Bill Summary for Bill Number HB14-1257

Date: 02/27/2014

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB14-1257

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, INSURANCE, & ENVIRONMENT

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Refer House Bill 14-1257 to the Committee of the W	PASS

01:34 PM -- HB 14-1257

Representative Nordberg presented House Bill 14-1257. The bill gives the Office of the State Auditor the authority to conduct a full performance audit of the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange. Upon completion of a performance audit, the Office of the State Auditor must submit a written report to the Legislative Audit Committee with any findings and recommendations. Performance audits of the exchange may be conducted at the discretion of the state auditor. Representative Nordberg distributed two handouts (Attachments A and B).

140227 AttachA.pdf

140227 AttachB.pdf

01:37 PM

Representative McNulty made comments about the Legislative Audit Committee and the bill. Representative Nordberg responded to questions about the parameters of the audit and extending the state auditor's authority to audit a non-state entity. He responded to questions about the audits of the exchange that have been conducted by the federal government and the type of audit that would be performed under the bill. Representative McNulty discussed the functions of the Legislative Audit Committee. Representative Nordberg responded to questions about the timing of the audit and the frequency of which future audits would occur. The committee discussed the funds that the exchange has spent and whether the Legislative Audit Committee would need to authorize future audits of the exchange.

01:50 PM -- Dianne Ray, representing the Office of the State Auditor, testified on the bill. She stated that the Office of the State Auditor is conducting a limited audit on the exchange that is scheduled to be released in December 2014. She responded to questions about performance audits, financial audits, and the current audit of the exchange. She responded to questions about what information would be reviewed if the bill was enacted, the state auditor's authority to audit an instrumentality of the state, and the standards that would be used for the audit. Ms. Ray responded to questions about the impact of the audit on the exchange staff, the audit process, and whether the privacy of records would be reviewed. She responded to questions about the workload impact of the audit on the Office of the State Auditor's staff, the current audit's time frame, and whether the background check process is typically audited.

02:05 PM -- Patty Fontneau, representing Connect for Health Colorado, testified on the bill. She clarified information about the amount of federal money received by the exchange, who is performing the background checks for the exchange, and the changes to the accounting technology. Ms. Fontneau discussed the previous audits and reviews of the exchange. She provided a handout (Attachment C). Ms. Fontneau discussed the oversight of the exchange by the Legislative Health Benefit Exchange Implementation Review Committee and the exchange's board of directors. She discussed the exchange's self-sustainability plan and the enrollment fee. She stated that the exchange receives benchmarking data from the federal government. Ms. Fontneau responded to questions about the results of the previous audits, who pays for the audits, and whether the previous audits are publicly available. She stated that the exchange is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act. She stated that an independent contractor performs the background checks for the exchange. She responded to questions about the amount of federal funds received by the exchange.

140227 AttachC.pdf

02:25 PM

Ms. Fontneau responded to questions about whether a state audit would be beneficial to the exchange and whether amending the bill to require a meeting between the exchange staff and the state auditor prior to the audit would be helpful. She responded to questions about the best practices for an exchange. Ms. Fontneau stated that Colorado's enrollment fees are among the lowest in the country. She responded to questions about the current audit requirements for the exchange, whether other states are doing legislative audits, how many other states operate state exchanges, and whether a state audit could help strengthen the exchange. Representative Nordberg responded to questions about how many other states are conducting performance audits on their exchanges. Ms. Fontneau commented on the other states that are conducting state audits of their exchanges and responded to a question about the impact the state audit would have on the exchange's staff.

02:45 PM -- Mark Grueskin, representing Connect for Health Colorado, testified on the bill. He provided a handout (Attachment D). He discussed that the exchange is an instrumentality of the state, the statutory authority of the state auditor to conduct audits, and whether the audit can be paid for from the General Fund. Mr. Grueskin responded to questions about whether the exchange is subject to the Colorado Open Records Act and how the audit would be paid for.

140227 AttachD.pdf

02:49 PM

Ms. Ray returned to the table to respond to questions about how audits are paid for and the ability of the Office of the State Auditor to bill audited entities.

02:51 PM

The committee took a brief recess.

03:03 PM

Representative McCann called the committee back to order. Representative Nordberg made concluding remarks regarding the bill. Committee members commented on the bill.


BILL:	HB14-1257
TIME:	03:06:23 PM
MOVED:	McNulty
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 14-1257 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Joshi
		VOTE
	Fields	No
	Ginal	Yes
	Humphrey	Yes
	Joshi	Yes
	Landgraf	Yes
	McNulty	Yes
	Primavera	Yes
	Singer	Yes
	Swalm	Yes
	Schafer	No
	McCann	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS