Bill Tracker

Under current law, a school district, the state charter school
institute, or the governing board of a nonpublic school may adopt a policy
for a school to maintain a supply of and distribute opiate antagonists. The
bill allows the adoption of a similar policy for maintaining a supply of
opiate antagonists on school buses and extends existing civil and criminal
immunity to school bus operators and other employees present on buses
if they furnish or administer an opiate antagonist in good faith, in addition
to other requirements.
Under current law, a school district, the state charter school
institute, or the governing board of a nonpublic school may adopt a policy
for a school to maintain a supply of and distribute non-laboratory
synthetic opiate detection tests. The bill allows the adoption of a similar
policy for non-laboratory additive detection tests and extends existing
civil immunity provisions to include non-laboratory additive detection
tests.
The bill requires a school, school district, or the state charter
school institute to allow a student to possess or administer on school
grounds, on a school bus, or at any school-sponsored event an opiate
antagonist and possess a non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection test or
a non-laboratory additive detection test.

With certain exceptions, for health benefit plans that are issued or
renewed on or after January 1, 2027, the bill requires a health-care
insurance carrier (carrier) to include a primary care provider as a
participating provider in all networks, including narrow networks and all
tiers of tiered networks, of the carrier's health benefit plan if the primary
care provider is:
  • Licensed to practice in Colorado;
  • Certified or accredited by a national association for the
certification or accreditation of primary care providers;
  • Enrolled in an alternative payment model; and
  • Credentialed by federal law to receive reimbursement for
the provision of care to patients receiving benefits from
medicaid.
On or before December 31, 2025, the commissioner of insurance
must promulgate rules to implement the bill, including rules:
  • Establishing criteria and a process for determining whether
a primary care provider meets the criteria; and
  • Establishing a schedule for contracted reimbursements
issued to primary care providers who participate in a health
benefit plan.
The division of insurance must contract with an actuary to
determine a minimum reimbursement schedule for alternative payment
models. The schedule:
  • Must ensure that primary care providers are reimbursed at
rates that are at least equal to the reimbursement rates
established in law for purposes of the Colorado
standardized health benefit plan;
  • Must include adjustments for regional cost of living
variations; and
  • May include incentives for integration of behavioral
health-care services and comprehensive care coordination
services.
If a carrier and a primary care provider do not negotiate and agree
to terms of reimbursement, the carrier must compensate the primary care
provider in accordance with the schedule for contracted reimbursements
established by rule.
If a primary care provider employed by a medical group or hospital
system leaves the medical group or hospital system to establish an
independent practice, the primary care provider may communicate with
patients about continuing to see them in the new practice.

For a covered person with a chronic, complex, rare, or
life-threatening medical condition, the bill prohibits a carrier from:
  • Requiring a provider-administered drug to be dispensed
only by certain pharmacies or only by a pharmacy
participating in the carrier's network;
  • If a provider-administered drug is otherwise covered by the
carrier for the covered person, limiting or excluding
coverage for the drug based on the covered person's choice
of pharmacy or because the drug was not dispensed by a
pharmacy that participates in the carrier's network;
  • Requiring a participating provider to bill for or be
reimbursed for the delivery and administration of a
provider-administered drug under the pharmacy benefit
instead of the medical benefit without informed, written
consent of the covered person and written attestation by the
covered person's participating provider that a delay in the
drug's administration will not place the covered person at
an increased health risk; or
  • Requiring a covered person to pay additional fees,
copayments, or coinsurance based on the covered person's
choice of pharmacy or because the provider-administered
drug was not dispensed by a pharmacy that participates in
the carrier's network.

The bill establishes that evidence that a person has engaged in an
unfair or deceptive trade practice constitutes a significant impact to the
public.

Under current law, individual and small group health benefit plans
(plans) are required to cover fertility diagnosis and treatment and fertility
preservation services (fertility services) in the state 12 months after the
federal department of health and human services determines that coverage
for fertility services does not require defrayal of costs by the state.
The bill removes the language relating to state defrayal of costs
and requires the division of insurance to implement the coverage for plans
issued or renewed on and after January 1, 2025.
In addition, the bill:
  • Prohibits a health benefit plan from imposing any
exclusions, limitations, or other restrictions on coverage of
any fertility services based on a covered individual's
participation in fertility services provided by or to a third
party; and
  • Amends the definition of infertility to include a status
as well as a disease or condition.

The bill specifies that the governing body of a municipality, which
includes a city, town, and city and county, may authorize the operation of
an overdose prevention center within the municipality's boundaries for the
purpose of saving the lives of persons at risk of preventable overdoses.

Colorado Health Insurance Exchange Oversight Committee.
The bill modifies provisions governing the Colorado health benefit
exchange (exchange) by:
  • Eliminating the requirement for the board of directors of
the exchange (board) to submit a report on the development
of the exchange to the governor and the general assembly
by January 15 and instead requiring the report to be
submitted annually and to address open enrollment;
  • Requiring the board to also present an open enrollment
update to specified legislative committees during each
legislative session;
  • Requiring the exchange, rather than the board, to annually
present to the Colorado health insurance exchange
oversight committee (committee) the exchange's financial
and operational plans and the major actions taken by the
board;
  • Modifying the number of meetings of the committee during
the interim; and
  • Eliminating from the committee membership appointees
who are members of the legislative audit committee.

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee.
Section 1 of the bill excludes injuries involving the possession of drugs
or drug paraphernalia from a physician's mandatory reporting
requirements.
Sections 2 and 3 clarify that the civil and criminal immunity that
protects a person who acts in good faith to furnish or administer an opioid
antagonist also protects a person who distributes the opioid antagonist.
Section 4 adds an exemption to the prohibition on possessing drug
paraphernalia for possession of drug paraphernalia that a person received
from an approved syringe exchange program or a program carried out by
a harm reduction organization while the person was participating in the
program.
Section 5 specifies that money appropriated to the department of
public health and environment to purchase non-laboratory synthetic opiate
detection tests may also be used to purchase other drug testing equipment.
Section 6 authorizes an organization operating a clean syringe
exchange program to provide drug testing services through the program.
Sections 7 though 23 are conforming amendments that update the
term opiate antagonist to opioid antagonist.

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee.
Section 1 prohibits a carrier that provides coverage under a health benefit
plan for a drug used to treat a substance use disorder from requiring prior
authorization for the drug based solely on the dosage amount.
Section 2 requires an insurance carrier and the medical assistance
program to reimburse a licensed pharmacist prescribing or administering
medication-assisted treatment (MAT) pursuant to a collaborative
pharmacy practice agreement (collaborative agreement) at a rate equal to
the reimbursement rate for other providers. Section 7 amends the practice
of pharmacy to include exercising prescriptive authority for any
FDA-approved product or medication for opioid use disorder in
accordance with federal law, if authorized through a collaborative
agreement. Section 8 requires the state board of pharmacy, the Colorado
medical board, and the state board of nursing to develop a protocol for
pharmacists to prescribe, dispense, and administer medication-assisted
treatment. Section 23 requires the medical assistance program to
reimburse a pharmacist prescribing or administering medications for
opioid use disorder pursuant to a collaborative agreement at a rate equal
to the reimbursement rate for other providers.
Section 3 requires the commissioner of insurance to:
  • Review the network adequacy rules promulgated by the
commissioner and the division of insurance to ensure that
the rules are sufficient to require each carrier to maintain an
adequate number of substance use disorder treatment
providers in underserved areas and to maintain an adequate
number of behavioral health-care providers in all
communities; and
  • Report the rule review findings to the opioid and other
substance use disorders study committee, including any
recommended rule changes.
Sections 4, 5, 6, and 25 authorize licensed clinical social workers
and licensed professional counselors (professionals) within their scope of
practice to provide clinical supervision to individuals seeking certification
as addiction technicians and addiction specialists, and direct the state
board of addiction counselors and the state board of human services, as
applicable, to adopt rules relating to clinical supervision by these
professionals.
Section 9 and 10 establish the behavioral health diversion pilot
program (pilot program) to award grants to at least 2, but not more than
5, district attorneys to divert from the criminal justice system persons who
have a behavioral health disorder, including a substance use disorder, that
requires early recovery services and treatment that is reasonably expected
to deter future criminal behavior.
Sections 11 through 16 expand the medication-assisted treatment
expansion pilot program to include grants to provide training and ongoing
support to pharmacies and pharmacists who are authorized to prescribe,
dispense, and administer MAT pursuant to a collaborative agreement and
protocol to assist individuals with a substance use disorder.
Section 17 requires the department of health care policy and
financing (HCPF) to seek federal authorization to provide screening for
physical and behavioral health needs, brief intervention, administration
of medication-assisted treatment, physical and psychiatric prescription
medications provided upon release from jail, case management, and care
coordination services through the medical assistance program to persons
up to 90 days prior to release from jail, a juvenile institutional facility, or
a department of corrections facility.
Section 18 adds substance use disorder treatment to the list of
health-care or mental health-care services that are required to be
reimbursed at the same rate for telemedicine as a comparable in-person
service.
Section 19 requires HCPF to seek federal authorization to provide
partial hospitalization for substance use disorder treatment with full
federal financial participation.
Section 20 requires each managed care entity (MCE) that provides
prescription drug benefits or methadone administration for the treatment
of substance use disorders to:
  • Set the reimbursement rate for take-home methadone
treatment and office-administered methadone treatment at
the same rate; and
  • Not impose any prior authorization requirements on any
prescription medication approved by the FDA for the
treatment of substance use disorders, regardless of the
dosage amount.
Section 21 requires the behavioral health administration to collect
data from each withdrawal management facility on the total number of
individuals who were denied admittance or treatment for withdrawal
management and the reason for the denial and review and approve any
admission criteria established by a withdrawal management facility.
Section 22 requires each MCE to disclose the aggregated average
and lowest rates of reimbursement for a set of behavioral health services
determined by HCPF.
For the 2024-25 state fiscal year and each state fiscal year
thereafter, section 24 appropriates $150,000 from the general fund to the
Colorado child abuse prevention trust fund (trust fund) for programs to
reduce the occurrence of prenatal substance exposure. For the 2024-25
and 2025-26 state fiscal years, section 24 also annually appropriates
$50,000 from the general fund to the trust fund to convene a stakeholder
group to identify strategies to increase access to child care for families
seeking substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.
Section 26 requires the behavioral health administration (BHA) to
contract with an independent third-party entity to provide services and
supports to behavioral health providers seeking to become a behavioral
health safety net provider with the goal of the provider becoming
self-sustaining.
Section 27 creates the contingency management grant program in
the BHA to provide grants to substance use disorder treatment programs
that implement a contingency management program for individuals with
a stimulant use disorder.
Section 28 requires a county jail seeking to provide services to
incarcerated medicaid members to apply for a correctional services
provider license from the BHA.
Section 29 requires the BHA, in collaboration with HCPF, to
convene a working group to study and identify barriers to opening and
operating an opioid treatment program, including satellite medication
units and mobile methadone clinics.

Transportation Legislation Review Committee. The bill creates
the child passenger safety education and distribution grant program (grant
program) within the department of transportation (department). The
department is required to promulgate rules specifying the time frames for
applying for grants, the form of the grant program application, the criteria
for determining who is eligible for the grant program, the criteria the
department shall consider in awarding grants, and the deadlines for
distributing grant money.
Grant recipients shall use the money received through the grant
program for the following purposes:
  • To provide funding for the certification or recertification of
child passenger safety technicians;
  • To educate families on the child passenger safety laws; or
  • To create child restraint system distribution programs for
families of children who do not have a legally compliant
child restraint system.
The bill creates the child passenger safety education and
distribution grant program fund (fund) to pay for the grant program. The
fund consists of general fund money and any other gifts, grants, or
donations that the department receives. The department may use money
from the fund to pay the direct and indirect costs that the department
incurs to administer the grant program.
The bill changes the child restraint system requirements in existing
law as follows:
  • Increases the age at which children are required to use a
child restraint system from under 8 years of age to under 9
years of age and adds that a child under 57 inches in height,
regardless of age, must use a child restrain system;
  • Increases the age, from under one year of age to under 2
years of age, and the weight, from under 20 pounds to
under 40 pounds, of children who must be restrained in a
rear-facing child restraint system in a rear seat of the
vehicle;
  • Increases the age, from one year of age or older to 2 years
of age or older, of children who must be restrained in a
rear-facing or forward-facing child restraint system in a
rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available;
  • Adds a requirement that children who are at least 4 years of
age but under 9 years of age and who weigh at least 40
pounds utilize a booster seat, which must be situated in a
rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available; and
  • Adds a requirement that children who are at least 9 years of
age but under 13 years of age sit in the rear seat of a
vehicle, if a rear seat is available, and be properly secured
with a safety belt.

The bill enacts the Violence Prevention in Health-care Settings
Act, applicable to hospitals, freestanding emergency departments,
nursing care facilities, assisted living residences, and federally qualified
health centers, and the Violence Prevention in Behavioral Health
Settings Act, applicable to comprehensive community behavioral health
providers. Both acts require each of these facility types to:
  • Establish a workplace violence prevention committee to
document and review workplace violence incidents at the
facility and develop and regularly review a workplace
violence prevention plan (plan) for the facility;
  • Adopt, implement, enforce, and update the plan;
  • Provide training on the plan and on workplace violence
prevention;
  • Submit biannual workplace violence incident reports to the
department of public health and environment or the
behavioral health administration, as applicable; and
  • If a workplace violence incident occurs, offer post-incident
services to affected staff.
The bill specifies the required components of facility plans.
Facilities are prohibited from discouraging staff from contacting or filing
an incident report with law enforcement. The bill also prohibits
retaliation, discipline, or discrimination against a person who reports a
workplace violence incident in good faith, who advises a staff member of
the right to report an incident, or who chooses not to report an incident.

The bill requires the Colorado school of public health to analyze
draft model legislation for implementing a single-payer, nonprofit,
publicly financed, and privately delivered universal health-care payment
system for Colorado that directly compensates providers. The Colorado
school of public health must submit a report detailing its findings to the
general assembly by October 1, 2025.
The bill also creates the statewide health-care analysis advisory
task force consisting of 21 members appointed by the general assembly
and the governor, as well as executive directors of specified state
departments, the commissioner of insurance, and the chief executive
officer of the Colorado health benefit exchange or any designees of the
executive directors, the commissioner, and the chief executive officer.
The advisory task force is created for the purpose of advising the
Colorado school of public health during the analysis.

Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment
of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and
Juvenile Justice Systems. Beginning July 1, 2025, the bill prohibits a
law enforcement officer or emergency service patrol officer who takes a
person into protective custody from detaining the person in jail.
Beginning July 1, 2024, the bill requires each local law
enforcement agency that has taken a person into protective custody to
provide an annual report to the behavioral health administration that
includes disaggregated and nonidentifying information concerning
persons who were taken into protective custody in an approved treatment
facility or detained in an emergency medical facility or jail.
Beginning July 1, 2024, the bill requires each approved treatment
facility or emergency medical services facility that detains or holds a
person on an emergency commitment to provide a quarterly report to the
behavioral health administration that includes information about the
persons detained or held at the facility.

Current law requires the department of health care policy and
financing (department) to offer to enter into a direct contract with the
managed care organization (MCO) operated by or under the control of the
Denver health and hospital authority (Denver health) until Denver health
ceases to operate a medicaid managed care program or until June 30,
2025. The bill removes the option for the department to enter into a direct
contract until June 30, 2025, and instead requires the department to enter
into the contract until Denver health ceases to operate a managed care
program.
The bill prohibits the MCO from reimbursing contracted medicaid
providers at rates that are higher than the department's medicaid fee for
service rates unless the provider enters into a quality incentive agreement
with the MCO. The bill requires the MCO's contract to provide physical
and behavioral health-care services to the population it serves.
For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the department distributed money
appropriated for a supplemental state payment to Denver health. The bill
authorizes the department to continually distribute any money
appropriated for payment to Denver health.

Subject to limited exceptions, current law requires that a victim's
name and identifying information be deleted from criminal justice records
released to the public if the person was a victim of certain sexual
offenses. The bill permits the release of unredacted records to the named
victim or victim's designee.
Subject to limited exceptions, current law requires that a child's
name and identifying information be deleted from criminal justice records
released to the public if the child was a victim of or witness to a criminal
offense. The bill permits the release of unredacted records to the office
of the state public defender and the office of the alternate defense
counsel. The bill clarifies that changes in 2023 to the law related to
records of child victims and child witnesses apply to records pertaining
to offenses committed on or after January 1, 2024.

The bill prohibits training for law enforcement personnel,
emergency medical service providers, or other first responders from
including the term excited delirium. A peace officer is prohibited from
using the term excited delirium to describe a person in an incident
report. A coroner or other person authorized to determine a cause of death
shall not register excited delirium as the cause of death on a death
certificate.

The bill creates the Abortion Pill Reversal Information Act (act).
The act requires a physician or other qualified medical professional
assisting a physician to provide state-prepared information concerning
abortion pill reversal, including a telephone number and website address
where a pregnant woman can seek resources to obtain abortion pill
reversal, to any woman seeking an abortion through the use of an
abortion-inducing drug. The physician or other qualified medical
professional must provide the information at least 24 hours before the
physician prescribes or administers the abortion-inducing drug or induces
the abortion.
The department of public health and environment is required to
maintain the state-prepared information on its public-facing website.
The act makes it a deceptive trade practice to fail to provide the
required information concerning abortion pill reversal. The act also
includes civil penalties and professional discipline for failure to comply
with the requirements in the act and allows the general assembly to
appoint members to intervene in any lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the act.

The bill 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; and
  • The implementation of measures and programs to ensure
the long-term sustainability and availability of property and
casualty insurance policies issued to associations and
owners.
The commissioner may contract with a third party to conduct the
study. The commissioner and any third party shall engage with and seek
input from insurers, consumer groups, and other interested parties.
As part of the study, the commissioner shall 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 shall 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 small group and individual health benefit plans, if an
individual who is entitled to receive benefits or services under a health
benefit plan has incurred any out-of-pocket expenses, including payments
for a deductible or other coinsurance amount, under the health benefit
plan during a plan year, and the individual's health insurance carrier exits
the health insurance market and can no longer provide coverage to the
individual, the bill requires the individual's new health insurance 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 bill grants rule-making authority to the commissioner of
insurance.

The bill requires a pharmacy to provide an individual who has
difficulty seeing or reading standard printed labels on prescription drug
containers with access to the prescription drug label information by:
  • Including an electronic label affixed to the prescription
drug container that transmits the prescription drug's label
information, directions, and written instructions to an end
user's external accessible device, including an individual's
compatible prescription drug reader;
  • Providing a prescription drug reader at no cost to the
individual;
  • Providing a prescription drug label in braille or large print;
or
  • Providing the individual with a method recommended by
the United States access board.
The state pharmacy board may exempt from the requirements of
the bill a pharmacy that is a sole proprietorship with no more than 2
pharmacists for which, upon request of the pharmacy, the board
determines compliance would create an undue burden.

The bill permits a court to order a person to complete a medical
evaluation if the court suspects a substance use disorder contributed to the
behavior giving rise to an offense for which the person was charged. The
medical evaluation must determine if the person would benefit from a
medically guided treatment plan for a substance use disorder (treatment
plan). If the court receives a recommendation following the medical
evaluation that the person would benefit from a treatment plan, the court
may order the person to participate in a treatment plan as a condition of
bond.
The person's treatment provider shall submit a report to the court
within 2 business days after each scheduled appointment that is part of the
person's treatment plan to indicate whether the person is in compliance
with the treatment plan. The bill requires a person ordered to participate
in a treatment plan to waive any patient privilege necessary for a doctor
or treatment provider to report to the court.
The bill prohibits the court from ordering a person required to
participate in a treatment plan as a condition of bond to submit to drug or
alcohol monitoring other than monitoring required by the treatment plan
unless the monitoring is expressly required or permitted pursuant to any
other state law.

The bill amends the Colorado Privacy Act to add protections for
an individual's biometric data by requiring a person that, alone or jointly
with others, determines the purposes for and means of processing
biometric data (controller) to adopt a written policy that:
  • Establishes a retention schedule for biometric identifiers;
  • Includes a protocol for responding to a breach of security
of biometric data; and
  • Includes guidelines that require the permanent destruction
of a biometric identifier by the earliest of certain dates.
The bill also:
  • Prohibits a controller from collecting a biometric identifier
unless the controller first satisfies certain disclosure and
consent requirements;
  • Specifies certain prohibited acts and requirements for
controllers that collect and use biometric data;
  • Requires a controller to allow a consumer to access and
update a biometric identifier;
  • Restricts an employer's permissible reasons for obtaining
an employee's consent for the collection of biometric
identifiers; and
  • Authorizes the attorney general to promulgate rules to
implement the bill.

For the purpose of determining eligibility for workers'
compensation benefits for a mental impairment caused by an accidental
injury that consists of a psychologically traumatic event arising out of and
sustained in the course of employment, the bill establishes that a worker
who, while working, experiences complex trauma that causes
posttraumatic stress disorder is experiencing a psychologically traumatic
event.

Joint Budget Committee. The bill authorizes the department of
health care policy and financing (state department) to suspend the
enrollment of a medicaid and children's basic health plan (programs)
provider only if the state department identifies that the provider is
participating in an alleged and ongoing organized crime or organized
fraud scheme (scheme) that impacts the programs and if the state
department documents in writing that at least 3 of the following factors
are met:
  • The provider has been enrolled in the programs for less
than 3 years;
  • At least 3 providers are involved in the scheme;
  • The collective billing amount identified in the scheme
exceeds $1 million;
  • The provider's billing indicates a pattern of abuse or
noncompliance;
  • The volume of claims or billing amount has increased at a
significant rate and there is no other reasonable explanation
for the increase;
  • The federal centers for medicare and medicaid services has
approved a provider enrollment moratorium for the
provider type involved in the scheme; or
  • The state department has notified law enforcement of the
scheme.
The state department is required to notify the provider of the
suspension in writing, including the reasons for the suspension.
The state department may suspend a provider's enrollment for an
initial period of 6 months while the state department conducts a review
of the scheme. After the state department's review is complete, the state
department must reinstate the provider's enrollment if the department
determines the provider did not engage in a scheme. If the state
department's review cannot be completed during the initial 6-month
period, the state department may extend the review period in additional
6-month increments if the state department documents in writing the
necessity for extending the review.

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 bill
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.
The bill 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 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 bill applies to conduct occurring on or after January 1, 2026.

The bill establishes a continuing medical education requirement
(CME) for physicians licensed in this state.
To meet the CME requirement, a physician must complete 40
credit hours of CME (CME credit hours) in the 24 months preceding the
renewal, reinstatement, or reactivation of the physician's medical license
in topics selected by the physician and also in topics specified in the bill.
The Colorado medical board (board) shall approve the type and sponsors
of programs or activities that qualify for CME credit hours pursuant to
criteria specified in the bill.
To verify compliance with the CME requirement, the physician
shall affirm on the license renewal form submitted to the board that the
physician has complied with the CME requirement. The board is also
authorized to audit up to 5% of physician renewals annually and to
require that the physician submit proof of the CME programs completed
and the CME credit hours awarded. A physician's failure to comply with
the CME requirement or to submit proof to the board during a board audit
constitutes unprofessional conduct. If the physician fails to comply with
the CME requirement, the physician's license is inactive until reinstated
by the board.
The board may adopt rules to implement the CME requirement.
The director of the division of professions and occupations in the
department of regulatory agencies shall increase existing fees on
physician licensure renewals to cover any additional costs associated with
implementing the CME requirement.

The bill clarifies that the naturopathic doctor formulary
(formulary) may include prescription classes of medicines and adds
certain medicines to the formulary, including all legend drugs and, for a
naturopathic doctor with a federal drug enforcement administration
registration, all drugs listed on schedules III through V under the
Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 2013.

The bill requires the behavioral health administration in the
department of human services (BHA) to create a universal behavioral
health consent form for disclosure of an individual's protected health
information in compliance with the federal Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996.
The office of e-health innovation in the governor's office is
required to convene a working group to determine how to most
effectively create a centralized digital consent repository that allows
patients to provide, extend, deny, and revoke consent for sharing their
medical data and information between physical and behavioral
health-care providers, family members, community organizations, payers,
and state agencies at any time.
The BHA is required to create a friends and family input form
(form) to allow an individual to provide a treating professional or a
licensed or designated facility or organization with information related to
a patient receiving mental health or substance use services. The bill
prohibits an individual from knowingly and intentionally making a false
statement on the form; performing this act constitutes an unclassified
misdemeanor penalized by a fine of not more than $1,000.

For ground ambulance services, the bill:
  • Allows a political subdivision, or an ambulance service
providing ambulance services on behalf of the political
subdivision, to submit to the division of insurance the
established rates for the ambulance services;
  • Establishes reimbursement rates for ambulance services
that are out-of-network; and
  • Prohibits an out-of-network ambulance service from billing
a covered person any outstanding balance for a covered
service not paid for by a carrier, except for any
coinsurance, deductible, or copayment amount required to
be paid by the covered person.

Sunset Process - House Health and Human Services
Committee. The bill implements the recommendations of the department
of regulatory agencies (department), as specified in the department's
sunset review of the regulation of respiratory therapy, as follows:
  • Sections 1 and 2 of the bill continue the regulation of
respiratory therapy for 11 years, until September 1, 2035;
  • The definition of respiratory therapy in current law
includes certain treatments of patients pursuant to a
prescription issued by a physician, advanced practice
registered nurse, or certified midwife. Section 3 expands
the definition to also include a prescription issued by a
physician assistant.
  • Current law exempts an unregistered polysomnographic
technologist (technologist) who practices respiratory
therapy from the state regulatory requirements for
respiratory therapists if the technologist is practicing under
the supervision of a respiratory therapist, physician, or
certain other practitioner. Section 4 narrows this exemption
to practices that do not exceed oxygen titration with pulse
oximetry and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation
titration.
  • Sections 5 and 6 repeal an obsolete provision and a
redundant provision.

Current law requires direct-entry midwives to register with the
division of professions and occupations in the department of regulatory
agencies before practicing. Sections 2 through 12 of the bill make
changes within the direct-entry midwives practice act to update the title
of these professionals to certified professional midwives and change the
regulation from registration to licensure. Sections 21 through 31 make
the same updates to current law in other statutes outside of the practice
act.
Current law allows the state board for community colleges and
occupational education to use unexpended resources from the in-demand
short-term health-care credentials program (program) to expand the
eligible programs that may receive support through the program. Section
13 allows the board to expand the eligible programs to include certified
professional midwives.
Section 14 requires the civil rights commission to establish certain
parameters when receiving reports for maternity care. Section 15 adds
pregnancy as a protected class for purposes of discrimination in places of
public accommodation.
The bill adds a midwife to the environmental justice advisory
board (section 16) and the governor's expert emergency epidemic
response committee (section 20).
Section 17 requires a health facility that provides maternal health
services to notify certain individuals before eliminating or reducing the
services.
Section 18 adds midwifery as a preferred area of expertise for
members of the health equity commission.
Section 19 requires the maternal mortality review committee to:
  • Study closures related to perinatal health-care practices and
facilities and perinatal health-care deserts and assets related
to perinatal health and health-care services across the state,
not limited to obstetric providers;
  • Identify major outcome categories that the department of
public health and environment should track over time and
identify risks and opportunities;
  • Explore the effects of practice and facility closures
(closures) on maternal and infant health outcomes and
experiences;
  • Identify recommendations during closures and resultant
transfers of care;
  • Identify best practice guidelines during closures and
resultant transfers of care; and
  • Create a maternal health desert and asset map.

Under current law, the knowing possession of any material,
compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than one gram and
not more than 4 grams and contains any quantity of fentanyl, carfentanil,
benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof, is a level 4 drug felony;
except that, if a defendant shows supporting evidence to establish that the
defendant made a reasonable mistake of fact and did not know that the
controlled substance contained fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole
opiate, or an analog thereof, the matter must be submitted to the finder of
fact in the form of interrogatory included in the verdict form. If the finder
of fact determines the defendant made a reasonable mistake of fact, the
defendant commits a level 1 drug misdemeanor. The bill eliminates this
provision.
Under current law, the knowing possession of any material,
compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs not more than one gram
and contains any quantity of fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate,
or an analog thereof, is a level 1 drug misdemeanor; except that a fourth
or subsequent offense is a level 4 drug felony. The bill eliminates this
provision.
Effective July 1, 2024, the bill makes the possession of any
material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains any quantity of
fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof, a level
4 drug felony.

The bill creates a refundable income tax credit that is available for
income tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2024, but prior to
January 1, 2029, for a qualifying resident individual (individual) working
in the care workforce in the amount of $1,500.
To be eligible for the credit, an individual must:
  • Have an annual gross income of no more than $75,000 as
a single filer or $150,000 as a joint filer;
  • Be employed in the care workforce as a child care worker,
home health-care worker, personal care aide, certified
nursing assistant, or other qualifying personal care worker
including a family member, friend, and neighbor who
provides care; and
  • File a signed attestation stating that the taxpayer claiming
the credit worked in a qualifying occupation in the state for
at least 6 months of the tax year.

The bill directs the department of health care policy and financing
(state department) to conduct a feasibility study (study) to explore the
feasibility of seeking federal authorization to provide nutrition and
housing services that address medicaid members' health-related social
needs (HRSN). The state department shall report the study's findings to
the joint budget committee on or before November 10, 2024. The study
and report must address integrating HRSN services with existing
housing-related and nutrition-related services.
The bill requires the state department to seek federal authorization
to provide HRSN services no later than July 1, 2025, if seeking federal
authorization would be budget neutral.

Sunset Process - House Health and Human Services
Committee. The bill continues the regulation of physical therapists and
physical therapy assistants until September 1, 2035. The bill also
authorizes physical therapists to recommend and prescribe durable
medical equipment to patients without a prescription from a physician.

Sunset Process - House Judiciary Committee. The bill
implements the recommendation of the department of regulatory agencies
in its sunset review of the human trafficking council by continuing the
council indefinitely.

The bill amends the Colorado Consumer Protection Act to make
the sale of electronic smoking devices that have not received
authorization by the federal food and drug administration (FDA) an unfair
or deceptive trade practice.
To sell electronic smoking devices in the state, the bill requires a
manufacturer of electronic smoking devices to be authorized by the FDA.
The attorney general must compile and maintain a directory of all
manufacturers and electronic smoking devices that have been authorized
by the FDA. Retailers, distributors, wholesalers, or other intermediary
entities are not permitted to sell electronic smoking devices that do not
have FDA authorization and do not appear in the directory, and violations
of the bill are subject to civil penalties under the Colorado Consumer
Protection Act.

The bill requires all individual and group health benefit plans to
provide health insurance coverage for pediatric acute-onset
neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and includes pediatric autoimmune
neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections
(PANDAS).
The coverage provided for PANS and PANDAS includes
antibiotics, medication and psychological and behavioral therapies to
manage neuropsychiatric symptoms, immunomodulating medicines,
plasma exchange, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy if certain
conditions are met.
The mandatory coverage provision applies to large group policies
and contracts issued or renewed in this state on or after January 1, 2025.
For individual and small group policies and contracts issued on or after
January 1, 2026, the mandatory coverage provision applies if the division
of insurance in the department of regulatory agencies receives
confirmation from the federal department of health and human services
that the coverage requirement does not require state defrayal of any
increased cost for the coverage.

Joint Budget Committee. The bill repeals the Colorado indigent
care program on July 1, 2025, and makes conforming amendments.
For purposes of comprehensive primary care services, current law
defines an uninsured or medically indigent patient as a patient whose
yearly family income is below 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL).
The bill requires the patient's annual household income to be at or below
200% of the FPL.
Beginning February 1, 2026, and each February 1 thereafter, the
bill requires the executive director of the department of health care policy
and financing (state department) to prepare and submit an annual report
to the general assembly, the joint budget committee, the governor, and the
medical services board concerning the status of the primary care fund.
The bill creates the hospital discounted care advisory committee
in the state department to advise the state department on the operations
and policies of health-care billing for indigent patients. The bill repeals
the advisory committee on September 1, 2029.
No later than July 1, 2025, the bill requires the medical services
board, in consultation with the Colorado healthcare affordability and
sustainability enterprise, to promulgate rules concerning the policy for
qualification for disproportionate share hospital payments.

Joint Budget Committee. Current law suspends certain provisions
related to medicaid eligibility until June 1, 2024. The bill extends the
suspension of those provisions until January 1, 2025.
The bill authorizes the department of health care policy and
financing (state department) to seek federal authorization to not require
additional verification during a medicaid member's (member) eligibility
reenrollment process if information about the member's income or assets
is not verified through a federally approved electronic data source.
For a member's income verification, the bill authorizes the state
department to use the information on file or the information that was
originally collected during the application process to determine whether
the member is eligible for reenrollment. The state department shall
require additional income verification if information about a member's
income is not verified through a federally approved electronic data source
for 2 or more consecutive years or as specified through federal
authorization.
For a member's asset verification, the state department may
complete the member's eligibility reenrollment process without any
additional asset verification if there has been no change in the member's
assets since the initial verification during the application process or as
specified through federal authorization.
The bill authorizes the state department to seek federal
authorization to delay a member's procedural termination during the
reenrollment process to allow the member to continue receiving necessary
services during the reenrollment process. The bill authorizes the state
department to apply this delay in procedural termination to a specific
population or as specified through federal authorization.
The bill authorizes the state department to seek federal
authorization to allow an applicant's or member's eligibility for
reenrollment to be based on financial findings from the supplemental
nutrition assistance program, the temporary assistance for needy families
program, and other means-tested benefit programs administered through
the Colorado benefits management system. The state department may
apply financial eligibility for medicaid to individuals whose gross income
program and assets for applicable means-tested benefit programs are
below applicable medicaid limits, regardless of differences in household
composition and income-counting rules between programs or as specified
through federal authorization.

The bill makes it a deceptive trade practice under the Colorado
Consumer Protection Act for a manufacturer to fail to comply with:
  • The insulin affordability program; and
  • The requirements for the emergency supply of prescription
insulin.
The bill authorizes the attorney general to enforce:
  • The insulin affordability program;
  • The requirements for the emergency supply of prescription
insulin; and
  • The epinephrine auto-injector affordability program
(epinephrine program).
The bill also increases the amount of a fine for a manufacturer's
failure to comply with the requirements of the insulin affordability
program, the requirements for the emergency supply of prescription
insulin, and the epinephrine program to the amount and frequency that is
permitted under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.
The bill requires the state board of pharmacy to provide flyers to
be distributed to pharmacies about the epinephrine program that include
a quick response (QR) code to allow individuals to access and complete
the epinephrine program's application online. The completed, printed
application will include a billing code or other method for the dispensing
pharmacy to be reimbursed for the cost of the epinephrine auto-injector
above any required cost sharing by the individual.

Statutory Revision Committee. With the passage of Senate Bill
23-167, an additional member will be added to the state board of nursing
(board) on July 1, 2024, bringing the total number of members of the
board to 12. Senate Bill 23-167, however, did not include a conforming
amendment to a statute that refers to the size of the board.
The bill eliminates the inaccurate reference to the number of
members on the board.

The bill expands the existing requirement to test a person who is
pregnant for syphilis at the person's first professional visit with a
health-care provider or during the first trimester of pregnancy to also
require testing for syphilis early in the third trimester of pregnancy and at
delivery. The person who is pregnant may decline any testing.

The bill enacts the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact
(compact). The compact is designed to enable a physician assistant with
a license in a state that has signed the compact (participating state) to
more easily become authorized to practice in any other participating state.
Participating states and physician assistants must meet specific
conditions enumerated in the compact to participate in the compact. The
compact allows only the participating state where a physician assistant is
licensed to discipline the physician assistant, but allows a participating
state where the physician assistant is practicing, but is not licensed, to
revoke the physician assistant's authority to practice in that state.
The bill authorizes the Colorado medical board (board) to
promulgate rules and to facilitate Colorado's participation in the compact,
including notifying the Compact Commission (commission) established
by the compact of any adverse action taken by the board against a
physician assistant licensed in Colorado or practicing in Colorado under
the compact. The commission includes a delegate from each participating
state and has the powers and duties set forth in the bill.
The compact becomes effective on the date the compact is enacted
in the seventh participating state.

The bill allows a board of county commissioners to adopt an
ordinance or resolution to:
  • Regulate the distribution of cigarettes, tobacco products, or
nicotine products; and
  • Prohibit the distribution or sale of cigarettes, tobacco
products, or nicotine products, including flavored
cigarettes, flavored tobacco products, or flavored nicotine
products.

For purposes of the school-based health center grant program
(grant program), the bill expands the definition of a school-based health
center and the purposes of the grant program to authorize grants for
evidence-informed, school-linked health-care services. Services may
include primary health-care, behavioral health-care, oral health-care, and
preventive health-care services.
School-linked health-care services may be delivered through
telehealth, mobile services, and referrals for health-care services at a
clinic near school grounds.
Subject to available appropriations, the bill authorizes grant money
to be directed to evidence-informed, school-linked models to expand
access to school-based health care, unless the prevention services division
in the department of public health and environment determines that
adequate proposals have not been submitted for the grant cycle.
The bill also requires the department of health care policy and
financing to create a service-location identifier for claims for services
provided at school-based health centers or through school-linked
health-care services.

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee.
Sections 1 through 8 of the bill:
  • Exempt veterinarians from complying with specific aspects
of the prescription drug monitoring program (program) that
are specific to prescriptions for human patients;
  • Add reporting requirements for gabapentin, in addition to
prescriptions for controlled substances in this state, to the
program;
  • Allow the medical director of a medical practice or hospital
to appoint designees to query the program on behalf of a
practitioner in the medical practice or hospital setting;
  • Allow the department of health care policy and financing
to access the program, consistent with federal data privacy
requirements, for purposes of care coordination, utilization
review, and federally required reporting relating to
recipients of certain benefits; and
  • Update current language in the laws relating to the program
by using more modern terminology.
Sections 9 and 11 create the substance use disorder prevention gap
grant program (grant program) in the department of public health and
environment (department). The grant program provides grants to
community-based organizations to fill gaps in funding for substance use
disorder prevention services in areas of highest need, including
community-oriented, children-oriented, youth-oriented, and
family-oriented prevention services.
The department, in conjunction with the Colorado substance use
disorders prevention collaborative (prevention collaborative), shall create
a publicly available prevention services gap assessment tool to direct
grant program awards to areas of highest need. After review of
applications, the prevention collaborative shall make recommendations
to the department, and, subject to available appropriations, the department
shall award 2-year grants based on those recommendations.
The bill requires the department to administer the grant program
and application process and authorizes the executive director of the
department to promulgate rules as necessary to implement the grant
program. The department shall begin accepting grant applications no later
than December 31, 2024.
The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate to the
department $1,500,000 from the general fund to implement the grant
program. The grant program repeals in 2028.
Section 10 permits a multidisciplinary and multiagency drug
overdose fatality review team established for a county, a city and county,
a group of counties or cities and counties, or an Indian tribe (local team)
to request and receive information from certain specified persons and
entities as necessary to carry out the purpose and duties of the local team.
Upon written request of the chair of a local team, a person or entity shall
provide the local team with information and records regarding the person
whose death or near death is being reviewed by the local team.
A person or entity that receives a records request from a local team
may charge the local team a reasonable fee for the service of duplicating
any records requested by the local team.
A person or entity, including a local or state agency, that provides
information or records to a local team is not subject to civil or criminal
liability or any professional disciplinary action pursuant to state law as a
result of providing the information or record.
Upon request of a local team, a person who is not a member of a
local team may attend and participate in a meeting at which a local team
reviews confidential information and considers a plan, an intervention, or
other course of conduct based on that review. The bill requires each
person at a local team meeting to sign a confidentiality form before
reviewing information and records received by the local team. Local team
meetings in which confidential information is discussed are exempt from
the open meetings provisions of the Colorado Sunshine Act of 1972.
A local team shall maintain the confidentiality of information
provided to the local team as required by state and federal law, and
information and records acquired or created by a local team are not
subject to inspection pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act. Local
team members and a person who presents or provides information to a
local team may not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding or
disciplinary action regarding the information presented or provided.
Section 12 requires the department of health care policy and
financing to publish guidance for providers concerning reimbursement for
all variations of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment
interventions.
Section 13 requires the substance use screening, brief intervention,
and referral to treatment grant program to implement:
  • A statewide adolescent substance use screening, brief
intervention, and referral practice that includes training and
technical assistance for appropriate professionals in
Colorado schools, with the purpose of identifying students
who would benefit from screening, brief intervention, and
potential referral to resources, including treatment; and
  • A statewide substance use screening, brief intervention,
and referral practice for pediatricians and professionals in
pediatric settings, with the purpose of identifying
adolescent patients who would benefit from screening,
brief intervention, and potential referral to resources,
including treatment.
Current law authorizes the center for research into substance use
disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies (center)
to conduct a statewide perinatal substance use data linkage project (data
linkage project) that uses ongoing collection, analysis, interpretation, and
dissemination of data for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of
public health actions to improve outcomes for families impacted by
substance use during pregnancy. Section 14:
  • Requires the center to conduct the data linkage project;
  • Requires the data linkage project to utilize data from
additional state and federal programs; and
  • Expands the data linkage project to examine the education
of pregnant and postpartum women with substance use
disorders.
Section 15 authorizes the university of Colorado school of
medicine (school of medicine) to conduct a statewide opioid use disorder
prevalence data linkage project (data linkage project) that uses ongoing
collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data for the
planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health actions to
improve outcomes for individuals with opioid misuse or use disorders.
The bill includes sources of data to be used in the data linkage project.
The governor's office of information technology shall perform secure
linkage and anonymization of the data. The school of medicine will report
annually to certain committees of the general assembly on the data
linkage project and its outcomes.

Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee.
Section 1 of the bill implements a voluntary designation process for
recovery-friendly workplaces.
Section 2 allows a school district to include in the annual pupil
count a student who has transferred to a recovery high school before the
pupil count date.
Section 3 allows a recovery community organization that receives
a grant through the recovery support services grant program to use the
money to provide guidance to individuals on the many pathways for
recovery.
Section 4 declares that recovery residences, sober living facilities,
and sober homes are a residential use of land for zoning purposes.
Sections 5 and 6 place restrictions on where liquor-licensed
drugstores and fermented malt beverage and wine retailers may display
alcohol beverages on the stores' licensed premises.

The bill requires all private insurance companies to provide
coverage for the treatment of the chronic disease of obesity and the
treatment of pre-diabetes, including coverage for intensive behavioral or
lifestyle therapy, bariatric surgery, and FDA-approved anti-obesity
medication.
No later than January 2025, the bill requires the department of
health care policy and financing (department) to seek federal
authorization to provide treatment for the chronic disease of obesity and
the treatment of pre-diabetes. Upon receiving federal authorization, the
department is required to notify medicaid members in writing about the
availability of the treatment.

Colorado's Child Welfare System Interim Study Committee.
The bill requires the behavioral health administration (BHA), in
partnership with the office of children, youth, and families in the
department of human services; the department of health care policy and
financing; the division of insurance in the department of regulatory
agencies; and the department of public health and environment, to
develop, establish, and maintain a comprehensive children's behavioral
health statewide system of care (system of care). The system of care will
serve as the single point of access to address the behavioral health needs
of children and youth in Colorado, regardless of payer, insurance, and
income.
The system of care shall serve children and youth up to twenty-one
years of age who have mental health disorders, substance use disorders,
co-occurring behavioral health disorders, or intellectual and
developmental disabilities.
The system of care must include, at a minimum, a statewide
behavioral health standardized screening and assessment,
trauma-informed mobile crisis response and stabilization services for
children and youth, tiered care coordination for moderate and intensive
levels of need, parent and youth peer support, intensive in-home and
community-based services, and respite services.
The bill establishes the office of the children's behavioral health
statewide system of care (office) in the BHA. The office is the primary
governance entity and is responsible for convening all relevant state
agencies involved in the system of care, including, but not limited to, the
department of human services office of children, youth, and families, the
division of child welfare, and the division of youth services; the
department of health care policy and financing; the division of insurance
in the department of regulatory agencies; and the department of public
health and environment. The office will be directed by the deputy
commissioner of the office.
The bill requires the office to create and convene, on or before
November 1, 2024, a leadership team responsible for decision-making
and oversight. The leadership team is required to provide a report to the
house of representatives public and behavioral health and human services
committee and the senate health and human services committee, or their
successor committees, on or before July 1, 2027.
The office is required to create and convene, on or before January
15, 2025, an implementation team that shall create an implementation
plan for the system of care. The implementation plan must receive an
annual minimum appropriation of $10 million and include the creation of
a capacity-building center, which shall develop, implement, and fund,
within available appropriations, the following:
  • A student loan forgiveness program for students in
behavioral health disciplines who make a 3- to 5-year
commitment to work in shortage areas in the system of
care;
  • Paid internships and clinical rotations in the system of care
and a description of multiple options for payment;
  • Revisions to graduate medical education programs at
Colorado institutions of higher education to support
internships, residencies, fellowships, and student programs
in child and youth behavioral health;
  • A financial aid program for youth transitioning out of
foster care who wish to pursue a career in children and
youth behavioral health, developed in partnership with
Colorado institutions of higher education and community
colleges; and
  • An expansion of current BHA efforts related to behavioral
health apprenticeships, internships, stipends, and
pre-licensure workforce support specific to service
children, youth, and families.
On or before January 15, 2025, the office is required to create an
advisory council, composed of, at a minimum, family and youth
providers, local partners, county departments of human and social
services, county commissioners, juvenile justice agencies, families or
individuals with lived experience using children's or youths' behavioral
health services, consumer advocacy organizations, and university
partners.
The BHA shall develop a state-level process to monitor, report on,
and promptly resolve complaints, grievances, and appeals, including
recipient rights issues. The process must be available to providers, clients,
case management entities, and anyone else working with the children and
youth in the system of care.
The bill requires the leadership team to begin, or contract for, on
or before January 1, 2025, a cost and utilization analysis of the
populations of children and youth who are included in the system of care.
On or before July 1, 2025, the department of health care policy and
financing, in consultation with the office, is required to establish standard
and uniform medical necessity criteria for all system of care services. The
department of health care policy and financing is required to set standard
rate and utilization floors for all system of care services across all
managed care entities.
On or before July 1, 2025, the bill requires the department of
health care policy and financing to establish a standard statewide
medicaid fee schedule or rate frame for behavioral health services for
children and youth and incorporate the fee schedule and rate frame into
the contracts with managed care entities and behavioral health
administrative services organizations. The fee schedule or rate frame must
increase rates and incorporate enhanced rates or quality bonuses for
evidence-based practices and extended weekday and weekend clinic
hours and allow maximum flexibility for use of telehealth to expand
access.
The bill requires that each managed care entity or behavioral
health administrative services organization contract with or have
single-use agreements with every qualified residential treatment facility
or psychiatric residential treatment facility that is licensed in Colorado.
The office, advised by state and county partners, providers, and
racially, ethnically, culturally, and geographically diverse family and
youth representatives, is required to develop and establish a data and
quality team. The data team shall track and report annually on key child
welfare factors.
The bill requires the BHA, advised by the office, to establish or
procure a capacity-building center. The capacity-building center shall, at
a minimum:
  • Train, coach, and certify providers of the array of services
offered through the system of care;
  • Provide training, coaching, and certification related to the
use of behavioral health screening and assessment tools to
support a uniform assessment process and training in
trauma-informed care to staff at relevant state agencies;
  • Work with rural health clinics and federally qualified
health centers to expand their capacity to provide
behavioral health services to children and youth;
  • Offer training and other strategies to expand the number of
behavioral health providers in rural and other underserved
communities; and
  • Utilize data and reports to target its investment to build
capacity in regions identified as lacking capacity.
The bill requires the BHA to develop a website to provide
regularly updated information to families, youth, providers, staff, system
partners, and others regarding the goals, principles, activities, progress,
and timelines for the system of care. The website must include key
performance dashboard indicators; changes in access by the child welfare
population; changes in access disparities between racial, ethnic, and
regional groups; and changes in access to intensive- and moderate-care
coordination with high-fidelity wraparound.

The bill states that the Colorado prescription drug affordability
review board has no authority to perform an affordability review of, or to
establish an upper payment limit for, any prescription drug that is
designated as a drug for a rare disease or condition by the federal food
and drug administration.

The bill creates the Colorado drug donation program (program) to
facilitate the safe donation and redispensing of medicine, including
prescription and nonprescription or over-the-counter drugs,
FDA-approved drugs labeled for investigational use, and medical devices.
Under the program, a donor donates medicine to a donation
recipient for redispensing to eligible patients. Donated medicine is
prioritized first for Colorado residents who are indigent, uninsured,
underinsured, or enrolled in a public health benefits program (eligible
patient). An eligible patient or the patient's health insurance is not
charged for the medicine, other than handling or dispensing charges and
other customary charges.
Donors may include individual members of the public as well as
drug manufacturers and distributors, pharmacies, clinics, health centers,
government agencies, and other donors described in the bill (donor).
Donors may donate to a donation recipient, including a wholesaler or
distributor, hospital, pharmacy, clinic, and health-care provider or
prescriber's office, among other entities (donation recipient).
The donation recipient may:
  • Transfer donated medicine to another donation recipient;
and
  • If the donation recipient is a prescription drug outlet,
repackage donated medicine as necessary for storage,
redispensing, administration, or transfer or replenish
medicine previously dispensed to eligible patients.
The bill includes provisions relating to:
  • Record-keeping requirements for donated medicine;
  • The type, condition, and age of medicine that may be
donated;
  • The segregation of medicine and inspection by a licensed
pharmacist before medicine is accepted into inventory;
  • The disposal of medicine that does not meet donation
standards; and
  • The repackaging, labeling, and redispensing of medicine to
eligible patients.
The state board of pharmacy is required to promulgate rules
necessary to implement the program.
When acting in good faith, without willful or wanton misconduct,
the state board of pharmacy, donors, donation recipients, and other
individuals and entities involved in the program are not subject to civil or
criminal liability or professional disciplinary action relating to their
participation in the program.
The bill makes conforming amendments to existing law relating to
the reuse of unused medications by other patients in correctional facilities
and in certain licensed facilities, such as hospitals, hospices, and assisted
living facilities.

Current law permits a plaintiff in a personal injury case stemming
from a tort to claim interest at a rate of 9% on the damages alleged from
the date the action accrued until the date the judgment is satisfied.
Beginning July 1, 2024, the bill prohibits a plaintiff's attorney from
collecting attorney contingency fees based on that portion of the ultimate
damages award attributable to the 9% interest.

Current law prohibits an individual who is under 18 years of age
from using a mobile electronic device when driving. The bill applies the
prohibition to an individual who is 18 years of age or older unless the
individual is using a hands-free accessory. The following uses are
exempted:
  • By an individual reporting an emergency to state or local
authorities;
  • By an employee or contractor of a utility when responding
to a utility emergency;
  • By a first responder; or
  • By an individual in a motor vehicle that is parked.
The penalties for a violation are:
  • For a first offense, $75 and 2 license suspension points;
  • For a second offense within 24 months, $150 and 3 license
suspension points; and
  • For a third or subsequent offense within 24 months, $250
and 4 license suspension points.
A violation will be dismissed if the individual has not previously
committed a violation, produces proof of purchase of a hands-free
accessory, and affirms, under penalty of perjury, that the defendant has
not previously claimed this option to dismiss.
Current law requires a peace officer who makes a traffic stop to
record the demographic information of the violator, whether a citation has
been issued, and the violation cited. The bill clarifies that the peace
officer must record whether the bill has been violated.
The executive director of the department of transportation, in
consultation with the chief of the Colorado state patrol, is required to
create a campaign raising public awareness of the requirements of the bill
and of the dangers of using mobile electronic devices when driving.

The bill requires a facility that uses animals for health-related
research to:
  • Submit annual reports to the department of public health
and environment regarding the use of animals in the
facility; and
  • Transfer dogs and cats owned by the facility to animal
shelters and pet animal rescues before euthanizing the
animal.

Current law authorizes an individual with a terminal illness to
request, and the individual's attending physician to prescribe to the
individual, medication to hasten the individual's death (medical
aid-in-dying). The bill modifies the medical aid-in-dying laws by:
  • Providing an advanced practice registered nurse with the
same authority to evaluate an individual and prescribe
medication as a physician;
  • Removing the requirement that an individual must be a
resident of the state to access end-of-life options;
  • Adding language specifying that if any end-of-life options
conflict with requirements to receive federal money, the
conflicting part is inoperative and the remainder of the law
will continue to operate; and
  • Reducing the waiting period between oral requests from 15
days to 48 hours, and allowing attending providers to waive
the mandatory waiting period if the patient is unlikely to
survive more than 48 hours and meets all other
qualifications.
The bill also prohibits certain insurers from:
  • Denying or altering health-care or life insurance benefits
otherwise available to a covered individual with a terminal
illness based on the availability of medical aid-in-dying; or
  • Attempting to coerce an individual with a terminal illness
to make a request for medical aid-in-dying medication.

The bill requires each manufacturer of a prescription drug that is
available for purchase in this state (manufacturer) to register with and pay
a fee to the division of insurance.
The bill requires a manufacturer to offer a copayment assistance
program to a covered person, either for the entire plan year or for the
calendar year, whichever the deductible and out-of-pocket calculation
applies to, for as long as the covered person is enrolled in the health
benefit plan.
A manufacturer that violates the requirements commits an unfair
method of competition and an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the
business of insurance.

The bill requires health insurance carriers (carriers) to comply with
federal price transparency laws and to make available an internet-based
self-service tool that provides real-time responses to a covered person's
questions concerning carrier prices that are based on cost-sharing
information.
The bill also requires carriers to submit information required by
federal pharmacy benefit and drug cost reporting laws to the
commissioner of insurance. A carrier that violates the requirements of the
bill engages in an unfair method of competition and an unfair or
deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance.

Beginning January 1, 2025, for services or procedures for which
informed consent is required and that are being provided or performed in
a licensed health-care facility, the bill requires a health-care provider
(provider) providing or performing the service or procedure and the
provider obtaining informed consent, if a different provider, to disclose
to patients, in writing and through the wearing of a photo identification
badge when in a patient's presence, the following identification
information relevant to the service or procedure provided or performed:
  • The provider's name;
  • The provider's employer and job title;
  • The provider's academic degree, credentials, or training;
and
  • The provider's professional credential issued by the
department of regulatory agencies or a professional board
or commission.
Willful or repeated failure to comply with this requirement
constitutes unprofessional conduct or grounds for discipline under the law
governing the provider's professional license, certificate, or registration.
In addition, the bill requires that health-care facilities licensed or
certified in this state require that health-care providers comply with the
identification and badge requirements.

The bill allows a health-care provider and a health facility to
provide a patient with certain topical medications for the patient's
continuity of treatment after discharge from or leaving the health facility,
if the medications were used at the health facility by the patient for a
surgical procedure or for a visit to a physician's office or medical practice.

The bill allows an enrollee in the state medicaid program or with
a private health insurance carrier whose coverage has been terminated or
not renewed to receive continued care with the enrollee's same health-care
provider or health-care facility under the enrollee's new health benefit
plan at the in-network level under the enrollee's new health benefit plan
for specified time periods if certain conditions exist.

The bill prohibits the department of health care policy and
financing from requiring prior authorization for an antipsychotic
prescription drug used to treat a mental health disorder or mental health
condition.

The bill removes the requirement that a mental health professional
provide each client with an explanation of the levels of regulation and the
differences between licensure, registration, and certification of mental
health professionals.
The bill removes the requirement for an individual to take and pass
the board of social work examiners' masters examination in order to
obtain a licensed social worker license.
In order for an individual to obtain a registration as a psychologist
candidate (PSYC), a clinical social worker candidate (SWC), a marriage
and family therapist candidate (MFTC), a licensed professional counselor
candidate (LPCC), or an addiction counselor candidate (ADDC), the bill
requires the individual to pass the Colorado jurisprudence examination.
The bill authorizes PSYCs, SWCs, MFTCs, LPCCs, and ADDCs
to renew their candidate registrations if they are unable to complete all the
post-degree licensure requirements within the 4-year time frame that a
registration is valid and allows candidates whose registrations have
expired to reapply for the registration.
The bill updates the definition of practice of licensed professional
counseling.
On or before December 31, 2024,the state board of psychologist
examiners, the state board of social work examiners, the state board of
marriage and family therapist examiners, the state board of licensed
professional counselor examiners, and the state board of addiction
counselor examiners are required to begin the rule-making process to
align their respective rules with their respective practice acts.

Current law requires a health-care facility to screen each uninsured
patient for eligibility for public health insurance programs, discounted
care through the Colorado indigent care program (CICP), and discounted
care otherwise not reimbursed through the CICP. A patient qualifies for
discounted care if the individual's household income is not more than
250% of the federal poverty level and the individual received a
health-care service at a health-care facility (facility). The bill adds the
requirement that a patient attest to residing in Colorado.
The licensed health-care professional who provides services to a
patient is responsible for billing the patient for those services.
Current law prohibits a health-care facility and licensed health-care
professional (professional) from collecting amounts charged that are more
than 4% of the patient's monthly household income on a bill from a
facility and that are more than 2% of the patient's monthly household
income on a bill from each professional. The bill adds the requirement
that a facility or professional cannot collect amounts charged that are
more than 6% of the patient's household income on a comprehensive bill
containing both facility and professional charges.
The bill authorizes a health-care facility to deny discounted care
to a patient if, during the initial screening, the patient is determined to be
presumptively eligible for medicaid.
The bill excludes primary care provided in a clinic that is located
in a designated rural or frontier county and offers a sliding-fee scale from
receiving discounted care.
Current law requires each facility to report to the department of
health care policy and financing (department) data that the department
determines is necessary to evaluate compliance across race, ethnicity, age,
and primary-language-spoken patient groups with the screening,
discounted care, payment plan, and collections practices. The bill requires
professionals, in addition to facilities, to submit the data.
The bill authorizes a licensed or certified hospital to determine
presumptive eligibility for medicaid.

No later than July 1, 2025, the bill requires the behavioral health
administration (BHA) to require all eating disorder treatment and
recovery facilities (treatment facility) to hold an appropriate designation
based on the level of care the treatment facility provides. Licensed
clinicians who are not facility-based and offer behavioral health therapy
on an outpatient basis are not required to hold a designation.
The bill directs the state board of human services to promulgate
rules for treatment facilities.
The bill requires the BHA to promulgate rules concerning
involuntary feeding tubes for individuals with an eating disorder.

Currently, certain rural hospitals must be licensed as general
hospitals under state law and under federal law are designated as critical
access hospitals.
The bill:
  • Authorizes the department of public health and
environment (department) to license critical access
hospitals separately from general hospitals;
  • Prohibits a person from operating a critical access hospital
without a license; and
  • Requires the department to promulgate rules concerning the
licensure of critical access hospitals.

The bill requires all individual and group health benefit plans to
provide coverage for biomarker testing to guide treatment decisions if the
testing is supported by medical and scientific evidence. The bill defines
biomarker testing as an analysis of a patient's tissue, blood, or other
biospecimen for the presence of an indicator of normal biological
processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a specific
therapeutic intervention. The required testing under the bill does not
include biomarker testing for screening purposes or direct-to-consumer
genetic tests.
The bill requires the commissioner of insurance to implement
biomarker testing coverage for all individual and group health benefit
plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.
Biomarker testing is subject to the health benefit plan's annual
deductibles, copayment, or coinsurance but is not subject to any annual
or lifetime maximum benefit limit.
Subject to federal authorization and federal financial participation,
beginning July 1, 2025, the bill includes coverage for biomarker testing
as part of the state medical assistance program to guide treatment
decisions if the testing is supported by medical and scientific evidence.
The bill requires the medical assistance program to have a clear,
easily accessible appeals process if biomarker testing is denied.

Existing law limits the amount recoverable for noneconomic
damages in medical malpractice actions to $300,000. Beginning January
1, 2025, the bill incrementally increases the noneconomic damages
limitation to $500,000 over the course of 5 years.

The bill modifies statutory requirements for state departments' and
agencies' reports. The following reports are affected by the bill.
In the department of human services:
  • The annual report, under the supervision of district and
county attorneys, on the nature and result of actions taken
to recover the cost of the care and maintenance of a child
committed to a state institution from the child's parents is
eliminated (sections 3, 4, and 5 of the bill).
In the department of local affairs, the following reports are
eliminated:
  • The annual report on the effectiveness of the gray and
black market marijuana enforcement grant program
(section 16);
  • The annual report on the effectiveness of the defense
counsel on first appearance grant program (section 17); and
  • The annual report on the activities of the peace officers and
behavioral health support and community partnerships
grant program (section 18).
In the department of health care policy and financing:
  • The annual report on the accountable care collaborative is
modified to be combined with the annual report submitted
by the department to the joint budget committee and the
health and human services committees of the house and
senate (section 24);
  • The quarterly report on residential and inpatient substance
use disorder utilization management statistics is eliminated
and is replaced with displaying the same statistics on the
department's website (section 25);
  • The date of the annual report on managed care entity
denials for residential and inpatient substance use disorder
treatment is changed from December 1, 2022, and each
December 1 thereafter to January 31, 2025, and each
January 31 thereafter (section 26); and
  • The annual report on community transition services and
supports is eliminated (section 27).
In the office of information technology:
  • The annual requirement that counties report to the chief
information officer on county budget, revenue, and
expenditures is eliminated (sections 21, 22, and 23).
In the department of early childhood:
  • The date of the report on the evaluation of the child abuse
prevention trust fund is changed from November 1, 2026,
to November 1, 2029 (section 28);
  • The date of the report on the child care services and
substance use disorder treatment pilot program is changed
from June 30, 2023, to June 30, 2028 (section 29);
  • The annual report on early intervention services is
eliminated (section 30);
  • The date of the report on the evaluation of the early
childhood mental health consultation program is changed
from January 2027 to January 2028 (section 31);
  • The statewide report due every 3 years on the quality
improvement of early childhood education programs is
eliminated (section 32); and
  • The annual report on the infant and toddler quality and
availability grant program is eliminated (section 33).
In the office of economic development and international trade:
  • The date of the annual report on the implementation of the
venture capital program is changed from February 1 to May
1 (section 20).
In the department of revenue, the following reporting statutes are
repealed:
  • The statute covering the one-time 2021 report on medical
marijuana delivery (section 39); and
  • The statute covering the one-time 2005 report on the lottery
expenditure evaluation (section 40).
In the department of higher education:
  • The annual report on concurrent enrollment is eliminated
(sections 7 and 8);
  • The release date of the annual report on the statewide
postsecondary education master plan goals and
state-supported institutions' progress toward meeting those
goals is modified to be due annually rather than on a
specified date (section 9);
  • The dates of the annual reports on the success of high
school graduates in postsecondary education are modified
to require annual reporting rather than reporting by specific
dates (section 10);
  • The annual report on supplemental academic instruction
and developmental education courses is eliminated
(sections 10 and 11);
  • The annual report on the resident and nonresident makeup
of state-supported institutions of higher education is
modified to be required every 3 years (section 12); and
  • The due date for the annual report on the implementation
and development of open educational resources is changed
from October 1 to December 1 (sections 13 and 14).
In the department of law:
  • The annual report on the insurance fraud unit in the
attorney general's office is eliminated (section 15).
In the department of public safety:
  • The annual report on domestic violence-related assaults
and deaths is eliminated (section 6).
In the department of natural resources and division of parks and
wildlife:
  • The annual report on activities concerning species
conservation is eliminated (section 19);
  • The annual report on acquisitions of real property or
interests in water is modified to only include information
on acquisitions that are pending or that occurred within the
previous 5 years (section 34);
  • The annual report on the wildlife for future generations
trust fund is eliminated (section 35);
  • The report on the progress of the 2015 5-year strategic plan
is eliminated (section 36);
  • The annual report on the administration of the division of
parks and wildlife is eliminated (section 37); and
  • The annual report on the parks for future generations trust
fund is eliminated (section 38).
In the division of insurance, the following reports are eliminated:
  • The annual list of insurance carrier average reimbursement
rates that is posted on the division's website (section 1);
and
  • The annual report on out-of-network use and payment
arbitrations (section 2).
The bill also makes conforming amendments.

The bill allows a health-care provider (applicant) who possesses
a license, certificate, registration, or other approval as a health-care
provider in another state (out-of-state credential) to provide health-care
services through telehealth to patients located in Colorado if the applicant
registers with the regulator that regulates the health-care services the
applicant will provide (regulator). An applicant is eligible for registration
if:
  • The applicant submits an application in a manner
prescribed by the division of professions and occupations
in the department of regulatory agencies (division) and
pays the applicable fee;
  • The applicant possesses an out-of-state credential issued by
a governmental authority in another state, the District of
Columbia, or a possession or territory of the United States
that is active and unencumbered and that entitles the
applicant to perform health-care services that are
substantially similar to health-care services that may be
performed by a licensee, certificate holder, or registrant in
this state;
  • The applicant designates an agent upon whom service of
process may be made in Colorado; and
  • The applicant has not been subject to any disciplinary
action relating to the applicant's out-of-state credential
during the 5-year period immediately preceding the
submission of the applicant's application that has resulted
in the applicant's out-of-state credential being limited,
suspended, or revoked.
An applicant who has been registered to provide health-care
services through telehealth to patients located in Colorado (registered
provider) shall:
  • Notify the applicable regulator of restrictions placed on the
registered provider's out-of-state credential in any state or
jurisdiction or of any disciplinary action taken or pending
against the registered provider in any state or jurisdiction;
  • Maintain and have in effect a form of financial
responsibility that covers services provided to patients in
this state as required by the applicable regulator; and
  • Not open an office in this state and shall not provide
in-person health-care services to patients located in this
state unless the health-care provider obtains the license,
certification, or registration that the applicable regulator
requires for the performance of the relevant health-care
services in this state.
The bill also allows the division or the regulator to take
disciplinary action against a registered provider under specified
conditions.

The bill makes changes to the arbitration requirements for
out-of-network health insurance claims by requiring the arbitration
process to include a batching process, by which multiple claims may be
considered jointly and under the same arbitration fee as part of one
payment determination in alignment with federal law. The commissioner
of insurance is required to promulgate rules that specify the information
each insurance carrier is required to submit to a provider with the initial
payment of a claim.

The bill authorizes the department of public health and
environment to require each operator of an assisted living residence to
require each direct-care worker who provides direct-care services to
residents of an assisted living residence (direct-care worker) to:
  • Take a tuberculosis test; and
  • Undergo fit testing for a respiratory mask.
The bill requires each operator of an assisted living residence to
require each direct-care worker to complete direct-care training to provide
specific services to residents.
The individual or entity that provides training is required to
provide each trained direct-care worker with a certificate of completion
of training that may be presented to another assisted living residence to
consider for the purposes of satisfying the residence's training
requirements.
For a direct-care worker who has been issued a certificate of
completion, an operator of an assisted living residence may require an
employee to complete new training or may require the completion of a
competency test prior to the employee providing direct-care services.

The bill requires health benefit plans to provide coverage for doula
services in the same scope and duration of coverage for doula services
that will be included in the department of health care policy and
financing's request for federal authorization of doula services under the
Colorado Medical Assistance Act (medical assistance program). Doulas
providing services must meet the same qualifications for and submit to
the same regulation as individuals providing doula services as
recommended in the report of the department of public health and
environment resulting from the stakeholder process for doula services
under the medical assistance program.
Coverage for doula services will be implemented for large
employer health benefit plans issued or renewed in this state on and after
July 1, 2025. For small group and individual plans, doula services will be
implemented if the division of insurance and the federal department of
health and human services determine that the benefit does not require
state defrayal of the cost of the benefit or the division of insurance
determines defrayal is not required and the federal department fails to
respond to the divison's request for confirmation of the determination
within 365 days after the request is made.
The bill authorizes the department of public health and
environment (department) to partner with the designated state perinatal
care quality collaborative (perinatal quality collaborative) to track the
statewide implementation of the recommendations of the Colorado
maternal mortality review committee, implement perinatal health quality
improvement programs with hospitals that provide labor and delivery or
neonatal care services (hospital) to improve infant and maternal health
outcomes, and address disparate care outcomes among certain populations
and of those living in frontier areas of the state.
The bill requires hospitals to submit specified data to the perinatal
quality collaborative concerning disparities in perinatal health care and
health-care outcomes; to annually participate in at least one maternal or
infant health quality improvement initiative (initiative), as determined by
the hospitals; and to report to the perinatal quality collaborative regarding
the implementation and outcomes of the initiative. The bill authorizes
financial support for hospitals in rural and frontier areas of the state,
hospitals that serve a higher number of medical assistance patients or
uninsured patients, and hospitals with lower-acuity maternal or neonatal
levels of care.
In collaboration with the department, the bill requires the perinatal
quality collaborative to issue an annual report on clinical quality
improvements in maternal and infant health outcomes and related data
that can be shared with hospitals and health facilities, policymakers, and
others and posted on the internet.
The bill requires coverage of over-the-counter, prescribed choline
supplements for pregnant people to fulfill the federal food and drug
administration's daily adequate intake for pregnant people.

The bill creates the Colorado alcohol impact and recovery
enterprise (enterprise) in the department of revenue to:
  • Collect a fee from manufacturers and wholesalers that
distribute alcohol within Colorado; and
  • Use the fee for alcohol and related substance use disorder
prevention, early intervention, treatment, harm reduction,
and recovery services and programs in communities
throughout the state.
The bill exempts small manufacturers and wholesale distributors
of alcohol based on production and distribution level amounts for which
a manufacturer or distributor may pay reduced tax or claim an exemption
under federal law.
The bill also:
  • Creates the alcohol impact enterprise board and specifies
membership and duties of the board; and
  • Requires the state auditor to conduct an audit of the
enterprise in the 2030-31 state fiscal year and every fourth
state fiscal year thereafter.
The bill also exempts the enterprise from the prohibition on an
enterprise receiving more than $100,000,000 in revenue in fees in the
enterprise's first 5 fiscal years without first receiving voter approval.

The bill:
  • Authorizes the director of the division of professions and
occupations in the department of regulatory agencies to
approve facilitator education and training programs;
  • Exempts facilitator education and training programs from
regulation as private educational schools;
  • Updates rule-making by the department of public health
and environment and the state licensing authority related to
laboratory testing and certification of natural medicine
products;
  • Prohibits individuals, rather than all persons, from having
a financial interest in more than 5 natural medicine
business licenses;
  • Clarifies that a person may operate a natural medicine
testing facility at the same location as a regulated marijuana
testing facility; and
  • Specifies which transfers and distributions of regulated
natural medicine and regulated natural medicine products
are authorized between persons licensed as healing centers,
facilitators, natural medicine cultivation facilities, and
natural medicine manufacturers.

Current law requires the Colorado prescription drug affordability
review board (board) to take certain measures in determining whether to
conduct an affordability review for an identified prescription drug. The
bill requires the board, in making such a determination, to consider
whether the drug has an approved orphan drug designation for one or
more rare diseases and no other indications and, if so, to consider input
from consumers and the Colorado rare disease advisory council (council).
Current law requires the board, in performing an affordability
review, to consider certain information. The bill requires the board to
consider input from the council.

The bill makes changes to the pharmacy practice act regarding the
dispensing of prescription drugs by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians,
and pharmacy interns.
The bill allows prescription drugs dispensed through an automated
pharmacy dispensing system to be redispensed if certain safety
requirements are met.
The bill also allows pharmacists certified in immunization, and
pharmacy technicians and pharmacy interns working under the direct
supervision of a pharmacist certified in immunization, to administer
vaccines and other related emergency medications.
Current law defines the practice of pharmacy to allow pharmacists
to exercise independent prescriptive authority under certain conditions for
patients who are at least 12 years of age. The bill removes the age
limitation.