HB19-1004 Proposal for Affordable Health Coverage Option

• This bill guides several regulatory agencies to advance a proposal for a public health insurance option on the individual market, using state purchasing power to potentially provide lower costs. Factors to be included in the proposal are plan design and benefits, costs, industry expert engagement, and implementation details.

HB19-1168 State Innovation Waiver Reinsurance Program

• This bill seeks to create a reinsurance program, which would assist carriers in paying high-cost insurance claims, and by doing so, hopefully decrease premiums in the individual market. The bill would allow the state to pursue federal funding and/or a waiver of applicable federal requirements to operate the program.

HB19-1216 Reduce Insulin Prices

• This bill would set a monthly cap ($100) on consumer cost-sharing for insulin drugs, of which the costs of the most popular versions have tripled in a decade. The Attorney General would also have the task of investigating pricing from different sources and report those findings to several government entities for review.

HB19-1233 Investments in Primary Care to Reduce Health Costs

• Continuing in the effort to make care more affordable, this bill directs an investment in primary care through payment reform. The hope is that by incentivizing high-value care like primary care, this will continue to help control costs over time. 

HB19-1269 Mental Health Parity Insurance Medicaid

• This bill requires insurers to show compliance with current parity laws and validate the treatment standards and payment rates for behavioral health care providers. The major disparity lies between access to physical and behavioral healthcare, and this bill hopes to address those differences. 

HB19-1320 Hospital Community Benefit Accountability

• The bill expands the federal reporting necessities for nonprofit hospitals to come up with a plan to incentivize community priorities better and addressing social factors of health in community benefits programs.

The next step for most of these bills is to be signed by the Governor. We’ll keep you posted on the outcomes and what it means for your employees.

In addition to the legislation listed here, there is also a proposal to address “surprise medical bills.” For more on that specific bill, please reference the article by Juliet in this month’s blog. If you want to learn more about these specific bills or any other healthcare-related bill, please contact us for more information.