The Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons With Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill establishes and expands programs within the division of housing in the department of local affairs (division) to build the capacity of communities across the state to provide supportive housing services to individuals with behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and who have contact with the criminal or juvenile justice system, including: Expanding statewide training and technical assistance to help communities develop and implement supportive housing programs for individuals who have behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and who have contact with the criminal or juvenile justice system. The program must be targeted to communities that currently face barriers to accessing existing state and federal funding for supportive housing programs. Establishing a predevelopment grant program that provides funding to entities working to develop supportive housing interventions for individuals who have behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and who have contact with the criminal or juvenile justice system. The grant money can be used to add new or additional staff capacity to allow the development and implementation of such programs. The division is required to prioritize applicants that will serve rural or frontier communities and to provide hands-on technical assistance to grant recipients. Establishing a supportive housing services and homelessness prevention grant program. Grant money can be used to cover the costs of providing supportive housing services that are currently not eligible for reimbursement through the state's medical assistance program. It can also be used to fund homelessness prevention projects for individuals who have behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorders who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and who have contact with the criminal or juvenile justice system. The division is required to prioritize applicants that will serve rural or frontier communities and provide hands-on technical assistance to grant recipients. Developing a plan to increase participation in regional homeless data systems, support accurate data reporting, and assess housing-related needs. The program must work with regional continuums of care to evaluate how to increase participation in data systems in communities across the state, identify technical needs and associated costs for doing so, and work with communities and stakeholders to integrate or develop an integrated user interface for various data systems related to housing and supportive services. It must also enhance information about best practices and training materials available to communities across the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
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The bill directs the department of higher education and the department of education to convene a workgroup on diversity in the educator workforce (workgroup). The department of higher education and the department of education shall select the members of the workgroup, which shall include but are not limited to those agencies, persons, and organizations specified in the bill. The department may seek recommendations or nominations from interested stakeholders. The workgroup shall investigate barriers to the preparation, retention, and recruitment of a diverse educator workforce and shall consider strategies to increase diversity in the educator workforce. The bill includes specific issues for the workgroup to consider. The workgroup shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the education committees of the general assembly no later than September 30, 2021. The workgroup may submit interim findings and recommendations during the 2021 legislative session. Under current law, the department of higher education reports annually concerning educator preparation programs, including enrollment, graduation rates, outcomes of graduates, and performance on assessments administered for licensure. The bill requires the department to include the required information disaggregated by the candidates' or graduates' gender, race, and ethnicity. Further, the information contained in the annual report must be posted on the department of higher education's and the department of education's websites. (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.)
The bill imposes requirements regarding the administration of prescription drug benefits under health benefit plans as follows: Requires a health insurer to submit to the commissioner of insurance a list of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) the health insurer uses to manage or administer prescription drug benefits under its health benefit plans offered in this state; Requires health insurers and PBMs to submit their programs for compensating pharmacies and pharmacists and their prescription drug formularies under their prescription drug benefits plans, and the commissioner is authorized to review the compensation programs to ensure they are fair and reasonable to provide an adequate network of pharmacies and pharmacists under their prescription drug benefits plans; Requires a PBM to also report to the commissioner the amount the PBM expects to be reimbursed from health insurers for pharmacist services; Prohibits health insurers and PBMs from: Causing or knowingly permitting the use of any untrue, deceptive, or misleading advertisement, promotion, solicitation, representation, proposal, or offer; Charging a pharmacy or pharmacist a fee for adjudicating a claim; Requiring stricter pharmacy accreditation standards or certification requirements than the standards or requirements that are required by the state board of pharmacy; Reimbursing an independent pharmacy or pharmacist an amount that is less than the amount the health insurer or PBM reimburses an affiliated pharmacy or pharmacist; and Modifying their prescription drug formulary at any time during the benefit year. If a pharmacy or pharmacist is eliminated from a health care provider or PBM network, specifies that the health insurer or PBM is not relieved of any obligation to pay for pharmacist services properly rendered before elimination from the network; and Requires health insurers and PBMs to report specified claims data to the commissioner and the all-payer health claims database. The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules to implement the bill and to enforce the bill using all powers granted the commissioner under the insurance laws of this state. A health insurer is: Responsible for complying with the bill and ensuring any PBM the health insurer uses is complying with the bill; and Liable for failure of the health insurer or PBM to comply.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill adds a requirement, as part of mandatory health insurance coverage of preventive health care services, that health plans cover an annual mental health wellness examination of up to 60 minutes that is performed by a qualified mental health care provider. The coverage must: Be comparable to the coverage of a physical examination; Comply with the requirements of federal mental health parity laws; and Not require any deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for the mental health wellness examination. The bill appropriates $13,347 from the division of insurance cash fund to the division of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies for personal services to implement the bill. (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.)
To protect bee and other pollinator populations throughout the state, the bill requires the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner), on or before March 1, 2021, to adopt rules to regulate the use of neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides by classifying specific neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides as restricted-use pesticides. The commissioner's rules must exempt from the restricted use of the pesticides their use as indoor pest control, personal care, and pet care products; however, the commissioner, thereafter, may amend the rules to disallow their use as indoor pest control, personal care, or pet care products if the commissioner determines that another commercially available product that is not a neonicotinoid pesticide or a sulfoximine pesticide is as or more effective than a neonicotinoid pesticide or a sulfoximine pesticide when used in accordance with the product's label directions for the same indoor pest control, personal care, or pet care use or uses. The commissioner's rules regarding the restricted use of neonicotinoid pesticides and sulfoximine pesticides must not apply to commercial applicators, limited commercial applicators, public applicators, qualified supervisors, certified operators, and private applicators. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
On and after September 1, 2020, the bill prohibits the sale of flavored cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products, including flavored electronic cigarettes, and products intended to be added to cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to produce a flavor other than tobacco. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill defines a "health care cost-sharing arrangement" as a health care sharing ministry or medical cost-sharing community that collects funds from its members on a regular basis, at levels established by the arrangement, for purposes of sharing, covering, or defraying the medical costs of its members. A health care cost-sharing arrangement is required to: Report specified information to the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) regarding its operations, financial statements, membership, and medical bills submitted, paid, and denied; Provide certain disclosures on its website, in marketing materials, and to potential members; and Respond to requests for payment of medical expenses from health care providers within a period specified by the commissioner by rule. If an insurance broker offers to enroll or enrolls individuals or groups in a health care cost-sharing arrangement, the broker must provide the same disclosures that a health care cost-sharing arrangement is required to provide. The bill also prohibits a health care cost-sharing arrangement or insurance broker from offering or enrolling participants in the arrangement during the annual open enrollment period for health benefit plans. The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules to implement the data reporting, disclosure, and response time requirements and to impose fines for failure to comply with the requirements and prohibitions specified in the bill. A person is prohibited from making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made, issued, or circulated any statement or publication that misrepresents the medical cost-sharing benefits, advantages, conditions, or terms of any health care cost-sharing arrangement. The commissioner is authorized to issue an emergency, ex parte cease-and-desist order against a person the commissioner believes to be violating this prohibition if it appears to the commissioner that the alleged conduct is fraudulent, creates an immediate danger to public safety, or is causing or is reasonably expected to cause significant, imminent, and irreparable public injury. If a person violates the emergency order, the commissioner may impose a civil penalty, order restitution, or both. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Capital Development Committee. Current statute requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to request annually from the governing board of each state institution of higher education (institution) a 2-year projection (projection) of capital construction projects to be undertaken by an institution that is estimated to require total project expenditures exceeding $2 million if the capital construction project is for new acquisitions of real property or new construction and funded solely from cash funds held by the institution or the project is funded through the higher education revenue bond intercept program, or exceeding $10 million if the project is not for new acquisitions of real property or new construction and is funded solely from cash funds held by the institution. The bill adjusts the law to current practice and instead requires the projection to be reviewed at the commission's next available meeting and repeals the requirement that an institution amend the projection prior to commencing a project if the project is not in the institution's most recent projection. The bill repeals the requirement that the commission annually prepare a unified, 2-year report for capital construction or capital renewal projects acquired or constructed and operated and maintained solely from cash funds held by the institution that are not for new acquisitions of real property or new construction and are estimated to require total project expenditures exceeding $10 million. The bill repeals the requirement that the commission annually prepare a unified, 2-year report for capital construction projects for new acquisitions of real property or for new construction, estimated to require total project expenditures exceeding $2 million. Current law requires the capital development committee (CDC) to review the projections at a hearing but does not specify what to do when the legislature is not in session. The bill clarifies deadlines for when such hearings must be held. The bill also requires each state institution of higher education, for informational purposes only, to annually present its current projections at the capital development committee's December hearings. Current law requires the CDC to have a hearing regarding projections whenever a projection is amended. The bill repeals this requirement. Current law specifies that the CDC is required to review and approve guidelines prepared by the office of the state architect regarding the classification of facilities as academic facilities or auxiliary facilities. The bill repeals this requirement. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
School Safety Committee. The bill requires the department of education (department) to offer a train the trainer program (program) designed to improve school culture, promote youth behavioral and mental health, and prepare attendees to teach a youth behavioral and mental health training course. The department must make the program available to employees of a school district, charter school, or board of cooperative services (local education provider). A local education provider and its employees are not required to participate in the program. The department may enter into an agreement with an organization to provide the program. The department is required to annually evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The general assembly is required to annually appropriate up to $1 million for the program. The program is repealed June 30, 2024. The program must include evidence-based instruction on, and prepare an attendee to teach a youth behavioral and mental health training course that includes, any of the following subjects: Using trauma-informed approaches to improve overall school climate and culture; Identifying behavioral and mental health challenges and substance use disorders; Restorative practices for addressing youth behavioral and mental health challenges; Improving youth social and emotional health; Bullying prevention and intervention strategies; Encouraging positive bystander behavior; Best practices for providing assistance in noncrisis situations; De-escalation of crisis situations; or Identifying and accessing available behavioral and mental health resources and substance use disorder support services and treatment.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
The bill authorizes a physician or a mental health professional (professional) to evaluate or treat a minor patient (minor) for a behavioral health disorder with the consent of only one parent or legal guardian of the minor if both parents have legal decision-making authority over the minor, but not when there is an existing court order providing that the parents or legal guardians have joint-decision making authority concerning the medical or behavioral health decisions of the minor . The professional shall act in the best interest of the minor and provide services for a behavioral health disorder only in accordance with the professional's own advice or recommendation. The bill defines a minor as a person who is under 15 years of age. (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.)