The act requires the division of insurance (division), on or before November 1, 2022, to retain by contract one or more entities that have experience in actuarial reviews, health-care policy, and health equity (contractors) for the purpose of performing actuarial reviews of legislative proposals that may impose a new health benefit coverage mandate on health benefit plans or reduce or eliminate coverage mandated under health benefit plans. The contractors, under the direction of the division, shall conduct an actuarial review of up to 6 such legislative proposals for each regular legislative session as follows: Up to 2 members of the majority party of the house of representatives may submit a request for an actuarial review; One member of the minority party of the house of representatives may submit up to one request for an actuarial review; Up to two members of the majority party of the senate may submit a request for an actuarial review; and One member of the minority party of the senate may submit up to one request for an actuarial review. Each actuarial review performed by the contractors must consider the predicted effects of the legislative proposal during the 5 and 10 years immediately following the effective date of the proposed legislation, or during another time period following the effective date if such consideration is more actuarially feasible, including specifically described considerations. A request for an actuarial review and the final report resulting from such a request must be treated as confidential except by the member of the general assembly who made the request until the legislative proposal that is the subject of the actuarial review is introduced in the regular legislative session following the submission of the request for the actuarial review or, if no such legislative proposal is introduced, until after the end of the legislative session following the submission of the request. The division may not engage any contractor to perform an actuarial review unless the division determines that there are adequate resources available within existing appropriations to compensate the contractor for the actuarial review. In preparing a fiscal note for any legislative proposal that may impose a new health benefit mandate on health benefit plans, the legislative service agency charged with preparing the fiscal note shall include a statement that a report has been prepared by the contractors for the legislative proposal and an indication of how the report may be obtained in its entirety. The act is repealed, effective November 1, 2027. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $100,000 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance as follows: $50,000 for personal services; and $50,000 for operating expenses.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
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The act creates the drug repository task force (task force) in the department of public health and environment (department) to examine drug repository programs for unused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications in the country to determine the best model to implement for Colorado. The task force consists of at least 13 and no more than 15 members, including up to 8 members appointed by the executive director of the department, 6 members appointed by the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies, and one member appointed by the department of health care policy and financing representing that department. The task force members include, in part, representatives of impacted state departments, hospitals, pharmacists and pharmacy associations, physicians, and members representing patients. The task force members must be appointed by August 1, 2022. The executive director of the department or the executive director's designee shall convene the task force no later than September 15, 2022. In part, the task force shall consider drug depository programs in other states and which model is the safest and most efficient and effective model for Colorado; medications to be included in the program; the requirements for donating and receiving medications; legal issues; and fees and rule-making for the program. The department shall provide staff support to the task force. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the health committees of the general assembly by December 15, 2022. The task force is repealed on July 1, 2023. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the board of directors (board) of the Colorado health benefit exchange (exchange) to create and implement a consumer outreach campaign (campaign) to educate consumers regarding options for health-care coverage. To pay for the campaign, the amount of the tax credits that the commissioner of insurance is allowed to allocate to insurers that contribute to the exchange increases from $5 million to $9 million for a 6-year period. The board is required to annually report its progress and accounting to the Colorado health insurance exchange oversight committee at the committee's first meeting of the calendar year starting in 2024. The requirements of the act repeal on December 31, 2028. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires the Colorado commission on higher education (commission) to enact a policy directing the department of higher education (department) to develop student success measures that measure the progression of students through postsecondary education and the impact of postsecondary pathways on a student's career opportunities and success. The student success measures must include postsecondary success measures and workforce success measures. The act requires the department to create and maintain a statewide student success data system that includes institution-specific interfaces and a public interface. An institution interface includes student success data that may be more timely, more granular, appears in a different format, or include functionality that is different from information provided on the public interface. The public interface includes student success information that is aligned with the student success measures and must allow a user to view and compare student workforce success information for specific institutions of higher education in Colorado. The commission determines the information included in the public interface and how that information is disaggregated by various student populations, such as populations identified by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic factors. The department may include in the statewide data system employment and wage outcome data of a workforce development or training program that joins the data system. The act requires the commission to use the data included in the institution and statewide data system to examine educational and workforce success disparities among various student populations. The act requires the commission to facilitate information sharing among institutions about practices implemented by an institution based on data learned from the data system. The department may enter into an agreement with a third party to create and maintain the data system. The act requires the department to update and modernize its data collection systems to facilitate the collection of student success data. The act appropriates $3 million from the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund to the department for the data system. The appropriation is from the money in the cash fund that originated from the general fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act defines a "bingo strip card game" as a type of bingo that is played with a strip of up to 5 connected paper bingo cards, with each card containing a concealed grid of preprinted numbers ranging from one to 75. The winner is the first player to match the numbers drawn on one or more bingo balls to the prearranged pattern of numbers on a card. The maximum prize for an individual card may not exceed $1,000. The act also updates certain language concerning bingo and pull tab games and prohibits a licensee from possessing, using, selling, offering for sale, or putting into play any equipment unless it conforms to law and was purchased or leased by the licensee from a licensed bingo-raffle manufacturer or supplier or from a licensed agent of a bingo-raffle manufacturer or supplier. Current law states that the licensing authority may establish by rule the maximum number of bingo cards that a bingo player who plays using the aid of an electronic device is permitted to use with the aid of such a device per game; except that the maximum number must be at least 54. The act changes this limit to 100. Current law requires all money collected or received from the sale of admission, extra regular cards, special game cards, sale of supplies, and all other receipts from the games of bingo, raffles, and pull tab games to be deposited in a special checking or savings account, or both, of the licensee, which must contain only this money. The act updates this language to include money collected or received from the sale of bingo strip cards. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $47,471 from the department of state cash fund to the department of state (department) to be used as follows: $17,271 for use by the business and licensing division for personal services; $6,200 for use by the business and licensing division for operating expenses; and $24,000 for use by the information technology division for personal services.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act allows fire departments, including fire protection districts and volunteer fire departments, to be compensated from certain state funding sources for wildland fire suppression activities conducted in the fire department's jurisdiction if the fire department relies primarily or solely on volunteer firefighters, the fire exceeds the department's capacity to extinguish or control, and the period of mutual aid has ended. The fire department must use money received to compensate volunteer firefighters in accordance with guidelines adopted by the division of fire prevention and control (division) in the annual wildfire preparedness plan. Boards of county commissioners are authorized to reimburse fire departments from county funds for wildland fire suppression activities conducted within the fire department's jurisdiction in the same circumstances. The act amends the existing local firefighter safety and disease prevention fund (fund) to require the division to give priority in awarding grants to governing bodies and volunteer fire departments that: Have lost tax revenues as a result of decreased assessment values due to a wildland fire within their jurisdiction in the previous 5 years; Rely solely or primarily on volunteer firefighters and serve communities affected by wildland fires; or Demonstrate the greatest need for additional funding to ensure the safety of volunteer and seasonal firefighters. In addition, money in the fund may be used to reimburse a multiple employer behavioral health trust (trust) for the direct costs of providing a behavioral health care to firefighters. In fiscal year 2022-23, the reimbursement to a trust is limited to $1 million. In subsequent years, the fire service training, certification, and firefighter safety advisory board makes recommendations on the amount that should be used for this purpose. The division is also authorized to directly purchase and distribute equipment and pay for training for governing bodies and volunteer fire departments without requiring a grant application. The general assembly is required to appropriate $1 million to the fund for fiscal year 2022-23, and to appropriate $5 million to the fund in each of fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. On or before September 1, 2025, the staff of the joint budget committee is required to report on whether the amount of the annual appropriation should be adjusted based on current needs. The division is required to submit an annual report on expenditures from the fund to the wildfire matters review committee or a successor committee. An entity that employs firefighters, including volunteer firefighters, is required to participate in a trust to provide behavioral health-care services to its firefighters. The division is required to reimburse the trust for its direct costs, and if the available funding is insufficient, the requirement for employers to participate becomes optional. The trust is required to provide a program of basic services to firefighters for the prevention, diagnosis, and initial treatment of emotional, behavioral, or mental health disorders. The services are provided primarily on an outpatient basis, including telephonically or remotely. The trust is authorized to further define the services and benefits available and to adopt policies and procedures for the administration of the trust. The trust is required to report, together with the division, to the wildfire matters review committee on the extent to which the program is meeting the behavioral health-care needs of firefighters, the ongoing funding needs of the trust, and any other changes that are necessary to more effectively meet the behavioral health-care needs of firefighters. $1 million is appropriated from the general fund to the fund for use by the department. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act enacts the "Colorado 340B Prescription Drug Program Anti-discrimination Act" (act), which prohibits health insurers, PBMs, and other third-party payers (third-party payers) from discriminating against entities participating in the federal 340B drug pricing program (340B covered entity), including a pharmacy that contracts with a 340B covered entity to provide dispensing services to the 340B entity (contract pharmacy). Specifically, the act prohibits a third-party payer from: Refusing to reimburse a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy for dispensing 340B drugs, imposing additional requirements or restrictions on 340B covered entities or contract pharmacies, or reimbursing a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy for a 340B drug at a rate lower than the amount paid for the same drug to pharmacies that are not 340B covered entities or contract pharmacies; Assessing a fee, charge back, or other adjustment against a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy, or restricting a 340B covered entity's or contract pharmacy's access to the third-party payer's pharmacy network, because the 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy participates in the 340B drug pricing program; Requiring a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy to contract with a specific pharmacy or health coverage plan in order to access the third-party payer's pharmacy network; Imposing a restriction or an additional charge on a patient who obtains a prescription drug from a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy; Restricting the methods by which a 340B covered entity or contract pharmacy may dispense or deliver 340B drugs; or Requiring a claim for a 340B drug to include a modifier or other method of identifying the claim for a 340B drug. A violation of the act is an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance. The act authorizes the commissioner of insurance to adopt rules to implement the act. The act appropriates $17,109 from the division of insurance cash fund to the department of regulatory agencies for use by the division of insurance to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act creates the orphaned wells mitigation enterprise (enterprise) in the department of natural resources for the purpose of: Imposing and collecting mitigation fees; Funding the plugging, reclaiming, and remediating of orphaned wells in the state; Ensuring that the costs associated with the plugging, reclaiming, and remediating of orphaned wells are borne by operators in the form of mitigation fees; and Determining the amounts of mitigation fees. On or before August 1, 2022; on or before April 30, 2023; and on or before April 30 each year thereafter, each operator shall pay a mitigation fee to the enterprise for each well that has been spud but is not yet plugged and abandoned, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission), in the following amounts: For operators with production that is equal to or less than a threshold to be determined by rules of the commission, $125 for each well; or For operators with production that exceeds a threshold to be determined by rules of the commission, $225 for each well. Money collected as mitigation fees is credited to the orphaned wells mitigation enterprise cash fund (fund), which is created in the act. The act also creates the orphaned wells mitigation enterprise board (enterprise board) and requires the enterprise board to administer the enterprise and, at least annually, to: Consider whether the mitigation fee amounts should be increased or reduced, based on current circumstances and reasonably anticipated future expenditures from the fund; If the enterprise board determines that an increase or reduction of the mitigation fee amounts is warranted, adjust the mitigation fee amounts; and Advise the commission of the outcome of the enterprise board's deliberations. The commission may promulgate rules as necessary to implement the enterprise. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act continues the functions of the Colorado resiliency office in the department of local affairs until September 1, 2037, pursuant to the provisions of the sunset law. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)