HB 23-1243

HB 23-1243, also known as the Hospital Community Benefit Act, requires Colorado hospitals to be more transparent and accountable regarding their community benefit activities. Hospitals must invite the public to meetings about these activities at least a month in advance through various communication channels like websites and social media. They need to share details of past year’s community benefits, funding amounts, and how they align with local needs during these meetings. Additionally, hospitals are required to report this information to the state health department and make it public. The bill also mandates that the state medical board create rules for these meetings and ensure diverse community input. If a hospital doesn’t comply, it can face fines of up to $20,000 per week. This act was signed into law by the governor on May 10, 2023, and will take effect on August 7, 2023. It impacts all hospitals in Colorado that are required to report their community benefit activities.

Official Summary

The act makes changes to hospital community benefit activity requirements and imposes certain requirements on the public meetings regarding each reporting hospital's community benefit activities and community implementation plan (plan). The act requires each reporting hospital to: Expand upon the manner in which the hospital invites the public to attend meetings, including by posting the invitation on the hospital's website and social media accounts and by distributing the invitation via the reporting hospital's electronic newsletter, e-mail lists, or any other communications between the hospital and the community it serves at least 30 days before the meeting; Share at each public meeting the community benefit activities from the previous year, the amount funded for each activity, and a description of how the activities and funding align with community priorities; Submit a report to the department of health care policy and financing(state department) that details who attended the public meeting, the topics discussed at the meeting, and any decisions made as a result of the discussion, particularly as they pertain to community benefit priorities, and community feedback received and how the hospital plans to incorporate the feedback into its community beneift implementation plan; Make each report available to the public; and Present priority areas identified in its most recent community health needs assessment and any other community benefit investment option it recommends. The act requires the state medical services board to promulgate rules governing accommodation standards for the public meetings and include in its annual report a summary of the estimated federal, state, and property tax exemptions received by each hospital. The act requires the state department to: Conduct a stakeholder meeting to determine best practices to ensure diverse input from local community members is used to determine community priorities as well as best practices for hospitals to collaborate with local public health agencies and community organizations to reduce redundant community needs assessments. Take remedial action if a hospital fails to comply with the hospital community benefit activity requirements. Such remedial action can include weekly fines between $5,000 and $20,000 for each violation. The act requires a reporting hospital to expend any amount fined on community benefit investment priorities described in its current community benefit implementation plan. The reporting hospital must include information on how the money from fines was expended in the reporting hospital's annual report submitted to the state department. The act appropriates $50,000 from the healthcare affordability and sustainability fee cash fund to the state department for use by the office of the executive director of the state department, $100,000 from reappropriated funds received from the state department to the department of revenue for personal services, and $50,000 in anticipated federal funds for transfer to the department of revenue. APPROVED by Governor May 10, 2023 EFFECTIVE August 7, 2023 NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause and takes effect 90 days after sine die. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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