The act authorizes the state medical assistance program (medicaid) to cover routine costs associated with phase I through phase IV clinical trials involving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, or treatment of life-threatening or debilitating diseases or conditions. The medicaid recipient's (recipient's) treating physician must determine that the recipient has a qualifying disease or condition and that the recipient meets the selection criteria for the clinical trial. The clinical trial must be an approved clinical trial, as described in the act, and must be conducted by agencies and organizations specified in the act. As used in the act, "routine costs" include medically necessary items or services included under the medicaid program for a recipient, to the extent that the provision of such items or services to the individual outside the course of such participation would otherwise be covered under the medical assistance program, without regard to whether the recipient is participating in a clinical trial. Routine costs do not include items specified in the act, including the investigational item, device, or service itself; items and services provided solely to satisfy data collection and analysis needed for the clinical trial; and items, drugs, or services that would otherwise be provided by the clinical trial or provided for free to any individual participating in the clinical trial. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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Under current law, the public school capital construction assistance board establishes guidelines for considering applications for money from the public school capital construction assistance fund. The act adds to the considerations in the guidelines consulting with the local electric utility on energy efficiency, beneficial electrification, and renewable distributed generation opportunities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a health benefit plan, beginning January 1, 2022, to provide coverage for nonpharmacological treatment as an alternative to opioids. The required coverage must include, at a cost-sharing amount not to exceed the cost-sharing amount for a primary care visit for nonpreventive services and without a prior authorization requirement, at least 6 physical therapy visits, 6 occupational therapy visits,6 chiropractic visits, and 6 acupuncture visits per year. The act requires an insurance carrier (carrier) that provides prescription drug benefits to provide coverage, beginning January 1, 2022, for at least one atypical opioid that is approved by the federal food and drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of acute or chronic pain at the lowest cost-sharing tier of the carrier's formulary with no requirement for step therapy or prior authorization and to not require step therapy for any additional FDA-approved atypical opioids. The act precludes a carrier that has a contract with a physical therapist, occupational therapist, or acupuncturist from: Prohibiting the physical therapist, occupational therapist, or acupuncturist from, or penalizing the physical therapist, occupational therapist, or acupuncturist for, providing a covered person information on the amount of the covered person's financial responsibility for the covered person's physical therapy, occupational therapy, or acupuncture services; or Requiring the physical therapist, occupational therapist, or acupuncturist to charge or collect a copayment from a covered person that exceeds the total charges submitted by the physical therapist, occupational therapist, or acupuncturist. The commissioner of insurance is required to take action against a carrier that the commissioner determines is not complying with these prohibitions. The act requires the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies to promulgate rules that limit the supply of a benzodiazepine that a prescriber may prescribe to patient who has not had a prescription for benzodiazepine in the last 12 months. Current law limits an opioid prescriber from prescribing more than a 7-day supply of an opioid to a patient who has not had an opioid prescription within the previous 12 months unless certain conditions apply, and this prescribing limitation is set to repeal on September 1, 2021. The act continues the prescribing limitation indefinitely. The act requires the Colorado medical board (board) to consult with the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies to promulgate rules establishing competency-based continuing education requirements for physicians and physician assistants concerning prescribing practices for opioids. With regard to the prescription drug monitoring program (program), the act: Modifies requirements for adding prescription information to the program; (program) Prohibits the state board of pharmacy from charging practitioners or pharmacists a fee for registering or maintaining an account with the program; Continues indefinitely the requirement that a health care provider query the program before prescribing a second fill for an opioid; Requires each health care provider to query the program before prescribing a second fill for a benzodiazepine, unless certain exceptions apply; Requires the board to promulgate rules designating additional controlled substances and other prescription drugs to be tracked by the program; and In addition to current law allowing medical examiners and coroners to query the program when conducting an autopsy, allows medical examiners and coroners to query the program when conducting a death investigation. The act appropriates $18,540 from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies to implement the act, with $2,550 allocated to the Colorado medical board and $15,990 reappropriated to the department of law to provide legal services to the department of regulatory agencies. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act: Continues the opioid and other substance use disorders study committee (committee) for an additional 4 years, meeting every other year beginning in 2021; In addition to the existing areas of study, for the 2021 interim, requires the committee to study the relationship between mental health conditions and substance use disorders and the effect of COVID-19 on substance use disorders; Requires the state substance abuse trend and response task force to convene stakeholders for the purpose of generating policy recommendations related to opioid and other substance use disorders and reviewing progress on bills introduced by the committee and passed by the general assembly; Modifies how child abuse, neglect, or dependency is determined in situations involving alcohol or substance exposure; and Authorizes the statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project to conduct ongoing research related to the incidence of perinatal substance exposure or related infant and family health and human service outcomes based on the new standards for determining child abuse, neglect, or dependency when alcohol or substance exposure is involved. $74,620 is appropriated from the general fund to the department of human services and reappropriated to the department of law to purchase legal services. The appropriation to the office of the governor, for use by the office of information technology for applications administration, is reduced by $74,620. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Preexisting law requires a home builder to offer to a buyer of a new home one of the following: A solar panel system or a solar thermal system; To prewire or preplumb the home for these systems; or A chase or conduit to wire or plumb the home for these systems in the future. The act requires the home builder to offer each of these options to the buyer and deletes these requirements for manufactured homes. The act also requires a home builder to offer the following options to a buyer of a newly constructed residence, which is defined to mean a traditional detached, single-family home: An electric vehicle charging system; upgrades of wiring to accommodate future installation of an electric vehicle charging system; or a 208- to 240-volt alternating current plug-in located in a place accessible to a motor vehicle parking area; Efficient electric heating and water heating options; and Pricing, energy efficiency, and utility bill information for each option available from the builder. The Colorado energy office must develop basic consumer education about leased solar installation and purchased solar installation in consultation with industries that offer these options to consumers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act codifies a definition of "nonmedical exemption" to mean an immunization exemption based upon a religious belief whose teachings are opposed to immunizations or a personal belief that is opposed to immunizations. The act requires the department of public health and environment (department) to develop standardized forms and a submission process for persons who want to claim a nonmedical exemption for an immunization for a religious or personal belief. A person who wants to claim a nonmedical exemption for an immunization can do so by submitting to the school either: A certificate of completion of the online education module; or A certificate of nonmedical exemption. The act requires the department to annually evaluate the state's immunization practices, including an examination of best practices and guidelines recommended by the advisory committee on immunization practices. The state board of health may update the state's immunization practices pursuant to the annual evaluation. The act creates a vaccinated children standard, whereby the immunization rate goal for every school is 95% of the student population to be vaccinated. The act requires the department to amend an immunization document it currently publishes annually to include information about the vaccinated children standard. Every school shall publish its immunization rate and exemption rate for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine on the document and annually distribute it to the parents, legal guardians, and students of the school. The act requires, as applicable, a practitioner who is a licensed physician, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse, or person authorized to administer immunizations within their scope of practice to students to submit immunization, medical, or nonmedical exemption data to the immunization tracking system. The practitioner is not subject to a regulatory sanction for noncompliance. The act appropriates $41,906 from the general fund to the department of public health and environment for the following uses: $31,884 for use by the environmental epidemiology division for program costs and an additional 0.1 FTE; and $10,022 for the purchase of information technology services, which is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
During the first regular session of the seventy-second general assembly, the Senate passed House Bill 19-1005 on third reading on May 3, 2019, and the governor signed the bill on May 13, 2019. Because of an amendment to the effective date clause, the bill never took effect. The bill was introduced with a standard act-subject-to-petition clause (ASP clause), meaning the bill would have taken effect on August 2, 2019, unless a referendum petition was filed against the bill. However, on April 26, 2019, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment (L.010) that added an exception to the ASP clause. The amendment specified that "If the voters at the November 2019 statewide election do not approve a measure . . ., then this act takes effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor." When L.010 was adopted, House Bill 19-1333 was being considered. House Bill 19-1333 created a ballot issue that, if approved by voters, would have allowed the state to increase the cigarette tax and increase the tobacco products tax, would have allowed the state to create a new tax on nicotine products, and would have used a significant portion of the tax revenue for preschool programs and expanded learning opportunities. The concept behind L.010 was that if the ballot issue obtained voter approval, then the tax credit for early childhood educators would not be necessary. However, on May 2, 2019, the Senate postponed House Bill 19-1333 indefinitely during second reading. Since House Bill 19-1333 never passed, voters were never given an opportunity to approve the ballot issue, and the governor never had an opportunity to declare a vote on it. Consequently, because of the way L.010 was written, House Bill 19-1005 never took effect. In order to give effect to the intent of the general assembly and the governor in approving House Bill 19-1005, the exception to the effective date needs to be repealed. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill prohibits carriers from inducing, incentivizing, or otherwise requiring: A health care provider to collect any coinsurance, copayment, or deductible directly from a covered person or the covered person's responsible party; or A covered person to pay any coinsurance, copayment, or deductible directly to a health care provider. The carrier is required to collect any cost-sharing amounts owed by a covered person directly from the covered person in one consolidated bill. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Zero Waste and Recycling Interim Study Committee. The bill tasks the executive director of the department of public health and environment (executive director) or the executive director's designee and the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner) or the commissioner's designee with developing an organics management plan (plan) on or before September 1, 2022. The department of public health and environment may incorporate the plan into the department's existing work regarding organics management if its existing work meets the standards established for the organics management plan. In developing the plan, the executive director and the commissioner are required to study and make recommendations regarding organic waste management practices to encourage compost use on soil to promote carbon storage. The executive director and the commissioner must also complete 2 statewide surveys as part of the plan, with one survey examining end uses for the major categories of organic waste feedstock generated within the state and the other survey examining existing organic waste generation facilities and processing capacity. On or before February 1, 2023, the executive director, in collaboration with the commissioner, shall submit a report summarizing the plan to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over energy or agricultural matters. For the 2020-21 state fiscal year, the bill appropriates $150,000 from the solid waste management fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the solid waste control program to implement the plan. (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)