HOUSE 3rd Reading Unamended April 20, 2015 HOUSE 2nd Reading Unamended April 17, 2015First Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO REENGROSSED This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted in the House of Introduction LLS NO. 15-0267.01 Christy Chase x2008 HOUSE BILL 15-1194 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Becker K. and Coram, SENATE SPONSORSHIP Hodge, House Committees Senate Committees Public Health Care & Human Services Appropriations A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning state general fund dollars for the department of public health and environment to continue providing specified family planning services throughout the state, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) The Colorado department of public health and environment currently administers the family planning program. Starting in 2008, the department received a multi-year grant to conduct an expanded family planning program, the primary focus of which was to expand access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and related services, particularly to low-income women statewide, in order to reduce unintended pregnancies. Grant funding for the expanded program ends June 30, 2015. The bill requires the department to continue the expanded program and appropriates $5 million from the state general fund to the department to provide LARC services in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 25-6-104 as follows: 25-6-104. Long-acting reversible contraception services - department powers - funding - legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds: (a) The department of public health and environment is authorized to administer family planning programs and receive and disburse funds for the programs; (b) While the department receives some funding from the state for family planning programs, starting in 2009 the department received a multi-year grant to fund an expanded family planning program to provide long-acting, effective contraceptive methods at little to no cost through sixty family planning clinics in thirty-seven counties throughout the state; (c) The grant funding supports the following clinic activities: (I) The provision of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), which includes intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants, to women visiting the clinics; (II) Training for providers and staff regarding the provision of LARC methods, counseling strategies, and managing side effects; (III) Technical assistance regarding issues such as coding, billing, pharmacy rules, and clinic management necessitated by the increasing utilization of LARC methods; and (IV) General support to expand the capacity of the family planning clinics; (d) The grant funding has enabled family planning clinics to offer LARC methods to clients at little to no cost; (e) Additionally, the grant funding resulted in seven new clinics opening, business hour increases at thirteen contractors, and staffing and outreach increases at twenty contractors; (f) The expanded program has made family planning services more widely available across the state, resulting in a significant decrease in the birth rates of young women with incomes at or below one hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty level; (g) After just three years of grant funding, family planning caseloads increased by twenty-three percent, and LARC use among women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four years had grown from five percent to nineteen percent; (h) In counties that received grant funding: (I) Observed birth rates in 2011 were twenty-nine percent lower than expected among low-income women between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years and fourteen percent lower than expected among low-income women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four years; and (II) The proportion of births that were high-risk, meaning births to single women under twenty-five years of age who do not have a high school education, declined by twenty-four percent between 2009 and 2011; (i) The grant funding has resulted in significant gains throughout the state, including a reduction in the teen birth rate, increased access to effective means of birth control, and decreased high-risk births and unintended pregnancies, all of which result in costs avoided by the state and local governments; (j) Although the grant funding ends on June 30, 2015, it is important that the state continue to provide and expand LARC services throughout the state; and (k) Notwithstanding section 24-75-1305, C.R.S., the expanded program to provide LARC services shall be funded from the state general fund. (2) The department of public health and environment shall contract with eligible family planning providers throughout the state to provide LARC services, which services include: (a) The provision of LARC, including IUDs and implants; (b) Training for providers and staff regarding the provision of LARC methods, counseling strategies, and managing side effects; (c) Technical assistance regarding issues such as coding, billing, pharmacy rules, and clinic management necessitated by the increasing utilization of LARC methods; (d) General support to expand the capacity of the family planning clinics; (e) Marketing and outreach regarding the availability of LARC services; and (f) Other services the department deems necessary to the provision of LARC methods to family planning clients in the state. (3) (a) Notwithstanding section 24-75-1305, C.R.S., the general assembly shall annually appropriate general fund moneys to the department to provide expanded LARC services. (b) Moneys appropriated to the department pursuant to this section must not supplant or reduce any other appropriation of state funds the department of public health and environment receives for the family planning program administered pursuant to this part 1 and part 2 of this article. SECTION 2. Appropriation. For the 2015-16 state fiscal year, $5,000,000 is appropriated to the department of public health and environment for use by the prevention services division. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the department shall use this appropriation for the provision of expanded LARC services pursuant to section 25-6-104, C.R.S. SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.