House Committee on Health and Human Services (04/05/2010)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Date:	04/05/2010	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:32 PM to 03:07 PM	Acree	X
		Apuan	*
Place:	LSB A	Gerou	*
		Kefalas	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Kerr J.	X
	Representative Riesberg	Primavera	X
		Roberts	*
This Report was prepared by		Swalm	X
	Kelly Stapleton	Tyler	X
		Gagliardi	X
		Riesberg	*
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB10-020 HB10-1371 SB10-175		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:32 PM -- Senate Bill 10-020

Representative Massey presented Senate Bill 10-020 which authorizes the CoverColorado Board of Directors to establish one or more fee schedules for compensating health care providers for services to CoverColorado program members. He provided an explanation of what a fee schedule is and the intention of developing a fee schedule for CoverColorado members. Representative Massey stated that there is concern that the funding mechanism for CoverColorado is in jeopardy and that the bill is one way to ensure that the costs of the program are manageable.

1:39 PM -- Susan Bragg-Gamble, Executive Director, CoverColorado, testified in support of the bill. She mentioned several stakeholders in support of the bill. A graph depicting the historical revenue and expenses of CoverColorado and a fact sheet on the bill were provided to the committee (Attachments and A and B). She described amendment L.007 which would limit new enrollment in the program if it could not economically sustain itself, and amendment L.009 which establishes an advisory committee to make recommendations regarding provider rates and eliminates references to Medicaid (Attachments C and D). Ms. Bragg-Gamble spoke to national health care reform and its potential affects on CoverColorado. She stated that the federal health care reform legislation will establish a new high risk pool which will be administered separately from CoverColorado.

01:46 PM

Members of the committee asked how the fee schedule would be implemented. Representative Swalm asked how the federal health care reform legislation and CoverColorado are going to interact with one another. Ms. Bragg-Gamble stated that it is her understanding that CoverColorado needs to provide coverage for its members until at least 2014 until the federal health care reform legislation goes into affect. Representative Roberts asked if there could be some type of an amendment that would provide flexibility and guidance to the board regarding implementation of federal health care reform legislation. Members discussed the appropriate interaction between CoverColorado and the federal high-risk pool that will be implemented under federal health care reform legislation.

02:03 PM

Ms. Bragg-Gamble spoke to the number of individuals enrolled in CoverColorado.

02:06 PM -- Eric Rothaus, Colorado State Treasury's Office, responded to committee questions. He described the Unclaimed Property Fund. He stated that there has been an increase in the amount of funds collected that make-up the Unclaimed Property Fund. He stated that the fund holds the money collected in perpetuity. He stated that there is a statutory requirement that the fund maintain a reserve. He stated that $70 million was used from the fund to fund CoverColorado last year.

02:12 PM -- Dr. Bruce Madison, Colorado Medical Society, spoke in support of the bill. He stated that physicians in general do not like fee schedules and have concern over the prohibition of balance billing. He stated that although physicians have concern over fee schedules, that most physicians do not see more than a handful of CoverColorado members. He spoke in favor of the changes that the Senate made to the bill.

02:17 PM -- Betsy Murray, American Physical Therapist Association - Colorado Chapter, spoke in favor of the bill.

02:18 PM -- Kelly Shanahan, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, spoke in support of the bill and amendment L.007. She stated that the bill was one of the recommendations that came out of the CoverColorado Long-term Funding Task Force. She spoke to her concern with limiting enrollment for CoverColorado. She stated that amendment L.007 alleviates some of her concerns.

02:24 PM -- Jim Johnston, Manager, Government Programs, HealthOne, spoke in support of the bill as amended by amendment L.009. He spoke to the importance of CoverColorado. He commented that the board of CoverColorado does not have any oversight from the Division of Insurance. He stated that the board is heavily represented by health insurance carriers. He spoke to the potential cost shift that could occur and stated that amendment L.009 addresses a majority of the concerns he mentioned.


BILL:	SB10-020
TIME:	02:28:39 PM
MOVED:	Swalm
MOTION:	Moved to adopt prepared amendment L.007 (Attachment C). Members expressed their concern about limiting enrollment in CoverColorado. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Kefalas
		VOTE
	Acree
	Apuan
	Gerou
	Kefalas
	Kerr J.
	Primavera
	Roberts
	Swalm
	Tyler
	Gagliardi
	Riesberg
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB10-020
TIME:	02:32:59 PM
MOVED:	Roberts
MOTION:	Moved to adopt prepared amendment L.009 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Kefalas
		VOTE
	Acree
	Apuan
	Gerou
	Kefalas
	Kerr J.
	Primavera
	Roberts
	Swalm
	Tyler
	Gagliardi
	Riesberg
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

02:33 PM

Representative Massey provided concluding remarks to the bill.


BILL:	SB10-020
TIME:	02:34:43 PM
MOVED:	Acree
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-020, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 9-1 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Swalm
		VOTE
	Acree	No
	Apuan	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr J.	Yes
	Primavera	Excused
	Roberts	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Gagliardi	Yes
	Riesberg	Yes
Final YES: 9 NO: 1 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:37 PM -- House Bill 10-1371

Representative Frangas spoke to House Bill 10-1371 which establishes definitions and boundaries for persons who provide complementary and alternative health care. He asked the committee to postpone the bill indefinitely.


BILL:	HB10-1371
TIME:	02:39:24 PM
MOVED:	Tyler
MOTION:	Moved to postpone House Bill 10-1371 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 10-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Swalm
		VOTE
	Acree	Yes
	Apuan	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr J.	Yes
	Primavera	Excused
	Roberts	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Gagliardi	Yes
	Riesberg	Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:40 PM -- Senate Bill 10-175

Representative Riesberg introduced Senate Bill 10-175 which relocates several sections of statute concerning behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, and mental health facilities so that the sections are grouped together in Title 27 of the Colorado Revised Statute.

02:44 PM -- Mike Hoover, Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. He spoke to the need to protect vulnerable populations.

02:50 PM -- Mike McCarty, Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, spoke to his concern with language in the bill related to taking property. Members of the committee discussed with the witness that the bill was moving the language in the statue to a different part of the statute.

02:57 PM -- Edward George, representing himself, spoke to a portion in the law that allows physical restraint to be used on individuals with mental illness.

03:00 PM -- Sheryle Hutter, Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, spoke in support of the bill. She stated that she understands the concept of the bill and the restriction of the bill title, but that she wanted to take the opportunity to let the committee know some of her concerns regarding how mental health and vulnerable populations are managed in Colorado.


BILL:	SB10-175
TIME:	03:04:00 PM
MOVED:	Riesberg
MOTION:	Moved to refer Senate Bill 10-175 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 10-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:	Acree
		VOTE
	Acree	Yes
	Apuan	Yes
	Gerou	Yes
	Kefalas	Yes
	Kerr J.	Yes
	Primavera	Excused
	Roberts	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Tyler	Yes
	Gagliardi	Yes
	Riesberg	Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:06 PM

Representative Riesberg spoke to the committee's agenda for April 8, 2010. The committee adjourned.