Healthcare (Medicare)

The act repeals the health-care delivery system reform incentive payments program in the Colorado healthcare affordability and sustainability enterprise (enterprise) and creates the hospital quality incentive program (incentive program) to use enterprise hospital provider fee revenue to make additional payments to hospitals that meet performance metrics in delivering safer and more effective care that improves patient outcomes and reduces preventable utilization to reduce health-care costs. Prior to implementing the program, the enterprise board shall approve the percentage of hospitals' reimbursement in the incentive program and the incentive program structure, performance measures, and scoring methodology. Once the incentive program is implemented, the total amount of payments made under the incentive program must not exceed 9% of the total reimbursements made to hospitals in the previous state fiscal year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Current law requires the department of public health and environment (CDPHE) to consider certain criteria as a basis for distributing grants from the nursing home penalty cash fund (fund). The act strikes these criteria and instead requires CDPHE to distribute such grants in accordance with priorities and allowable uses identified by the centers for medicare and medicaid services within the federal department of health and human services (centers).     Current law requires the nursing home innovations grant board (board) to make recommendations for the approval of grants from the fund. The act requires such recommendations to be consistent with the processes for grant cycles of, and priorities and allowable uses identified by, the centers.     Current law requires CDPHE and the department of health care policy and financing, with the board's assistance, to jointly submit an annual report to the governor and certain legislative committees of reference regarding the expenditure of money in the fund. The act changes the due date of the report from October 1 to January 1.     In current law, the term 'benefit residents of nursing facilities' is defined to mean that a grant has a direct impact on the residents of nursing facilities or has an indirect impact on the residents through education of nursing facility staff. The act amends this definition to include training, as well as education, of nursing facility staff.     Current law states that a governmental entity may not apply for or receive a grant from the fund unless the entity is a facility that is owned or operated by a governmental agency and licensed as a nursing care facility. The act removes this restriction.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act permits a health facility to allow patients who are terminally ill and who are registered in the state's medical marijuana program to use medical marijuana within the health facility, subject to certain parameters. The act requires a health facility that allows such use to document the patient's medical marijuana program registration and medical marijuana usage in the patient's medical records and develop guidelines for and impose restrictions on the possession, usage, storage, and administration of medical marijuana to ensure the safety of others, safe facility operations, and compliance with other laws. A health facility is not required to handle medical marijuana for a patient.     The act prohibits the department of public health and environment (department) from requiring compliance with the act as a condition for a health facility to obtain or renew a license or certification that it is required to carry to operate as a health facility. Additionally, the act prohibits the department from requiring compliance if compliance would result in a violation of state law, a loss of federal funding, noncompliance with the federal medicare or medicaid programs, or noncompliance with accreditation or licensing requirements. Lastly, the act allows a health facility to suspend compliance with the act's provisions in the event that, and only as long as, a listed federal entity takes an action that requires the health facility to suspend its compliance with the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)