HB 26-1429

HB 26-1429 is a Colorado bill that aims to create a centralized system for managing public assistance programs like Medicaid and food stamps. It requires state departments to work with county agencies to prevent fraud and improve how these benefits are given out across the state. The bill also calls for regular reporting on how well this new system works, starting in 2027. Since it has been signed into law, the requirements outlined in the bill will now be implemented according to the set timeline.

Official Summary

Joint Budget Committee. The bill requires the department of health care policy and financing, in coordination with the department of human services and the department of early childhood (state departments), to contract with a single county department of human or social services (county department) to administer a centralized member integrity service to conduct fraud investigations concerning eligibility for medicaid, the children's basic health plan, the supplemental nutrition assistance program, the Colorado child care assistance program, temporary assistance for needy families, and adult financial programs (public assistance programs), and benefit overpayments. The bill creates the centralized member integrity service cash fund consisting of money recouped from member fraud investigations. The centralized member integrity service must be operational and utilized on July 1, 2027.     On or before September 1, 2026, February 1, 2027, the bill requires the state departments to establish aligned requirements for county departments to comply with through a performance-based contract established between the state departments and each county department. Prior to February 1, 2027, the state departments shall draft templates of the performance-based contract with the county departments for review and comment. On or before January 1,2027, July 1, 2027, the state departments shall enter into a performance-based contract with each county department. The performance-based contract must establish requirements for the state departments and county departments to comply with in administering public assistance programs and establish corrective action protocols that are consistently utilized by the state departments.     Beginning September 1, 2026, the bill requires the state departments to work together to establish a continuous quality improvement process to review data reported to the state departments by the county departments. Beginning January 1, 2027, the department of human services (department), in collaboration with the state departments, must annually submit a report to the joint budget committee that includes an update on the continuous quality improvement process and data on the impact of the continuous quality improvement process.     Beginning January 1, 2027, January 2027, and monthly thereafter, the department, in collaboration with the department of health care policy and financing and the department of early childhood, must publish county-level and statewide performance data for the public assistance programs on a monthly basis on the department's website.     Beginning July 1, 2028, the state departments must oversee a streamlined public benefits delivery model to coordinate and distribute eligibility and case processing work to county departments. In supervising the work of the public benefits delivery model, the state departments must designate up to 12 cohorts in the state that will work together to administer public assistance benefits. The state departments shall enter into performance-based contracts with each cohort, or county departments within each cohort, identifying the roles and responsibilities of the state departments and the cohorts , or county departments within a cohort, for administering a new public benefits delivery model to ensure public assistance programs are administered consistently and uniformly across the public assistance programs in the state.     On or before July 1, 2026, the state departments must contract with a third-party contractor to help the state departments and county departments develop and implement a transition plan that must be followed when transitioning to the new public benefits delivery model. The bill establishes the implementation work group to work with the third-party contractor to develop and implement the transition plan. The transition plan must be delivered to the joint budget committee by January 1, 2027.     The bill establishes the state cross-departmental policy alignment team to align the policies of the public assistance programs to improve service delivery and outcomes for recipients of public assistance benefits.     The bill makes a household eligible for fuel assistance payments if the household has not received low-income energy assistance program assistance in the previous 12 months and if it is eligible for the standard utility allowance under federal law.(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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