Date: 02/06/2006
Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1044
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND LABOR
| Votes: View--> | Action Taken: |
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03:30 PM -- House Bill 06-1044
Representative Cloer, prime sponsor, distributed a strike below amendment L.007 (Attachment C) to House Bill 06-1044. Representative Cloer stated that the bill would establish that once the insurance company accepts responsibility for the repair of the car and fault has been determined, then the insurance company should take fiscal responsibility for the medical portion at that time as well. He walked through the sections of the strike below. The committee and the sponsor decided to hear testimony today, and then lay the bill over for action on Wednesday, February 8, because some of the members had not had an opportunity to read the amendment prior to the hearing.
03:45 PM -- Dr. Tom Friermood MD, representing the Colorado Orthopedics Society, testified in support of the bill. He stated that from a physicians point of view, the change that was made from no-fault to tort has had a significant negative impact on facilities and physicians that care for trauma patients. He stated that the bill would addresses one piece of the problem.
03:47 PM -- Angela Aguilera, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She gave a personal account of an accident she was involved in and the problems she encountered receiving payment for medical bills. Ms. Aguilera responded to questions from the committee about her insurance coverage, who was at fault in the accident, and a pending lawsuit.
03:52 PM -- Angie Lender, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She gave her personal account of a car accident she was involved in. She explained the problems she has encountered trying to receive payment for her medical bills. Ms. Lender was asked what the total cost of her medical bills were. She sated they were around $2,000.
03:55 PM -- Cathy Cortez, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She also gave a personal account of an accident she was involved in. She stated that the person who hit her was 100 percent responsible and that the insurance company paid for her car, but have not paid for her medical bills. She added that she also had medical payment coverage of $5,000, but it went quickly since her bills are close to $10,000. Ms. Cortez stated that if the insurance company would pay from the beginning rather than waiting until the end, it would be easier to get care.
04:06 PM -- Dr. Christie Sprawl, representing Colorado Chiropractic Association, testified in support of the bill. She stated that many patients have their bills go to collections.
04:07 PM -- Mike Hodges, representing the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, testified in opposition to the bill. He talked about the "make whole" doctrine that Colorado does not follow as opposed to other states that do. He stated that the bill would make payments take longer than before. Mr. Hodges responded to questions pertaining to whether a person, under the bill, would have to disclose how much coverage he or she has.
04:16 PM
Mr. Hodges continued to respond to committee questions.
04:20 PM
Bill Imig, representing the Property and Casualty Isurers Association, testified in opposition to the bill. He explained that if someone is hurt in an auto accident they have two claims: a health care claim arising out of the accident, and a claim for pain and suffering. He mentioned that a person has a claim against the at-fault driver if that person has any assets. He stated that current law provides for settling a claim before 30 days, and there may also be other factors that delay a settlement.
04:25 PM
In response to a question from the committee, Mr. Imig stated there is a statute and a regulation that prohibits a health care company from refusing to give care due to an auto accident. Mr. Imig stated that insurance companies want to settle these cases quicker, but it takes both parties. There was committee discussion about offering medical payment coverage and how it can be oversold.
04:42 PM -- Lora Smith, representing the Quality Health Care Coalition, testified in support of the bill. She stated that she represents the health care industry and talked about how some injured parties have been forced to file bankruptcy due to medical bills after auto accidents. She was asked if every person that treated the injured person should get paid and how that should be determined. She agreed that medical necessity needs to be taken into account.
04:47 PM
Representative Carroll discussed the current statute.
04:50 PM -- Revata Farnsworth, representing the Rehabilitation Association of Colorado and the Quality Health Care Coalition, testified in support of the bill. She responded to a previous question about how the bills get paid. Ms. Farnsworth stated that many policyholders are uninformed about what medical payment coverage actually represents. She stated that only 25 percent of Coloradoans have purchased medical payment coverage.
04:58 PM -- Brenda Smith and her sister Rebeca Imgrund, testified together in support of the bill. They talked about a car accident Ms. Smith and Ms. Imgrund's children were involved in. Ms. Imgrund stated that she has had to go through collections for the accident that she was not even involved in because her children were involved. She stated the accident has destroyed her credit and has left her with unpaid medical bills. She stated that her son's health insurance capped at $400,000 and the total amount of bills exceed a million dollars and she cannot pay that.
05:05 PM -- Cindy Sovine, representing the Trauma Preservation Coalition and the Colorado Health and Hospital Association, stated that the coalition and the association had many problems with the original bill. Ms. Sovine explained that only forty percent of health plans in Colorado are regulated by the Division of Insurance, so the prompt pay laws and laws that do not allow insurance companies to deny auto accident claims, only apply to that forty percent of insurance plans. She stated that she supports the amendment and would be happy to answer any questions. There was a discussion about whether the injured person should take responsibility for not being covered, such as opting out of medical payment coverage because they do not want to pay for it. Ms. Sovine responded on a personal level.
05:09 PM -- Don Mielke, Colorado Chiropractors Association, responded to some of the earlier comments. He spoke about medical payment coverage and the prompt pay statute that was passed a few years ago by Senator Mitchell.
05:12 PM -- Ellen Caruso, Executive Director of the Physical Therapy Association in Colorado, testified in support of the bill. She stated that small businesses, such as physical therapy clinics, are not financially secure enough to accept patients without payment.
05:13 PM
Representative Marshall took House Bill 1044 off the table stating that on Wednesday, February 8, the committee will take action on the bill and the strike below.