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February 23, 2024 SB 24-068
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0599
Sen. Ginal
Rep. Brown
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
February 23, 2024
Senate Health & Human Services
Kristine McLaughlin | 303-866-4776
kristine.mclaughlin@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: MEDICAL AID-IN-DYING
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☐ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill changes the procedure for obtaining medical aid-in-dying. The bill increases
state workload and potentially expenditures on an ongoing basis.
Appropriation
Summary:
No appropriation is required.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary of Legislation
Under current law, a mentally competent, terminally ill patient who resides in Colorado with a
prognosis of less than 6 months may receive medical aid-in-dying by following a qualifying
procedure. Current law also prohibits the patient’s life, health, or accident insurance rates and
benefits from depending on the decision to request medical aid-in-dying, and allows providers
and health care facilities to refuse to participate.
The bill changes current law by:
allowing non-residents to request medical aid-in-dying;
allowing advance practice nurses the same prescribing authority as physicians; and
reducing the waiting period between oral requests from 15 days to 48 hours, and
eliminating the waiting period if the prognosis is less than 48 hours.
Additionally, the bill:
prohibits using parenteral injection or infusion for self-administered aid-in-dying medication;
places disclosure requirements on providers and facilities that refuse to participate;
prohibits facilities from preventing providers from participating in medical aid-in-dying,
except by preventing providers from prescribing or administering the drug at the facility;
states that medical aid-in-dying must not prevent the state from receiving federal funds; and
codifies certain health and life insurance requirements, and prohibits health insurance carriers
from attempting to coerce a request for medical aid-in-dying. Page 2
February 23, 2024 SB 24-068
State Expenditures
Workload will minimally increase in the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
and the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) to promulgate rules, conduct outreach, and
respond to complaints and questions. Workload in the Department of Law (DOL) may increase
to an indeterminate extent. Federal funds received by the state are assumed to be unaffected.
These impacts are discussed below.
Department of Public Health and Environment. Workload will minimally increase for the
Board of Health under CDPHE to promulgate rules around the changes and in the Vital Statistics
Unit to make any updates to how death statistics are collected.
Department of Regulatory Agencies. Workload will minimally increase for DORA to conduct
outreach regarding the new insurance requirements. Workload may be further impacted to the
extent that the bill results in fewer or additional complaints being filed.
Department of Law. The CDPHE or DORA may require additional legal services from the DOL.
The fiscal note assumes that this can be accomplished within existing legal services hours
initially and additional funding may be provided as needed through the annual budget process.
Other state agencies. The bill includes a severability clause to ensure provisions of the bill do
not take effect if they will prevent the state from receiving federal funds. Therefore, the bill is not
expected to impact federal funding received by any state agency.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed.
State and Local Government Contacts
Corrections District Attorneys Health Care Policy and Financing
Human Services Information Technology Judicial
Law Public Health and Environment Regulatory Agencies
Sheriffs
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.