Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH CARE & HUMAN SERVICES

Date:02/11/2014
ATTENDANCE
Time:01:31 PM to 03:21 PM
Conti
*
Everett
X
Place:HCR 0107
Ginal
X
Joshi
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Landgraf
*
Representative Primavera
McCann
*
Schafer
E
This Report was prepared by
Singer
X
Elizabeth Burger
Stephens
X
Tyler
X
Wilson
X
Young
*
Primavera
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Presentation by the Alzheimer's Association
HB14-1173
SB14-067		Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Amended, Referred to Finance
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only


01:33 PM -- Presentation by the Alzheimer's Association

Linda Mitchell, Alzheimer's Association of Colorado, began the presentation on Alzheimer's Disease, which is the most common form of dementia. She noted that 1 in 9 individuals over the age of 65 and 1 in 3 individuals over the age of 85 will develop the disease. She relayed statistics related to the prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease in Colorado. She described the services provided by the Alzheimer's Association. She explained that in 2008, the Colorado General Assembly passed legislation requiring the development of a state plan to address Alzheimer's Disease, and the plan was introduced in 2010. She discussed the recommendations of the plan, which included training for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease, the creation of a statewide awareness campaign focused on the early detection of Alzheimer's Disease, and including the cognitive impairment module on the Colorado Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. She noted that the association has launched a training program for law enforcement professionals. Ms. Mitchell explained that there is also an effort to develop an Alzheimer's Disease research center in Colorado. She responded to questions from the committee regarding the differences between dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. Two handouts were distributed to the committee (Attachments A and B).

14HsePHS0211AttachA.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachA.pdf 14HsePHS0211AttachB.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachB.pdf

01:40 PM

Dr. Huntington Potter, University of Colorado Alzheimer's Research Center, testified regarding the University of Colorado's efforts to be designated by the National Institutes of Aging (NIA) as an NIA Alzheimer's Disease Center. He stated that the plan for the center is to provide diagnosis and treatment services to Colorado citizens and set up a platform for research. He discussed current avenues of research regarding Alzheimer's Disease, and explained the basis of state's application to the NIA focusing on new approaches for treatment. He responded to questions from the committee regarding treatments for Alzheimer's Disease. Representative Primavera asked if it would help for the committee to write a letter of support to the NIA and Dr. Potter indicated that it would.

01:49 PM -- HB14-1173

Representative McCann introduced House Bill 14-1173. The bill implements the recommendations made by the Department of Regulatory Agencies in its sunset review of the licensing of addiction treatment programs that use controlled substances as part of the treatment process. The committee previously considered the sunset review of this program on January 14, 2014. Specifically, the bill continues the licensing of addiction treatment programs until 2025, grants medical directors at substance abuse treatment facilities, with patient permission, access to the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, instructs the Department of Human Services to create an online central registry to allow treatment programs to verify whether a client is enrolled in multiple treatment programs, and creates different options for disciplining staff who violate the licensing statutes. The bill also removes the $75 licensing fee from the statute and allows the Department of Human Services to set the fee based on the direct and indirect costs of administering the program.

01:56 PM

Representative Ginal discussed the amendments to the bill and amendments L.001, L.002, L.003, and L.004 (Attachments C through F) were distributed to the committee. She stated that the bill is critical to reducing access to dangerous drugs. The committee discussed the bill's fiscal note and the fee increase that was caused as a result of the bill's provisions creating an online central registry.

14HsePHS0211AttachC.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachC.pdf 14HsePHS0211AttachD.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachD.pdf 14HsePHS0211AttachE.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachE.pdf 14HsePHS0211AttachF.pdf14HsePHS0211AttachF.pdf

02:06 PM -- Denise Vincioni, Office of Behavioral Health, Department of Human Services, responded to questions from the committee regarding the fee increase resulting from the bill's provisions and the success rates of the methadone treatment clinics. The committee discussed treatment clinics that use methadone in their treatment programs, and Ms. Vincioni discussed the process of licensing the treatment clinics. Ms. Vincioni responded to questions from the committee regarding funding for the licensing program and the sunset review's recommendation to create an online central registry.

02:19 PM -- Sarah Sills, Department of Human Services, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee regarding the bill's fiscal note.

02:21 PM -- Dave DeNovellis, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee regarding the bill's fiscal note, and, in particular, the costs associated with establishing the online central registry. Committee discussion continued related to the costs of the bill.

02:31 PM -- Ms. Vincioni returned to the table to respond to questions from the committee regarding access to information in the central registry.

02:34 PM -- Bryan Jameson, Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), came to the table to address the amendments to the bill. He discussed amendment L.002, which removes the requirement for the Department of Human Services to develop the online central registry. He responded to questions from the committee regarding the bill's fiscal note and the cost of establishing the online central registry. He clarified DORA's intent in making the recommendation.

BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:46:37 PM
MOVED:Ginal
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:McCann
VOTE
Conti
Everett
Ginal
Joshi
Landgraf
McCann
Schafer
Singer
Stephens
Tyler
Wilson
Young
Primavera
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:47:26 PM
MOVED:Ginal
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment D). The motion failed on a vote of 2-10, with one member excused.
SECONDED:McCann
VOTE
Conti
No
Everett
No
Ginal
Yes
Joshi
No
Landgraf
No
McCann
Yes
Schafer
Excused
Singer
No
Stephens
No
Tyler
No
Wilson
No
Young
No
Primavera
No
YES: 2 NO: 10 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:50:58 PM
MOVED:Ginal
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment E). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:McCann
VOTE
Conti
Everett
Ginal
Joshi
Landgraf
McCann
Schafer
Singer
Stephens
Tyler
Wilson
Young
Primavera
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:51:33 PM
MOVED:Ginal
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.004 (Attachment F). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:McCann
VOTE
Conti
Everett
Ginal
Joshi
Landgraf
McCann
Schafer
Singer
Stephens
Tyler
Wilson
Young
Primavera
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:52:03 PM
MOVED:Tyler
MOTION:Adopt an amendment to specify that the funding source for the online central registry may be paid through the General Fund or through gifts, grants, or donations. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Conti
Everett
Ginal
Joshi
Landgraf
McCann
Schafer
Singer
Stephens
Tyler
Wilson
Young
Primavera
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

02:52 PM

Representatives Ginal and McCann gave concluding remarks regarding the bill.

BILL:HB14-1173
TIME: 02:53:57 PM
MOVED:McCann
MOTION:Refer House Bill 14-1173, as amended, to the Committee on Finance. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0, with one member excused.
SECONDED:Ginal
VOTE
Conti
Yes
Everett
Yes
Ginal
Yes
Joshi
Yes
Landgraf
Yes
McCann
Yes
Schafer
Excused
Singer
Yes
Stephens
Yes
Tyler
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
Yes
Primavera
Yes
FINAL YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:54 PM -- SB14-067

Representative Singer introduced Senate Bill 14-067. The bill makes changes to state law to align Medicaid and the Children's Health Benefit Plan with the requirements of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Specifically, the bill:

• removes obsolete descriptions of eligibility categories and renames and recategorizes them to conform to current eligibility groups;
• defines "modified adjusted gross income (MAGI)" by referencing the definition in federal law for eligibility determination;
• removes obsolete language regarding income- and resource-counting methods;
• updates statute to include federally approved electronic data sources for income verification;
• clarifies that applicants who are ineligible for state medical assistance will have their application data and verifications transferred to the state health insurance marketplace; and
• makes conforming amendments.

02:58 PM -- Marivel Guadarrama, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, testified in support of the bill and explained the bill's changes to state law. She stated that the department has worked to ensure that the bill's changes won't affect clients. She responded to questions from the committee regarding application information that is shared with the health insurance exchange and the privacy measures that the department has enacted to ensure the safe transfer of information between the department and the health care exchange.

03:06 PM -- Barbara Prehmus, Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, responded to questions from the committee regarding the possibility of the federal government auditing the state if the bill were to fail. Ms. Guadarrama responded to questions regarding the bill's changes to the Medicaid program's eligibility categories.

03:13 PM -- George Lyford, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, discussed the stakeholder engagement process that occurred in developing the bill. He responded to questions from the committee regarding the bill's changes to the eligibility categories for pregnant women.

03:17 PM -- Ms. Prehmus returned to the table to address committee questions regarding the changes to the eligibility categories for pregnant women.

03:19 PM

The bill was laid over at the request of the bill sponsor.

03:21 PM

The committee adjourned.