HB 23-1218

HB 23-1218, which has been signed into law in Colorado, requires certain health-care facilities like hospitals and clinics to report on specific services they do not provide or restrict for non-medical reasons. This includes reproductive health care, LGBTQ+ health care, and end-of-life care. The bill mandates that these facilities create a form detailing the availability of these services and share it with patients and the public. Facilities must update this information if there are changes and could face fines if they do not comply. The law aims to give patients clear information about what services they can expect from different health-care providers, affecting anyone seeking care at covered entities in Colorado.

Official Summary

The act requires the department of public health and environment (department), by August 1, 2024, and in consultation with stakeholders, to identify reproductive health-care services, LGBTQ health-care services, and end-of-life health-care services (identified health-care services) that, for nonmedical reasons, are not generally available at a specified health-care facility (covered entity) or that are subject to significant restriction at a covered entity. The department shall develop a simple service availability form (form) to be filled out by each covered entity for the purpose of conveying to patients and to the public information about identified health-care services that are subject to denial of care at the covered entity. The act defines: "Covered entity" as a hospital, community clinic, maternity hospital, freestanding emergency department, or rehabilitation hospital, but "covered entity" does not include a health-care professional or a hospital, community clinic, or other facility owned or operated by the state; "Denial of care", in part, as refusal to provide health-care services for nonmedical reasons; "Nonmedical reasons", in part, as nonclinical criteria, rules, or policies that restrict health-care professionals at a covered entity from providing health-care services that the health-care professional is authorized to provide and that the covered is licensed to provide; and Reproductive health-care services, LGBTQ health-care services, and end-of-life health-care services. The act includes requirements for the content and format of the form and requires each covered entity to submit a completed form to the department and to update the form within 30-days after a change in the availability of the identified health-care services. Beginning on or before October 1, 2024, the department shall maintain on its public-facing website a list of covered entities and the form for the covered entity. The department shall review and update the service availability form at least biennially in consultation with stakeholders. A covered entity shall provide patients with the current service availability form during scheduling for identified health-care services and at the time federal privacy laws are provided to patients before health-care services are initiated, and shall maintain a record of the patient's receipt of the form. A covered entity that fails to comply with the act is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 for each day the covered entity is in violation of the act. The state board of health shall adopt rules to implement the act. For the 2023-24 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $64,627 from the general fund to the department for use by the health facilities and emergency medical services division to implement the act. 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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