturer, representative, agent, or employee - prescription drug marketing - disclosure of drug information required. The act requires a drug manufacturer, or a representative, agent, or employee of the manufacturer, who while employed by or under contract to represent a manufacturer engages in prescription drug marketing, to provide to a prescriber, in writing, the wholesale acquisition cost of a prescription drug when, in the course of conducting business, the manufacturer, representative, agent, or employee provides information concerning the drug to the prescriber. The act also requires the drug manufacturer, or a representative, agent, or employee of the manufacturer, to also disseminate the names of at least 3 generic prescription drugs from the same therapeutic class, or if 3 are not available, as many as are available for prescriptive use. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Health care providers' accountability to communities - community health needs assessments - community benefit implementation plans - public meetings. The act requires the following hospitals to complete a community health needs assessment every 3 years and an annual community benefit implementation plan every year: A hospital that is licensed as a general hospital and exempt from federal taxation; A hospital established pursuant to the Denver health and hospital authority; and A hospital established pursuant to the University of Colorado hospital authority. Each such hospital must report to the department of health care policy and financing (department) concerning certain community benefits, costs, and shortfalls in the preceding year, and the department is required to submit an annual summary report to subject matter committees of the general assembly. Hospitals that are licensed as general hospitals but that are not required to report may report in like fashion. The department shall develop and provide a website at which each reporting hospital shall submit reports. The act requires each hospital to convene a public meeting at least once each year to seek feedback regarding the hospital's community benefit activities during the previous year and the hospital's community benefit implementation plan for the following year. Each hospital shall invite representatives from certain local entities and state agencies to participate in the meeting. Each hospital shall also invite the general public to the meeting in an advertisement placed in any major newspaper published in the hospital's community. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Psychotherapy services - treatment of a minor without parental consent - mental health education resource bank - appropriation. The act allows a minor 12 years of age or older to seek and obtain psychotherapy services with or without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian if the mental health professional determines the minor is knowingly and voluntarily seeking the psychotherapy services and the psychotherapy services are clinically necessary. A mental health professional providing psychotherapy services to a minor may, with the consent of the minor, advise the minor's parent or legal guardian of the psychotherapy services provided, unless notifying the parent or legal guardian would be inappropriate or detrimental to the minor's care and treatment. However, the mental health professional is permitted to notify the minor's parent or legal guardian without the minor's consent if, in the opinion of the mental health professional, the minor is unable to manage his or her care or treatment. The mental health professional is required to engage the minor in a discussion about the importance of involving and notifying the minor's parent or legal guardian and document any attempt to contact the minor's parent or legal guardian. If a minor communicates a clear and imminent threat to commit suicide, the mental health professional is required to notify the minor's parent or legal guardian of the minor's suicidal ideation. The act requires the department of education, in consultation with the office of suicide prevention, the youth advisory council, and the suicide prevention commission, to create and maintain a mental health education literacy resource bank. The resource bank is available to the public free of charge. The act also requires the state board of education to adopt standards related to mental health, including suicide prevention. The act appropriates $116,550 from the general fund to the department of education for the mental health education resource bank and technical assistance. Specifies that certain provisions take effect only if House Bill 19-1172 becomes law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Maternal mortality review committee - creation - appointments - duties - sunset review - appropriation. The act creates the Colorado maternal mortality review committee (committee), which is required to review maternal deaths, identify the causes of maternal mortality, and develop recommendations to address preventable maternal deaths, including legislation, policies, rules, and best practices that will support the health and safety of the pregnant and postpartum population in Colorado and prevent maternal deaths. The executive director of the department of public health and environment (department) is directed to appoint at least 11 members to serve on the committee. The act requires certain health care providers and law enforcement officials to provide medical records to the department concerning each maternal death for access by the members of the committee. The records, notes, information, and activities of the committee are confidential. The committee is repealed, effective September 1, 2029, and is subject to sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies prior to its repeal. $145,167 is appropriated to the department for implementation of the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Health insurance - out-of-network health care services - disclosures - claims - reimbursement rates - deceptive trade practice - rules - appropriation. The act: Requires health insurance carriers, health care providers, and health care facilities to provide patients covered by health benefit plans with information concerning the provision of services by out-of-network providers and in-network and out-of-network facilities; Outlines the disclosure requirements and the claims and payment process for the provision of out-of-network services; Requires the commissioner of insurance, the state board of health, and the director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies to promulgate rules that specify the requirements for disclosures to consumers, including the timing, the format, and the contents and language in the disclosures; Establishes the reimbursement amount for out-of-network providers that provide health care services to covered persons at an in-network facility and for out-of-network providers or facilities that provide emergency services to covered persons; and Creates a penalty for failure to comply with the payment requirements for out-of-network health care services. The act appropriates $33,884 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment and $63,924 from the division of insurance cash fund to the division of insurance to implement the act. Specified provisions of the act are contingent upon House Bill 19-1172 becoming law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Dental program for seniors - review - maximum reimbursement rates. The act adds to the duties of the department of health care policy and financing (department) under the Colorado dental health care program for low-income seniors (program) to review the operation and effectiveness of the program in the next annual report. Qualified grantees under the program and the department shall report recommendations concerning the operations and effectiveness of the program. Under current law, the senior dental advisory committee recommends to the medical services board the maximum reimbursement rate for dental procedures under the Colorado dental health care program for low-income seniors that cannot be less than the reimbursement rate previously adopted by the state board of health for the program. The act changes the maximum reimbursement rate that the committee may recommend to not less than the medicaid fee-for-service rate. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Criminal justice programs - cash funds created - transfers. Currently, money appropriated but unspent for the community-based reentry grant program, the crime victims grant program, the justice reinvestment crime prevention grant program, and the justice reinvestment crime prevention small business program (programs) reverts to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year. The act creates cash funds for each of the programs so that money for the programs is appropriated into the cash funds and unspent money is available for spending in future years. At the end of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscal years, unspent money for the programs is transferred to the new cash funds rather than reverting to the general fund. Currently, the justice reinvestment crime prevention initiative is scheduled for repeal on September 1, 2020. The act extends the repeal date to September 1, 2023. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Medication-assisted treatment expansion pilot program - extension - administration - additional counties to participate - funding increase - appropriation. In 2017, the general assembly enacted Senate Bill 17-074, concerning the creation of a pilot program in certain areas of the state experiencing high levels of opioid addiction to award grants to increase access to addiction treatment, which created a 2-year medication-assisted treatment (MAT) expansion pilot program, administered by the university of Colorado college of nursing, to expand access to medication-assisted treatment to opioid-dependent patients in Pueblo and Routt counties and directed the general assembly to appropriate $500,000 per year for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years from the marijuana tax cash fund to the university of Colorado board of regents for allocation to the college of nursing to implement the pilot program. The 2017 act also scheduled the pilot program for repeal on June 30, 2020. The act: Expands the pilot program to the counties in the San Luis valley and 2 additional counties in which a need is demonstrated; Shifts responsibility to administer the pilot program from the college of nursing to the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies; Adds representatives from the San Luis valley and any other counties selected to participate in the pilot program and members from the boards of county commissioners from participating counties to the advisory board that assists in administering the program; Increases the annual appropriation for the pilot program to $2.5 million for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 fiscal years; and Extends the program an additional 2 years. The act appropriates $2.5 million from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department of higher education for use by the board of regents of the university of Colorado to allocate to the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies for the MAT expansion pilot program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Child care expenses - income tax credit - individuals with low income - extension. For income tax years prior to January 1, 2021, a resident individual who has a federal adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less may claim a refundable state income tax credit for child care expenses for the care of a dependent who is less than 13 years old. The act extends the tax credit for 8 years.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
Access to behavioral health treatment - capacity tracking system - care navigation program - building substance use disorder treatment capacity in underserved communities grant program - appropriation. The act: Directs the department of human services to implement a centralized, web-based behavioral health capacity tracking system to track available treatment capacity at behavioral health facilities and at programs for medication-assisted treatment and withdrawal management for substance use disorders, as well as other types of treatment; Directs the department of human services to implement a care navigation program to assist individuals in obtaining access to treatment for substance use disorders, including medical detoxification and residential and inpatient treatment; and Creates the building substance use disorder treatment capacity in underserved communities grant program to provide services in rural and frontier communities, prioritizing areas of the state that are unserved or underserved. For the 2019-20 state fiscal year, the act appropriates: $31,961 and 0.8 FTE to the department of health care policy and financing, executive director's office for personal services and operating expenses, with the expectation that the department will receive additional federal funding; $5,589,344 and 2.5 FTE from the marijuana tax cash fund to the department of human services, office of behavioral health, for community behavioral health administration, the behavioral health capacity tracking system, the care navigation program, and the building substance use disorder treatment capacity in underserved communities grant program; and $160,206 and 1.4 FTE from reappropriated funds received from the department of human services to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
State institutions of higher education - tuition assistance - dependents of military members - dependents of law enforcement officers and firefighters. A dependent of a prisoner of war or military personnel missing in action, a dependent of a person who died or was permanently disabled while on duty as a Colorado National Guardsman, or a dependent of any person who has been permanently disabled or killed while acting as a police officer, sheriff, or other law enforcement officer or firefighter (dependent) who is eligible for state tuition assistance and federal educational benefits pursuant to the federal "Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act" may receive the state tuition assistance prior to receiving the federal benefit. The state tuition assistance available to a dependent is reduced by the amount of any federal educational benefit provided to the dependent.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More
