Sen. Dylan Roberts

With regard to prior authorization requirements imposed by carriers, private utilization review organizations (organizations), and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for certain health-care services and prescription drug benefits covered under a health benefit plan, the act requires carriers, organizations, and PBMs, as applicable, to adopt a program, in consultation with participating providers, to eliminate or substantially modify prior authorization requirements in a manner that removes administrative burdens on qualified providers and their patients with regard to certain health-care services, prescription drugs, or related benefits based on specified criteria. Additionally, a carrier or organization is prohibited from denying a claim for a health-care procedure a provider provides, in addition or related to an approved surgical procedure, under specified circumstances or from denying an initially approved surgical procedure on the basis that the provider provided an additional or a related health-care procedure. Starting January 1, 2027, if a provider submits a prior authorization request through an electronic interface or secure electronic transmission system used by the carrier, organization, or PBM, as applicable, the carrier, organization, or PBM to which the request was submitted is required to accept and respond to the request through its interface or electronic transmission system. A carrier or PBM is prohibited from imposing prior authorization requirements more than once every 3 years for a chronic maintenance drug approved by the federal food and drug administration that the carrier or PBM has previously approved for a person covered under the carrier's or PBM's health benefit plan, except under specified conditions. The act extends the duration of an approved prior authorization for a health-care service or prescription drug benefit from 180 days to a calendar year. Carriers are required to post, on their public-facing websites, specified information regarding: The number of prior authorization requests that are approved, denied, and appealed; The number of prior authorization exemptions from or alternatives to prior authorization requirements provided pursuant to a program developed and offered by the carrier, an organization, or a PBM; and The prior authorization requirements as applied to prescription drug formularies for each health benefit plan the carrier or PBM offers. The act appropriates $36,514 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

House Bill 22-1137, concerning practices of unit owners' associations, imposed a number of procedural requirements on unit owners' associations (HOAs) with respect to collecting payments from unit owners with delinquent accounts. The act changes some of these procedural requirements by: Removing a requirement that an HOA physically post notice of a unit owner's delinquent account on the unit owner's unit; In addition to sending notice by certified mail, requiring an HOA to contact a unit owner or designated contact by 2, rather than one, of certain described means; Authorizing an HOA to contact a unit owner or designated contact via telephone call to a telephone number that the HOA has on file for the unit owner or the unit owner's designated contact; and Allowing an HOA to charge a unit owner for the cost of sending notices or documentation by certified mail. The act also exempts time share units that are not occupied on a full-time basis from some of the procedural requirements imposed by House Bill 22-1137. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act makes it a deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" for a manufacturer of insulin to fail to comply with the manufacturer requirements under the insulin affordability program and for the emergency supply of prescription insulin. The act also authorizes the attorney general to enforce the epinephrine auto-injector affordability program (epinephrine program). For the insulin affordability program, the state board of pharmacy (board), rather than the division of insurance (division) and the department of health care policy and financing (department), shall develop an application form for the insulin affordability program, make the application form available on the board's website, provide the application form to pharmacies and health-care providers and others, and promote the availability of the program to Coloradans. For the emergency supply of prescription insulin, the board, rather than the division and the department, shall develop an application form for individuals seeking an emergency supply of prescription insulin, make the application form available to the public, and promote the availability of the emergency supply of prescription insulin to Coloradans. The act also changes the amount of a fine for a manufacturer's failure to comply with the requirements of the insulin affordability program or with the requirements for the emergency supply of prescription insulin, or for failure to comply with the epinephrine program, to the amount and frequency of the fine that is permitted under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". For the epinephrine program, the act requires all manufacturers subject to the epinephrine program to participate in the epinephrine program. The board shall develop a program application form and make the form available to individuals, pharmacies, health-care providers, and health facilities through the board's website, with each manufacturer required to link to the epinephrine program on the manufacturer's website. The board shall also provide information to pharmacies about the epinephrine program that includes a quick response (QR) code to allow individuals to access the epinephrine program's application online, including how to submit the application, and information necessary for a dispensing pharmacy to successfully submit an electronic claim for reimbursement of the cost to dispense an epinephrine auto-injector to an individual, above any required cost sharing by the individual. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For individual health benefit plans, if a covered person has paid any out-of-pocket expenses and the individual's health insurance carrier (carrier) exits the health insurance market and can no longer provide health insurance benefits to the individual, the act requires the individual's new carrier to credit all of the out-of-pocket expenses paid by the individual in accordance with the original health benefit plan in the given plan year to the new health benefit plan if the individual enrolls in the new health benefit plan in the established special enrollment period. The new carrier may file a claim for the amount of any claims liability that results from the new costs to the carrier; except that a claim may not be filed with the estate of the new carrier if the new carrier has otherwise recouped its costs for out-of-pocket expenses credited to covered persons. The act grants an exception for carriers from crediting the out-of-pocket expenses if doing so would make the carrier insolvent. The act grants rule-making authority to the commissioner of insurance. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the equal justice authority as a special purpose authority to distribute an equal justice fee for the purpose of providing monetary support to local organizations that provide legal representation and legal advice to low-income individuals. The equal justice authority is governed by the equal justice authority board, which is created in the act. The act requires certain court filings to incur the equal justice filing fee, which must be collected by the court and transmitted to the equal justice authority. The equal justice authority must deposit the money collected from the filing fee into an account maintained by a financial institution and distribute the money, beginning July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter, to local organizations that provide legal representation and legal advice to low-income individuals. On or before January 1, 2026, and each January 1 thereafter, the equal justice authority must prepare and submit a report to the house of representatives judiciary committee and the senate judiciary committee that details the use of the equal justice fees. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act clarifies that venue for filing a motion or complaint for a civil protection order is proper in any county where any one of the acts or behaviors that are subject to the motion or complaint occurred. The act authorizes a judge or magistrate to continue the temporary protection order for a period of not more than one year after the date when the permanent protection order hearing takes place. If the temporary protection order is continued for one year and the petitioner seeks a permanent protection order, the act requires the petitioner to file a motion at least 14 days before the scheduled hearing notifying the court and the respondent of the petitioner's intent to pursue a permanent protection order on the date of the scheduled hearing. The act requires the court to encourage the petitioner to notify the respondent if the petitioner intends not to appear at the permanent protection order hearing, but the court shall neither require the petitioner to attend nor assess attorney fees or costs against the petitioner for choosing not to attend the hearing. The act prohibits service upon the respondent and upon the person to be protected if the temporary protection order is denied or if the petitioner moves to vacate the temporary protection order prior to the court receiving confirmation that the respondent was personally served or had actual knowledge of the request for a civil protection order. If the temporary protection order is based in whole or in part on an act of domestic violence, and the act of domestic violence involved the threat of use of physical force, use of physical force, or attempted use of physical force, the act requires the citation to inform the respondent that the respondent must refrain from possessing or purchasing a firearm or ammunition for the duration of the order and must relinquish, for the duration of the order, a firearm or ammunition in the respondent's immediate possession or control or subject to the respondent's immediate possession or control. The act requires the court to grant additional continuances at the petitioner's request if the petitioner is unable to serve the respondent and if the petitioner is able to show the petitioner has made reasonable efforts to serve the respondent or that the respondent is evading service. The act clarifies that a municipal court shall include in the order a provision awarding temporary care and control of any joint or shared minor children of the parties involved for a period of not more than one year after the date on which the temporary care and control is awarded in the temporary protection order. If there is no pending or existing domestic relations or juvenile case in district court involving joint or shared children, the act prohibits the petitioner from being required or instructed to file a complaint for a protection order in district court when the petitioner is otherwise eligible to file for a civil protection order in county court. The act requires temporary protection orders and permanent protection orders to be written and communicated in simple and plain language. The act requires a judge to order a temporary protection order be made permanent if the judge finds that the respondent engaged in a behavior constituting grounds for the issuance of a civil protection order on the basis of sexual violence and that a risk or threat of physical harm or the threat of psychological or emotional harm exists to the petitioner. The act prohibits the court from awarding any costs or assessing any fees, including attorney fees, against a petitioner seeking a civil protection order. The act prohibits a state or public agency from assessing fees for service of process against a petitioner seeking a civil protection order as a victim of domestic abuse, domestic violence, stalking, or sexual violence. As part of a request for a temporary or permanent protection order in a case involving domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking, the act authorizes the court to enter an order directing a wireless telephone service provider to transfer the financial responsibility for and rights to a wireless telephone number to the petitioner if the petitioner: Is not the account holder; and Proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner and any minor children in the petitioner's care are the primary users of each wireless telephone number that the petitioner requested be transferred. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act gives the Colorado state patrol authority to provide law enforcement services for the Ralph L. Carr Colorado judicial center and its grounds, subject to available appropriations, and to provide protection for Colorado judges and justices when they are present in the state capitol buildings group. The act gives additional administrators of judicial security temporary peace officer status pending application and review by the P.O.S.T. board. Following review by the P.O.S.T. board and upon a favorable recommendation for peace officer status from the P.O.S.T. board to the general assembly, temporary peace officer status for the additional administrators is permanent. If the P.O.S.T. board does not recommend peace officer status for the additional personnel, the temporary peace officer status expires on June 30, 2025, unless the general assembly provides otherwise. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 31, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to conduct a study concerning the market for property and casualty insurance policies issued by insurers to: Unit owners' associations (associations) of common interest communities; and Owners of hotels and lodging facilities (owners). To the extent practicable, the study must include consideration of: Current market conditions, including certain data; Recommendations regarding potential measures and programs to ensure the long-term sustainability and availability of property and casualty insurance policies issued to associations and owners; Whether any captive insurance companies have been formed by an association or an owner; and Whether the formation of a captive insurance company by an association or an owner could impact current market conditions. The commissioner may contract with a third party to conduct the study. The commissioner and any third party must engage with and seek input from insurers, consumer groups, and other interested parties. As part of the study, the commissioner may collect specific data from insurers. Information submitted by an insurer is subject to public inspection only to the extent allowed under the "Colorado Open Records Act". The division of insurance and any third-party contractor may not disclose trade secrets or confidential or proprietary information. The commissioner must prepare a report summarizing the results of the study and, on or before January 1, 2026, submit the report to the joint budget committee, to the business affairs and labor committee of the house of representatives, and to the business, labor, and technology committee of the senate. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $329,863 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance. Of this amount, any amount up to $300,000 not expended prior to July 1, 2025, is further appropriated to the division for the 2025-26 state fiscal year for the same purpose. APPROVED by Governor May 31, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act creates the division of animal welfare (division) within the department of agriculture. The division is created to promote domestic animal welfare, including providing education and outreach, creating voluntary programs, and awarding grants. APPROVED by Governor May 30, 2024 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act appropriates the following amounts for the 2024-25 state fiscal year from the Colorado water conservation board (CWCB) construction fund to the CWCB or the division of water resources in the department of natural resources for the following projects: Continuation of the satellite monitoring system, $380,000 (section 1 of the act); Continuation of the floodplain map modernization program, $1,000,000 (section 2); Continuation of the weather modification permitting program, $500,000 (section 3); Continuation of the Colorado Mesonet project, $200,000 (section 5); Continuation of the water forecasting partnership project, $2,000,000 (section 6); Support of modeling and data analyses for the upper Colorado river commission's development of operational guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, $500,000 (section 7); Support for the division of water resources' statewide diversion telemetry project, $1,827,500 (section 8); Support of a study update and scenario analyses for groundwater resource goals for the southern high plains designated groundwater basin, $250,000 (section 9); and Support for projects that support drought planning and mitigation, $4,000,000 (section 11). Section 4 directs the state treasurer to transfer up to $2,000,000 from the CWCB construction fund to the CWCB litigation fund on July 1, 2024. The CWCB is authorized to make loans from the severance tax perpetual base fund or the CWCB construction fund: In an amount up to $155,650,000 to the Windy Gap firming project (section 12); and In an amount up to $101,000,000 to the northern integrated supply project water activity enterprise owned by the northern Colorado water conservancy district to develop a new regional water supply project (section 13). Section 10 directs the state treasurer to transfer $2,000,000 on July 1, 2024, from the CWCB construction fund to the turf replacement fund to finance the state turf replacement program. Section 14 directs the state treasurer to transfer $20,000,000 on July 1, 2024, from the severance tax perpetual base fund to the CWCB construction fund for the purchase and sale agreement between the Colorado river water conservation district and the public service company of Colorado for the purchase of the water rights associated with the Shoshone power plant. Section 15 appropriates $23,300,000 from the water plan implementation cash fund to the CWCB to fund grants that will help implement the state water plan. Sections 16 and 17 amend current law, under which the state treasurer is directed to make 2 transfers of $2.5 million each from the economic recovery and relief cash fund to the CWCB construction fund. Under current law, the CWCB is required to use the $2.5 million from one of the transfers for the direct and indirect costs of providing assistance to political subdivisions and other entities applying for federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" money and other federally available money related to water funding opportunities (water funding purposes). The CWCB is required to use the $2.5 million from the other transfer for issuing grants to political subdivisions of the state or other entities for the hiring of temporary employees, contractors, or both that will assist those political subdivisions and other entities in applying for federal "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act" money and other federally available money related to natural resource management (natural resource management purposes). Sections 16 and 17 amend current law by allowing the CWCB, on or after July 1, 2024, to expend money from either of the 2 transfers for either the water funding purposes or the natural resource management purposes. APPROVED by Governor May 29, 2024 EFFECTIVE May 29, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)