LEGISLATION BY ISSUE

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Mullica, Rep. Stewart

⚠️ ISSUE: 

• Colorado’s health care system includes many administrative requirements for providers, hospitals, insurers, and state agencies, and when those rules become overly complex or outdated, they can increase costs and take time and resources away from patient care.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Simplifies financial assistance screening for uninsured patients by allowing hospitals to use a shorter questionnaire or a third-party data lookup instead of a one-size-fits-all uniform application

• Strengthens patient rights by requiring clear notice of screening results and a meaningful appeals process

• Requires state health agencies to audit their own rules every five years and report findings publicly, starting in 2029

🎯 GOAL:

• Cut unnecessary red tape so uninsured patients can more easily access the financial help they're entitled to, health care providers can focus on care instead of compliance, and state agencies are held accountable for the rules they create.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Pelton

⚠️ ISSUE:  

Concussions can affect a young athlete’s mental health as well as their physical well-being. While Colorado requires concussion training for youth sports coaches, current education does not fully address the psychological symptoms that may follow, leaving important warning signs easier to miss.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires youth athletic coaches to complete an annual mental health education course covering topics including anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, and suicide prevention.

• Updates existing concussion training to include information on the relationship between concussions and mental health.

• Requires coaches to notify parents about potential psychological symptoms and mental health changes when an athlete is removed from play for a suspected concussion.

🎯 GOAL:

Equip coaches to recognize and respond to the mental health needs of young athletes, and ensure parents have the information they need to support their child's full recovery after a concussion.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Mullica, Rep. Feret, Rep. Brown

⚠️ ISSUE:

Colorado’s immunization system depends on clear, science-based guidance to ensure consistent access to vaccines. Recent shifts in federal recommendations have created confusion for families and health care providers, making it harder to maintain stable, reliable access to proven immunizations.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Protects access to recommended vaccines by allowing Colorado to rely on guidance from trusted medical organizations, not just federal advisory committees, when setting immunization policies.

• Codifies pharmacists' authority to prescribe and administer vaccines, making it easier to get vaccinated at your local pharmacy.

• Updates liability protections to reflect today’s health care system, ensuring providers can continue offering vaccines while maintaining accountability for negligence or misconduct.

• Does not add any new vaccine mandates and does not change existing medical or non-medical exemptions under Colorado law.

🎯 GOAL:

Ensure all Coloradans can continue accessing safe and effective vaccines, regardless of where they live or receive care. By modernizing state law, this bill helps keep Colorado’s immunization system stable, trusted, and resilient, even during periods of federal uncertainty.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Bright

⚠️ ISSUE:

When insurers and out-of-network providers disagree over payment, the process can be slow, confusing, and expensive, often leaving patients caught in the middle.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Gives the Division of Insurance real enforcement power to compel insurers to pay what they owe when underpayment is identified, rather than forcing providers into costly arbitration for every claim.

• Requires transparency from insurers by mandating that every payment clearly state whether the plan is regulated by state or federal law, so providers know their appeal options.

• Creates public accountability by requiring the state to publish an annual report summarizing out-of-network payment disputes, complaint outcomes, and arbitration trends.

🎯 GOAL: Ensure fair, timely payment for medical care, strengthen oversight of insurance practices, and bring greater transparency to a system that directly affects patients’ access to care.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Bright, Rep. Gilchrist, Rep. Brown

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Applied behavior analysis (ABA) services are widely used to support children with autism and other developmental conditions, but Colorado currently does not have a statewide licensing system for ABA providers or consistent oversight standards for ABA clinics.

🔍 WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Creates a statewide licensing system for behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts through a new Colorado licensing board.

• Establishes oversight and safety standards for ABA clinics, including background checks and licensing requirements for facilities serving children.

• Requires qualifications and ongoing professional standards for licensed ABA providers, including national certification, continuing education, and disciplinary oversight.  

• Protects Medicaid access to ABA services by allowing reimbursement for behavior technicians working toward certification during a temporary grace period.

🎯 GOAL:

• Improve safety, accountability, and consistency in applied behavior analysis services while helping ensure children and families can continue accessing medically necessary care.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Cutter, Rep. Joseph, Rep. Lieder

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in health care systems and insurance decision-making, raising concerns about transparency, bias, patient privacy, and whether important medical or mental health decisions could be made without meaningful human oversight.

🔍 WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires human oversight of AI-based insurance decisions, prohibiting insurers from denying or delaying coverage based solely on an AI system without review by a licensed clinician or physician.

• Establishes standards for AI use in health-care utilization review, including requirements related to fairness, nondiscrimination, audit records, and individualized clinical review.

• Requires disclosure and accountability from organizations using AI systems in utilization review, including information about how the systems are used and what human oversight is in place.

• Prohibits insurance coverage and billing for AI-delivered psychotherapy services, ensuring psychotherapy remains centered on licensed human providers.

🎯 GOAL:

• Ensure artificial intelligence is used responsibly in health care while preserving human oversight, patient protections, and the central role of licensed medical and mental health professionals in decisions that affect people’s health and well-being.

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Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty , Rep. Bradfield , Rep. Lieder

⚠️ ISSUE:

Colorado created the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force to bring together health experts, nonprofits, and policymakers to raise awareness of kidney disease and improve prevention efforts. Like many advisory groups, the task force is subject to periodic “sunset reviews” to determine whether it should continue operating or be repealed.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Implements the recommendation from the Department of Regulatory Agencies’ sunset review to repeal the Kidney Disease Prevention and Education Task Force.

• Ends the statutory authorization for the task force on September 1, 2026, after it completes its final work and submits its final report.

• Maintains the standard legislative sunset process, which regularly evaluates advisory groups to determine whether they are still needed.

🎯 GOAL:

Follow Colorado’s sunset review process by concluding the work of an advisory task force that has completed its mission, while ensuring policymakers continue to evaluate whether state boards and commissions remain necessary and effective.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Sen. Daugherty, Sen. Cutter, Rep. Joseph, Rep. Lieder

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in health care systems and insurance decision-making, raising concerns about transparency, bias, patient privacy, and whether important medical or mental health decisions could be made without meaningful human oversight.

🔍 WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires human oversight of AI-based insurance decisions, prohibiting insurers from denying or delaying coverage based solely on an AI system without review by a licensed clinician or physician.

• Establishes standards for AI use in health-care utilization review, including requirements related to fairness, nondiscrimination, audit records, and individualized clinical review.

• Requires disclosure and accountability from organizations using AI systems in utilization review, including information about how the systems are used and what human oversight is in place.

• Prohibits insurance coverage and billing for AI-delivered psychotherapy services, ensuring psychotherapy remains centered on licensed human providers.

🎯 GOAL:

• Ensure artificial intelligence is used responsibly in health care while preserving human oversight, patient protections, and the central role of licensed medical and mental health professionals in decisions that affect people’s health and well-being.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Senator Daugherty, Representative Feret

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Colorado’s Medicaid program supports hundreds of thousands of residents, but parts of the system need updates to improve transparency, ensure fair reimbursement for providers, and strengthen oversight of services that patients rely on.

• Without clear reporting and consistent payment practices, it can be difficult for policymakers and the public to understand how services are delivered and whether providers are being reimbursed appropriately.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Improves transparency in home- and community-based services by requiring agencies to report their medical loss ratio each year, showing how much funding is spent on patient care. The state will publish this information online.

• Strengthens oversight of nonemergency medical transportation by requiring transportation brokers to report data on rides, complaints, and provider performance, which will be shared with the legislature through the annual SMART Act process.

• Protects reimbursement for outpatient therapy services by prohibiting certain billing policies that could significantly reduce payment for services such as physical, occupational, or speech therapy.

• Expands access to medication-assisted treatment in jails by allowing licensed providers, not only opioid treatment programs, to be reimbursed for delivering this care to people in custody.

🎯 GOAL:

Improve transparency, accountability, and access within Colorado’s Medicaid system. By updating reporting requirements and payment policies, this bill helps ensure patients receive needed services while policymakers have better tools to oversee how public health dollars are used.

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Sponsors: Senator Rodriguez, Senator Daugherty, Representative Garcia, Representative McCluskie

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Colorado voters approved Amendment 79 in 2024, guaranteeing abortion rights and removing constitutional restrictions on using public funds for abortion care.

• Current state laws still contain outdated restrictions, creating barriers to accessing care, particularly for Medicaid and public employee insurance recipients.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Aligns state law with Amendment 79 by requiring Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) to cover abortion services using state funds.

• Ensures that public employee health insurance plans include abortion care coverage, removing previous restrictions on funding.

• Updates statutory language to reflect constitutional protections, ensuring consistent access to reproductive healthcare across Colorado.

🎯 GOAL:

• Guarantee that all Coloradans, regardless of income or employment, can access comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion care, without financial or legal barriers.

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Sponsors: Representative Gilchrist, Representative Brown, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Colorado’s public health laws need updates to improve emergency preparedness, streamline immunization requirements, and align disease screening protocols with current medical recommendations.

• Outdated procedures have created unnecessary burdens on families, healthcare providers, and state agencies.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Modernizes public health emergency response by eliminating the outdated Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee (GEEERC) and strengthening coordination through existing state agencies.

• Streamlines school immunization requirements by allowing physician assistants to issue immunization records, extending compliance deadlines for students, and removing outdated reporting mandates.

• Updates hepatitis C screening protocols to align with the latest CDC recommendations, ensuring expanded access to testing for at-risk populations.

🎯 GOAL:

• Strengthen Colorado’s public health infrastructure by improving emergency preparedness, reducing administrative burdens, and ensuring healthcare regulations reflect modern medical standards.

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Sponsors: Representative Feret, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Medicaid recipients on fixed incomes often face unnecessary administrative hurdles during the eligibility redetermination process, leading to delayed or lost coverage for essential healthcare services.

• Current requirements force repeated income verification, even when financial circumstances remain unchanged.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Extends the timeline for Medicaid income eligibility reviews for individuals on fixed incomes, reducing the frequency of required documentation.

• Simplifies the renewal process by allowing income and medical eligibility to be verified simultaneously, minimizing redundant paperwork.

• Reduces administrative burdens by ensuring that Medicaid recipients moving between institutional and home-based care settings do not have to re-submit eligibility documentation unless other factors change.

🎯 GOAL:

• Improve efficiency in Medicaid eligibility redetermination, reduce bureaucratic barriers for recipients with stable incomes, and ensure continued access to care without unnecessary disruptions.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Representative Feret, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Colorado’s Medicaid system contains outdated rules and administrative barriers that create unnecessary challenges for patients, providers, and assisted living facilities.

• These inefficiencies lead to delays in care, unnecessary paperwork, and financial burdens that make it harder for individuals to access and maintain essential services.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Exempts small assisted living facilities from certain compliance standards to reduce regulatory burdens while maintaining patient safety.

• Streamlines Medicaid billing and eligibility processes by requiring timely updates to provider rates, simplifying documentation requirements, and improving contract transparency with managed care organizations.

• Ensures that Medicaid recipients receiving long-term care services do not lose their benefits if their condition remains unchanged for three years.

🎯 GOAL:

• Improve efficiency, transparency, and accessibility within Colorado’s Medicaid system to reduce administrative barriers and ensure patients receive uninterrupted care.

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Sponsors: Representative Froelich, Representative Brown, Senator Cutter, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Recent legal challenges in other states, such as Alabama’s ruling that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are considered children, have raised serious concerns about access to fertility treatments.

• These decisions could threaten the availability of IVF, embryo storage, and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART), creating legal uncertainty for families seeking fertility care.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Protects access to fertility treatments, including IVF, embryo transfer, and other assisted reproductive technologies, ensuring that Coloradans can make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without government interference.

• Prevents legal challenges to fertility care by affirming that embryos and gametes are not considered children under state law, safeguarding healthcare providers and patients from restrictive legal interpretations.

• Streamlines donor bank regulations by simplifying compliance requirements for gamete donation while maintaining important transparency and reporting standards.

🎯 GOAL:

• Ensure continued access to assisted reproductive technologies in Colorado, protect families seeking fertility care from legal uncertainty, and uphold reproductive freedom in the state.

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Sponsors: Representative Pugliese, Representative Gilchrist, Senator Kirkmeyer, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Patients with life-threatening or severely debilitating illnesses often exhaust all FDA-approved treatment options but have no legal access to individualized investigational treatments tailored to their genetic profiles.

• Current law does not provide a clear framework for patients to request or receive these treatments, leaving them without potential life-saving options.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Grants eligible patients the right to request individualized investigational drugs, biological products, or devices tailored to their genetic profile.

• Provides legal protections for healthcare providers and manufacturers offering these treatments, ensuring they cannot be penalized for recommending or administering them.

• Establishes strict safeguards, requiring physician recommendation, written informed consent, and compliance with federal standards for human subject protections.

🎯 GOAL:

• Expand access to innovative, personalized medical treatments for patients facing life-threatening conditions while ensuring ethical oversight and legal clarity for healthcare providers and manufacturers.

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Sponsors: Senator Daugherty, Senator Jodeh, Representative Espenoza, Representative Feret

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Community Integrated Health-Care Service Agencies provide essential out-of-hospital medical care, including mobile health services and community paramedicine.

• Without continuation, these agencies would lose regulatory oversight, potentially impacting service quality and access to care.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Extends the regulation of Community Integrated Health-Care Service Agencies for nine years, ensuring continued oversight and service standards.

• Expands definitions to include mobile integrated health care and other healthcare providers beyond community paramedics.

• Updates statutory language for clarity, consistency, and inclusivity.

🎯 GOAL:

• Maintain high-quality, accessible out-of-hospital healthcare by continuing agency regulations and improving service definitions.

See bill text here 

Sponsors: Representative Daugherty, Representative Lynch, Senator Lundeen, Senator Hansen

⚠️ ISSUE:

• The collection, storage, and sale of biometric data, such as DNA, facial mapping, and fingerprints, pose significant privacy risks.

• Current practices lack transparency and could lead to misuse, nonconsensual sharing, and exploitation of this highly sensitive information, affecting individuals' security and privacy.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires companies that collect biometric data to obtain consumer consent, disclose their retention policy, and delete the data within a year

• Prohibits companies from selling biometric data, recognizing its sensitivity and the dangers of treating it as a commodity.

• Allows consumers to access their biometric data held by a company and update/correct it

• Authorizes the Attorney General to make rules protecting biometric data security

🎯 GOAL:

• Enhance privacy protections for individuals by regulating the handling of biometric data. By establishing clear guidelines for consent, limiting data commodification, ensuring data deletion in a timely manner, and improving transparency, we aim to safeguarding Colorado residents against privacy breaches and exploitation.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Representative Zokaie, Representative Feret, Senator Daugherty, Senator Jodeh

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Car seats and booster seats are critical for protecting children in the event of a crash, but current auto insurance policies do not always cover their replacement after an accident.

• Parents are often left to cover the cost out-of-pocket, creating a financial burden and potentially delaying the replacement of a damaged child restraint system.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires automobile insurance policies to cover the replacement cost of child restraint systems that are damaged in a vehicle accident.

• Ensures that families can replace car seats and booster seats without unnecessary financial hardship or delays in securing a safe alternative.

• Applies to all auto insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

🎯 GOAL:

• Improve child passenger safety by ensuring that insurance covers the full replacement of damaged car seats and booster seats, reducing financial strain on families and keeping children protected on the road.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Representative Daugherty, Representative Marvin, Senator Michaelson Jenet

⚠️ ISSUE:

• The rise in congenital syphilis cases has been alarming, with Colorado experiencing a 900% increase since 2017.

• Early detection and treatment are crucial to prevent transmission from mother to child, which, if untreated, can lead to miscarriages, stillbirths, or severe birth defects such as deafness, blindness, and bone deformities.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Expands current syphilis testing requirements to include additional screenings in the third trimester and at delivery, ensuring multiple opportunities to detect and treat syphilis during pregnancy.

• Aligns Colorado’s approach with at least 17 other states, where increased testing has significantly reduced healthcare costs and cases of congenital syphilis.

🎯 GOAL:

• Strengthen Colorado's fight against congenital syphilis through enhanced testing protocols.

• Ensure thorough screening during pregnancy to prevent devastating health effects on newborns and significantly decrease the incidence of this preventable disease.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Senator Mullica, Senator Will, Representative Daugherty, Representative Bradfield

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Patients undergoing surgical procedures or treatments at health facilities often require continued use of prescribed topical medications, but current regulations may prevent them from taking home unused portions.

• This restriction leads to unnecessary waste of medications and forces patients to obtain new prescriptions, increasing costs and potential delays in treatment.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Allows health care providers and facilities to provide patients with unused portions of prescribed topical medications for continued use after discharge.

• Ensures patient safety by requiring all provided medications to meet existing labeling requirements and documentation within medical records.

• Clarifies provider responsibility by requiring health facilities or medical staff to counsel patients on the proper use of these medications.

🎯 GOAL:

• Reduce medication waste while ensuring patients have access to necessary post-procedure care without added costs or delays.

• Improve continuity of care by allowing patients to continue using prescribed medications safely under provider supervision.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Representative Daugherty, Representative Soper

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Nearly 1 in 3 Coloradans do not take their medications as prescribed due to high costs, making prescription drugs the largest driver of rising healthcare expenses.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Prohibits spread pricing in Colorado’s Medicaid program, ensuring pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurers cannot charge more for prescription drugs than they pay pharmacies.

• Requires greater transparency in contracts between PBMs, insurers, and employers, helping negotiate better deals and prevent price gouging.

• Expands consumer protections to reduce out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs.

🎯 GOAL:

• Lower prescription drug costs and increase transparency by prohibiting spread pricing and improving contract negotiations between employers, PBMs, and insurance providers.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Senator Daugherty, Senator Mullica, Representative Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Many dental insurance plans spend too little on patient care and too much on administrative costs and profits.

• Unlike medical insurance, there has been no required minimum spending on actual patient services.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Establishes a minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) for dental insurance plans, requiring a set percentage of premium dollars to be spent on patient care rather than administrative costs.

• Improves accountability and transparency in how dental insurers use premiums.

• Ensures policyholders receive fair value for their dental insurance payments.

🎯 GOAL:

• Ensure dental insurance providers prioritize patient care, increasing transparency and fairness in the industry.

See bill text here

Sponsors: Senator Mullica, Senator Daugherty

⚠️ ISSUE:

• Patients often face unexpected medical bills due to lack of transparency in healthcare pricing.

• Without clear, upfront cost information, individuals struggle to make informed healthcare decisions.

WHAT THE BILL DOES:

• Requires hospitals and healthcare providers to publicly disclose comprehensive pricing information for common procedures.

• Establishes penalties for noncompliance, ensuring providers adhere to transparency requirements.

• Gives patients access to accurate cost estimates before receiving medical care.

🎯 GOAL:

• Improve healthcare affordability and transparency by ensuring patients can access clear pricing information before treatment.