Under the act, a pharmacist is eligible for reimbursement under the medical assistance program for certain medically necessary pharmacist services, as described in the act, that are not duplicative of other pharmacist services or programs reimbursed under the medical assistance program. The department of health care policy and financing shall include services reimbursed pursuant to the act in the review of provider rates for the medical assistance program.Further, the act allows a pharmacist or pharmacy that dispenses or administers extended-release injectable medications for the treatment of mental health or substance use disorders to seek reimbursement for those medications under the medical assistance program as either a pharmacy benefit or as a medical benefit.The act requires that costs associated with services provided by clinical pharmacists through a federally qualified health center (FQHC) be considered allowable costs for the purpose of the FQHC's cost report and be included in the calculation of the reimbursement rate for a patient visit at an FQHC.The act appropriates $372,554 to the department of health care policy and financing from the general fund and the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to implement the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act creates the peace officer credibility disclosure notification committee (committee), which is required to create a statewide model for peace officer credibility disclosure notifications (statewide model) by December 1, 2021. The statewide model must include policies and procedures that law enforcement agencies and district attorneys' offices are required to adopt and implement on or before January 1, 2022.The statewide model's policies and procedures must include:The circumstances that trigger a law enforcement agency to promptly notify a district attorney if a peace officer's credibility is called into question by a sustained finding; The circumstances that trigger a law enforcement agency's obligation to notify a district attorney when a peace officer's credibility is called into question by a criminal or administrative investigation; A process for district attorneys to follow for receiving credibility disclosure notifications and maintaining a current record of all credibility disclosure notifications; and A process for district attorneys to timely notify a defense attorney or defendant of credibility disclosure notification records (records) and to remove any records when appropriate and lawful. The act requires district attorneys to review the statewide model's policies and procedures at least every 4 years to ensure compliance with controlling federal and state case law, as well as the Colorado rules of criminal procedure. The act also requires a district attorney to make available to the public the adopted policies and procedures on or before February 1, 2022.The act, subject to available appropriations, requires the P.O.S.T. board to create and maintain a database, in a searchable format to be published on its website, containing information related to a peace officer's actions that resulted in a credibility disclosure notification.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act establishes the commission on improving first responder interactions with persons with disabilities (commission) in the attorney general's office. The commission is comprised of 12 members appointed by the attorney general, including 2 persons with a disability, 2 parents of a child with a disability, 2 representatives from advocacy organizations, a person from a disability community not otherwise represented on the commission, a representative of a statewide organization of current and former peace officers, a representative of a statewide organization of chiefs of police, a representative of a statewide organization of county sheriffs, a member of the peace officer standards and training board (P.O.S.T. board), and a member of the P.O.S.T. board's curriculum subject matter expert committee.After reviewing the existing Colorado peace officer training and existing available curricula, the commission must recommend to the P.O.S.T. board a curriculum for peace officer training concerning interactions with persons with disabilities. Subject to available appropriations, the P.O.S.T. board must implement the recommended curriculum by July 1, 2022. The commission is required to review implementation of the curriculum and may recommend changes that the P.O.S.T. board may adopt.The commission is repealed on December 31, 2023, but prior to its repeal the attorney general may recommend continuation of the commission.The act requires the fire service training and certification advisory board to advise the director of the division of fire prevention and control on whether to include the commission's curriculum or similar curriculum in the fire service education and training program. The department of public health and environment is required to consider including the commission's curriculum in training for personnel who routinely respond to emergencies.The act makes an appropriation of $39,775 to the department of law for use by the P.O.S.T. board.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates a regulatory framework for individuals practicing as radon measurement professionals or radon mitigation professionals. On and after July 1, 2022, an individual is prohibited from practicing as a radon measurement professional or radon mitigation professional unless the individual is licensed by the director of the division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory agencies. The act establishes the requirements to qualify for a license, exemptions to the licensure requirements, and the grounds upon which disciplinary action may be taken against a licensee.The regulation of radon professionals is scheduled to repeal on September 1, 2027. Before the repeal, the regulatory provisions are scheduled for sunset review by the department of regulatory agencies.The act appropriates $63,134 from the division of professions and occupations cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies to implement the act. Of this total amount, $40,308 is allocated to personal services, $6,875 is allocated to operating expenses, and $15,951 is allocated and reappropriated to the department of law for the provision of legal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, it is unlawful for a person to make available on the internet the personal information of certain law enforcement officials or certain human services workers if the dissemination of the personal information poses an imminent and serious threat to the official's or the worker's safety or to the safety of the official's or the worker's immediate family. The act extends the crime to include the following persons:An employee or contractor of the department of corrections who has contact with persons in the custody of the department of corrections; A noncertified deputy sheriff or detention officer who has contact with inmates; An employee or contractor of a community corrections program who has contact with offenders in the program; and Public defenders and alternate defense counsel. The act redefines "law enforcement official" and includes officials covered under that statutory definition within the broader definition of "protected person". Further, the act repeals the crime specific to law enforcement officials and includes those officials within the same crime that is now inclusive of all protected persons.In addition, the act adds all protected persons to the statutory provision that allows protected persons to submit a written request to a state or local government official to remove personal information, as defined in statute, from public records that are available on the internet.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review of and report on the state board of pharmacy (board) and its regulation of the practice of pharmacy and makes other modifications to the laws regulating the practice. Specifically:Sections 1 and 2 of the act continue the board and its functions for 9 years, until 2030, and consolidate within the sunset review the board's functions regarding the regulation of therapeutic interchange and therapeutically equivalent selections and of collaborative pharmacy practice agreements; Sections 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, and 25 to 29 align the pharmacy practice act with the federal "Drug Quality and Security Act"; Section 3 also: Clarifies that an out-of-state pharmacy need not register with the board when distributing prescription drugs to in-state pharmacies under common ownership with the out-of-state pharmacy if the drugs remain in the original manufacturer's packaging and are not compounded and the transfer is necessary to address an inventory shortage; Includes in the definition of "other outlet" a community mental health clinic, a behavioral health entity, and an approved treatment facility, thereby allowing those facilities to register with the board and operate as a pharmacy outlet; Repeals the term "pharmaceutical care" and replaces it with "pharmacist care services" to reflect the services pharmacists provide in addition to compounding and dispensing drugs; Adds functions to the scope of practice of a pharmacy technician, such as documenting medical history and replenishing automated dispensing devices; and Adds functions to the scope of practice of a pharmacist, such as prescribing certain drugs for limited conditions, ordering and evaluating laboratory tests, and performing limited physical assessments; Section 4 specifies that, of the pharmacist members of the board, one must be practicing in a hospital setting, one must be practicing in a chain pharmacy, and one must be practicing in an independent pharmacy; Section 5 repeals the requirement that the board justify its reasons for deviating from a recommendation from the veterinary pharmaceutical advisory committee; Sections 5, 6, 21 to 25, and 35 make technical amendments to the pharmacy practice act, such as eliminating references to "diversion" in the peer health assistance program and correcting erroneous references to wholesalers as "licensed" rather than "registered"; Section 6 grants the board authority, after conducting a risk-based assessment, to inspect out-of-state pharmacies, out-of-state wholesalers, and nonresident 503B outsourcing facilities and requires the board to send quarterly electronic newsletters to pharmacists regarding updates in the law that affect the practice; Sections 7, 16, and 32 to 34 require pharmacists and pharmacies, as well as insurance companies that underwrite professional liability insurance for pharmacists and pharmacies, to report malpractice settlements and judgments to the board; Section 8 specifies tasks that a pharmacist may delegate to ancillary pharmacy personnel under the pharmacist's supervision; Section 10 increases the amount of medication that may be dispensed to an emergency room patient from a 24-hour supply to a 72-hour supply and allows a hospital to dispense a prescription drug to a hospitalized patient who leaves the hospital on a day pass; Sections 3, 12, and 31 authorize pharmacists to prescribe opiate antagonists; Sections 3 and 13 repeal the requirement that the label on an anabolic steroid prescription indicate the purpose for which the prescription was written; Section 14 authorizes a pharmacist, under specified circumstances, to substitute a drug in the same therapeutic class as the prescribed drug; Section 15 authorizes pharmacists to make specified types of minor adaptions to prescriptions; Section 16 specifies that a licensee, certificant, or registrant may be disciplined for habitual or excessive use or abuse of alcohol, habit-forming drugs, or controlled substances, but not for having a substance use disorder; Section 17 eliminates the requirement that the board send letters of admonition by certified mail; Section 19 requires the board to allow electronic storage of pharmacy records; Section 20 requires a pharmacist, with certain exceptions, to provide patient counseling in new medication therapy and authorizes a pharmacist, in the pharmacist's professional judgment, to provide patient counseling for any other prescription; and Section 30 increases from 3 to 6 the number of pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy staff that a pharmacist may designate to access, on behalf of a pharmacist supervising the pharmacy technician or other pharmacy staff, the prescription drug monitoring program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The sale of wood and wood products from trees killed by pine and spruce beetles in the state was exempt from sales and use tax from 2008 through June 2020. The act extends the exemption from July 1, 2021, through June 2026.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Current law allows for only one type of response for a county department of human or social services (county department) to follow after a report of mistreatment or self-neglect of an at-risk adult, regardless of the level of risk reported. That type of response requires a full investigation, including unannounced initial in-person interviews, and a finding by the county department.The act creates, on or after January 1, 2022, an alternative response pilot program (pilot) that a participating county department can utilize when it receives a report, related to an at-risk adult, of mistreatment or self-neglect (report), and the report has identified the risk as lower risk, as defined by rules promulgated by the state department of human services (state department).The state department shall select a maximum of 15 rural and urban county departments to participate in the pilot. Upon receipt of a report, a participating county department will not make a finding nor will it be required to complete unannounced initial in-person interviews, so long as the report has identified the risk as lower risk, as defined by rule of the state department. If, upon further review, the participating county department determines the situation is more severe, it shall revert to the process that is currently set forth in law for investigating a report.The state department shall provide initial training on the pilot to participating county departments, as well as ongoing technical assistance.The state department shall promulgate rules for the implementation and administration of the pilot. The rules must include, at a minimum, a description of the risk levels and the parameters around unannounced initial in-person interviews.The state department shall contract with a third-party evaluator to evaluate the pilot's success or failure, including a consideration of the pilot's effectiveness in achieving outcomes over a 2-year period.Each participating county department shall submit a report to the state department, as necessary, regarding the county department's use of the pilot and any data required by the state department to effectively evaluate the pilot.The state department shall submit a summary report to the health and human services committee of the senate and the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives as part of its "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentations in January 2025 and January 2026.The pilot is repealed, effective July 1, 2027.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $173,351 to the department of human services for use by adult protective services. This appropriation is from the general fund and is based on an assumption that adult protective services will require an additional 0.9 FTE. To implement this act, adult protective services may use this appropriation for state administration.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires members of a county board of health or a district board of health and members of the state board of health, on and after January 1, 2022, to attend both annual public health training provided by the department of public health and environment and developed by the department of public health and environment along with the Colorado school of public health and annual public health training developed and provided by the department of public health and environment and the director of the office of emergency management concerning the role of a board of health in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from an emergency disaster.The act also requires the department of public health and environment, on and after January 1, 2022, to develop guidance on recruiting persons to serve on county and district boards of health and to provide this guidance to any board of county commissioners, county board of health, or district board of health that requests it.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)