Committee advances bill to extend Colorado Medical Board and add administrative license option

Representative Gilchrist presented House Bill 13‑07 to continue the Colorado Medical Board and the Medical Practice Act for nine years, noting the board is scheduled to repeal on Sept. 1, 2026. The sponsors said the bill preserves board oversight of physicians, physician assistants and anesthesiologist assistants and introduces targeted updates, including a new administrative license for physicians who do purely administrative work and a board‑determined renewal period for distinguished foreign teaching physicians.

The Colorado Medical Society’s president‑elect, Dr. Sean Posowski, told the committee the society supports HB13‑07 and called the sunset review “an important exercise in legislative oversight,” saying the bill “strikes the right balance” between patient safety and regulatory improvements. Sarah Warner of the Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA) said the administrative license would be unique to medicine in Colorado and explained that a physician returning to active practice would follow the standard reinstatement and continuing‑education checks.

Sponsor Representative Gilchrist offered amendment L001, which adds a requirement that administrative‑license holders maintain professional liability insurance consistent with other license types under the Medical Practice Act. The committee adopted L001 without objection. Gilchrist then moved the amended bill to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation; the roll call recorded passage 10–0 with three members excused.

Why it matters: The measure is a routine sunset continuation that also responds to changing practice settings by creating a narrow administrative license category for physicians who provide non‑clinical services such as research design or analysis. Stakeholders said the insurance requirement and narrow safeguards are intended to limit any risk of administrative‑license holders providing patient care.

What’s next: HB13‑07 as amended goes to the Committee on Appropriations. If approved there, it would continue the Medical Board and Medical Practice Act through Sept. 1, 2035.

Sources: Committee testimony from Representative Gilchrist, Dr. Sean Posowski (Colorado Medical Society), and Sarah Warner (DORA Division of Professions & Occupations).