The bill imposes requirements on health care facilities, health care providers, pharmacies, and health insurers, starting January 1, 2019, to disclose information about health care charges. Specifically, section 2 of the bill enacts the 'Comprehensive Health Care Billing Transparency Act' (act), which requires health care facilities, including hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, community clinics, and physician practice groups, to: Publish their fee schedules or other lists of charges the facilities bill for specific health care services before applying any discounts, rebates, or other charge adjustment mechanisms; Include in every bill sent to a patient an itemized detail of each health care service provided, the charge for the service, how any payment or adjustment by the patient's health insurer was applied to each line item in the bill, and, for hospitals, the amount of the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee the hospital is charged; and In situations where an individual provides health insurance information to the facility or a provider in a facility setting, disclose whether the facility or provider participates in the individual's health insurance plan; whether the services the facility or provider will render will be covered as an in-network or out-of-network benefit; and whether the individual will receive a service from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility. For an individual health care provider who provides health care services at a health care facility, has a separate fee schedule for the services the provider delivers in the facility setting, and whose fees for those services are not included in the facility's published fee schedule, the provider must provide a fee schedule to the facility for posting on the facility's website. Section 2 also prohibits a facility or provider from billing a patient or third-party payer an amount in excess of the lower of any established self-pay rate or the lowest rate negotiated with or reimbursed by any third-party payer, including the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services in the United States department of health and human services, for the particular health care services rendered to the patient if the facility or provider has failed to publish or provide its fee schedule. Additionally, section 2 requires a pharmacy to publish a list of its retail drug prices, which is a list of the charges the pharmacy charges to an insured or uninsured person for prescription drugs it administers or dispenses, before any rebates, discounts, or other price adjustment mechanisms are applied. Section 4 specifies that failure to comply with the requirements to publish retail drug prices constitutes grounds for the state board of pharmacy to discipline a pharmacist. Health insurers, facilities, and providers are prohibited from including any provision in a contract between the parties issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2019, that restricts the ability of a provider, facility, or health insurer to provide patients with the charge information required to be published. Section 2 also directs the state board of pharmacy to adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of the act that are applicable to pharmacies and the executive director of the department of public health and environment to adopt any other rules necessary to implement and administer the act. Section 3 requires health insurers to publish information about contract terms, cost-sharing arrangements, and prescription drug prices. The commissioner of insurance is directed to adopt rules to implement and administer these requirements and is authorized to use enforcement powers under current law to enforce the requirements on health insurers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More
The concurrent resolution denies a person the right to bail if the person has committed a serious felony offense or a serious offense involving driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as determined by law, when the proof is evident or presumption is great as to the commission of the offense and the person is in this country illegally.(Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.) Read More
The bill directs the executive director of the department of public health and environment (director) to convene the governor's expert emergency epidemic response committee (committee) for the purpose of determining whether there is an autism epidemic in Colorado. The committee shall review autism data from 1990 to 2017 from every Colorado county and across all age groups. If the committee determines there is an autism epidemic, the director shall advise the governor to declare that an autism epidemic exists in Colorado; that reasonable and appropriate measures be taken to address the autism epidemic and protect the public health; that departments with publicly funded safety net programs update their plans to include the autism epidemic; and the percentage at which the state will contribute money to the autism epidemic. The committee shall prepare a report documenting its reasons for determining whether an autism epidemic exists and provide a copy of the report to the governor, the director, and each member of the general assembly.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill directs the general assembly to appropriate $10 million for the 2018-19 budget year to the department of education to distribute to small rural districts and institute charter schools that are located within small rural districts. The money is distributed on a per pupil basis based on the student enrollment or funded pupil count for the 2017-18 budget year. If the rural district is the authorizer for a district charter school, the rural district must distribute the full per pupil share of the amount received to the district charter school.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The federal energy regulatory commission requires each public utility transmission provider to participate in a regional transmission planning process to produce a regional transmission plan. If construction of an electric transmission line (line) in Colorado has been approved in a regional transmission plan or by another applicable federal regional transmission planning requirement, the bill affords an incumbent electric utility owning the existing transmission facilities to which the line will connect up to 180 days after the line has been approved to give written notice to the public utilities commission (commission) that the incumbent electric utility intends to construct, own, and maintain the line. If the incumbent electric utility does not provide notice to the commission, the incumbent electric utility surrenders its right of first refusal to construct, own, and maintain the line. If the incumbent electric utility provides the notice, the incumbent electric utility, if it is subject to the commission's regulation, shall, within 24 months after filing the notice, file an application with the commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct the line.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill creates the energy legislation review committee to study energy development, grid security, energy supply and transmission planning, and other issues that affect energy policy in Colorado, beginning in 2019. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
The bill establishes that leases of public lands by the state board of land commissioners (board) may be assigned by the lessee upon notice to the board and that the board cannot deny an assignment. The board may charge a fee, but the fee must approximate the board's costs in processing the assignment and cannot be used to generate revenue. If the assignment is part of a transaction involving the transfer of other lands or interests, the board does not have authority to examine documents other than those specifically related to the assignment of the lease. In addition, the bill eliminates the requirement that an applicant for a lease give evidence of his or her responsibility to fulfill the terms of the lease. The board is also prohibited from requiring lessees or applicants for leases to report yields, production, income, expenses, or other specific data related to the use of leased or private lands. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
Current law authorizes the department of revenue (department) to register motor vehicles biennially. The bill requires the department to promulgate rules offering motor vehicle owners the option to register motor vehicles biennially. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
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The concurrent resolution authorizes the general assembly to provide by law for the general supervision of the public schools of the state, but prohibits the general assembly from creating a state board of education. The concurrent resolution repeals the provision that creates and assigns duties to the state board of education and all other constitutional references to the state board of education.(Note: This summary applies to this concurrent resolution as introduced.) , Read More
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Colorado Commission on Uniform State Laws. Section 1 of the bill enacts the 'Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act' (act), as adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2016 with Colorado-specific amendments. The act responds to current transactions and practices, in particular electronic records, and seeks to promote uniformity among state laws regarding the disposition of unclaimed property. The act is subdivided into 15 parts, which are summarized as follows: Part 1 establishes general provisions for the act, including definitions for terms used in the act and authority for the administrator, who is the state treasurer, to make rules related to the act; Part 2 establishes standards to determine if property is abandoned. Under the act, property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by its apparent owner after a specified period of time known as the dormancy period. Some of the dormancy periods in the act are shorter than current law. This part also includes a number of sections that are included in current law to exempt property from the act. Part 3 establishes priority rules for determining when the state may take custody of property that is presumed abandoned; Part 4 requires a holder of property presumed to be abandoned to provide a report to the administrator and to retain certain records; Part 5 establishes the notice that the administrator must provide to the apparent owner; Part 6 establishes how the administrator takes custody of property after it has been abandoned; Part 7 permits the administrator to sell property at a public sale after notice; Part 8 relates to the administration of property and keeps the requirement that the proceeds of property sold be deposited in the existing unclaimed property trust fund and the unclaimed property tourism promotion trust fund; Part 9 addresses claims to recover property from the administrator and includes existing provisions to allow offsets against the claim for child support; judicial restitution, fines, fees, or surcharges; and delinquent taxes and claims of the state; Part 10 permits the administrator to request a report from a person and to examine records to determine compliance with the act; Part 11 provides a holder with the right to appeal the administrator's determination concerning the holder's liability to deliver property or payment to the state; Part 12 establishes penalties for a holder that fails to comply with the act; Part 13 governs agreements between an apparent owner and a person commonly known as a 'finder' who locates and recovers abandoned property on behalf of the owner; Part 14 addresses the confidentiality and security of information related to the abandoned property; and Part 15 includes miscellaneous provisions relating to the uniformity of construction, electronic signatures, and transitional interpretation. Colorado-specific sections of the prior version of the act, known as the 'Unclaimed Property Act', are retained and indicated by their former statutory section numbers. Sections 2 through 21 make conforming amendments.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More
