The 2023 Colorado Legislative Session ended May 8!
The closing bell has sounded on the Colorado General Assembly 2023 legislative session as of last night, Monday, May 8, 2023. Once again health care policy was at the forefront of a whirlwind session. The Democrats with super-majority status in the House and just shy of super majority in the Senate had a list of priorities to get through, and Republicans in the minority were sometimes left with using delay tactics to get their voices heard. Over 680 bills were considered covering hot topics including health care, property taxes, housing and land use, a tight state budget, TABOR rebates, guns, and abortion.
Your CMS advocacy team, along with physician leaders and friends in the House of Medicine, touched many bills that affect your patients, practice and profession. We took positions on 36 bills, worked with elected officials to revise language before bills were introduced, ensured amendment language was added to bills in-process where possible, and provided testimony in many hearings.
We fought hard for some of CMS’ most top priorities: Colorado patients, your practices, physician-led teams, and threats to physician liability. This session we:
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Removed prior authorization/step therapy requirements for mental health prescription drug treatment with Medicaid coverage (HB23-1183)
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Responded to the opioid crisis with appropriate treatment for patients with chronic pain (SB23-144)
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Removed prior authorization burdens for serious mental illness (HB23-1130)
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Supported cost-sharing assistance programs to help patients afford medications by prohibiting co-pay accumulator programs (SB23-195)
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Drove an audit of the Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program to address transparency, appropriateness, and accountability issues (HB23-1295)
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Protected physicians from unnecessary processing fees when being reimbursed for billed claims (HB23-1116)
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Achieved important scope of practice guardrails for psychologists and physician assistants (HB23-1071, SB23-083)
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Beat back efforts from trial lawyers that would have increased rates, number of settlements and exposed physicians to personal liability (HB23-1192)
Disagreements between and within the political parties meant that some priorities could not be advanced before time ran out on the session, and there were contentious moments as rarely utilized power to cut off debate was yielded. In short, while health care is always an important issue to the legislature, sometimes it is eclipsed by other factors.
As we look ahead in anticipation of the 2024 legislative session, the CMS advocacy team will be working to connect legislators with CMS physician leaders to coordinate efforts on fighting for CMS top priorities at the Capitol. We will be strategically planning with our friends in the House of Medicine and other stakeholder groups on many issues such as reducing administrative burdens, warding off threats to physician liability, and payment reform.
The strength of Colorado Medical Society advocacy lies with members like you who engage in the work at the Capitol to influence legislation in a skillful and respectful way. CMS hopes all physicians will continue to remain engaged with us in advocacy. Sharing how a bill will affect your practice and patients often makes the difference between passing a good bill, amending a bill with promise, or defeating a bad bill.
