Panel advances Medicaid bill to require transportation data, curb certain payment changes and increase provider transparency

The Senate Health and Human Services committee advanced House Bill 1235 after sponsor remarks and agency testimony that the Health Care Policy and Financing department supports the measure.

Senator Doherty, sponsor of HB 1235, said the bill seeks targeted, practical improvements to Colorado’s Medicaid program and "has no fiscal impact and requires no new appropriations." Key provisions Doherty summarized include: requiring nonemergency medical transportation brokers to submit annual data to the Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) department starting Dec. 1 so the legislature can see when rides are canceled or members are left on hold; prohibiting new multiple-procedure payment reductions for outpatient therapy providers (occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists) without at least six months' notice and a stakeholder meeting; directing HCPF to publish monthly enrollment and eligibility data; aligning jail reimbursement for medication-assisted treatment with current licensure; and requiring home- and community-based services (HCBS) agencies serving more than 30 members to submit their direct-cost-to-administrative-cost ratios by Sept. 27 with a report to the legislature by December 2027.

Senator Fazell asked how involved HCPF was in crafting the bill; Senator Doherty replied the department "has been involved the whole way" and that staff was present to testify in support. Adela Flores Brennan, Medicaid director at the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, testified that HCPF supports HB 1235 and thanked sponsors for collaboration: "We support the legislation and we ask for a yes vote," she said.

After discussion and no amendments, Senator Doherty moved to refer HB 1235 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the motion passed unanimously by roll call. The sponsor then moved the bill to the consent calendar; that motion also passed unanimously and the committee adjourned.