Colorado 2025 Regular Session

Colorado House Bill HB1026 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		First Regular Session
2	2		Seventy-fifth General Assembly
3	3		STATE OF COLORADO
4		-	~~REENGROSSED~~
5		-	This Version Includes All Amendments
6		-	~~Adopted~~ in the House of Introduction
	4	+	ENGROSSED
	5	+	This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted
	6	+	on Second Reading in the House of Introduction
7	7		LLS NO. 25-0611.01 Anna Petrini x5497
8	8		HOUSE BILL 25-1026
9	9		House Committees Senate Committees
10	10		Judiciary
11	11		Appropriations
12	12		A BILL FOR AN ACT
13	13		C
14	14		ONCERNING PROCEDURES RELATED TO THE PROVISION OF101
15	15		HEALTH-CARE SERVICES TO INMATES , AND, IN CONNECTION102
16	16		THEREWITH, PROHIBITING CERTAIN COPAYMENTS AND
17	17		FEES AND103
18	18		MAKING AND REDUCING AN APPROPRIATION .104
19	19		Bill Summary
20	20		(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
21	21		not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill
22	22		passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that
23	23		applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at
24	24		http://leg.colorado.gov
25	25		.)
26	26		Current law requires the department of corrections (department)
27	27		to assess a copayment for inmate-initiated visits to providers of medical,
28	28		dental, mental health, and optometric care services. Current law permits
29	29		HOUSE
30		-	3rd Reading Unamended
31		-	April 16, 2025
32		-	HOUSE
33	30		Amended 2nd Reading
34	31		April 15, 2025
35	32		HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
36		-	Carter and Garcia, Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, English, Jackson, Lindsay,
37		-	Mabrey, Rydin, Sirota, Stewart R., Story, Velasco, Woodrow, Zokaie
	33	+	Carter and Garcia,
38	34		SENATE SPONSORSHIP
39	35		Jodeh and Hinrichsen,
40	36		Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
41	37		Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law.
42	38		Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law. a waiver or reduction of the copayment under a range of circumstances.
43	39		The department's current administrative regulations assess fees when an
44	40		inmate fails to attend or refuses a scheduled health-care appointment. The
45	41		bill eliminates the copayment and prohibits the department from assessing
46	42		a fee when an inmate fails to attend or refuses a health-care appointment.
47	43		Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:1
48	44		SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly2
49	45		finds and declares that:3
50	46		(a) The U.S. supreme court in Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 974
51	47		(1976), established that people who are incarcerated have a constitutional5
52	48		right to health care, and prison health care supports community reentry6
53	49		and well-being;7
54	50		(b) Colorado law authorizes the Colorado department of8
55	51		corrections to charge people who are incarcerated copayments and9
56	52		additional charges for emergency, medical, mental health, dental, and10
57	53		optometric visits, as well as charges for requesting, using, refusing, or11
58	54		failing to use medical services;12
59	55		(c) Pursuant to section 17-1-113 (1)(a), Colorado Revised13
60	56		Statutes, the general assembly has previously found "that the procedures14
61	57		for charging inmates a copayment for medical services are confusing to15
62	58		department personnel and, as a result, are inconsistently applied";16
63	59		(d) Copayments and other medical charges in prison create17
64	60		financial barriers that restrict access to critical health-care treatment.18
65	61		Research published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2024 demonstrates19
66	62		that the burden of paying health-care charges in prison prevents people20
67	63		who are incarcerated from seeking essential services, including medical21
68	64		and mental health treatment.22
69	65		(e) Copayments and other medical charges in prison jeopardize23
70	66		1026-2- the health of Coloradans. According to a 2024 article in the centers for1
71	67		disease control and prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases,2
72	68		reductions in prison health-care use can increase the spread of illness and3
73	69		disease, negatively affecting people who are incarcerated, prison staff and4
74	70		visitors, and the broader public.5
75	71		(f) Public health, mental health, law, and corrections experts6
76	72		oppose health-care charges in prison, including copayments and any other7
77	73		policies or practices that restrict people's access to health care; and8
78	74		(g) To fulfill the department of corrections' mission to build a9
79	75		safer Colorado, and to support the health of all Coloradans, copayments10
80	76		and additional charges for requesting, using, refusing, or failing to use11
81	77		medical services in prison must be repealed.12
82	78		SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 17-1-112.7 as13
83	79		follows:14
84	80		17-1-112.7. Medical visits - copayment and fees prohibited -15
85	81		repeal. (1) T HE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOT ASSESS A COPAYMENT AGAINST16
86	82		AN INMATE ACCOUNT FOR MEDICAL , DENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH, OR17
87	83		OPTOMETRIC SERVICES, INCLUDING SPECIALTY OR EMERGENCY CARE18
88	84		SERVICES, PROVIDED TO THE INMATE.19
89	85		(2) T
90	86		HE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOT ASSESS A FEE AGAINST AN20
91	87		INMATE ACCOUNT IF AN INMATE:21
92	88		(a) F
93	89		AILS TO ATTEND A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT FOR MEDICAL ,22
94	90		DENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CARE SERVICES, INCLUDING23
95	91		SPECIALTY CARE SERVICES;24
96	92		(b) F
97	93		AILS TO PROVIDE TIMELY NOTICE WHEN THE INMATE IS25
98	94		UNABLE TO ATTEND A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT FOR MEDICAL , DENTAL,26
99	95		MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CARE SERVICES, INCLUDING SPECIALTY27
100	96		1026
101	97		-3- CARE SERVICES; AND1
102	98		(c) O
103	99		THERWISE REFUSES AN APPOINTMENT FOR MEDICAL , DENTAL,2
104	100		MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CARE SERVICES, INCLUDING SPECIALTY3
105	101		OR EMERGENCY CARE SERVICES .4 (3) IN JANUARY 2026, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL INCLUDE, AS PART5
106	102		OF ITS PRESENTATION DURING ITS"SMART ACT" HEARING REQUIRED BY6
107	103		SECTION 2-7-203, INFORMATION CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF TIMES IN7
108	104		THE PREVIOUS YEAR THAT:8
109	105		(a) AN INMATE FAILED TO ATTEND A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT9
110	106		FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CARE SERVICES,10
111	107		INCLUDING SPECIALTY CARE SERVICES ; AND11
112	108		(b) AN INMATE INITIATED A REQUEST FOR MEDICAL , DENTAL,12
113	109		MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CARE SERVICES, INCLUDING SPECIALTY13
114	110		CARE SERVICES, AND, FOLLOWING A VISIT WITH A PROVIDER, THE14
115	111		PROVIDER DETERMINED THAT THE REQUEST WAS NOT RELEVANT TO ANY15
116	112		MEDICAL, DENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH, OR OPTOMETRIC CONDITION.16
117	113		(4) THIS SECTION IS REPEALED, EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2028.17
118	114		SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, repeal 17-1-113.18
119	115		SECTION 4. Appropriation - adjustments to 2025 long bill.19
120	116		(1) To implement this act, appropriations made in the annual general20
121	117		appropriation act for the 2025-26 state fiscal year to the department of21
122	118		corrections for use by the medical services subprogram are adjusted as22
123	119		follows:23
124	120		(a) The cash funds appropriation from inmate medical fees24
125	121		collected pursuant to section 17-1-113 (2), C.R.S., for personal services25
126	122		is decreased by $322,089, and the related FTE is decreased by 3.0 FTE;26
127	123		and27
128	124		1026
129	125		-4- (b) The cash funds appropriation from inmate medical fees1
130	126		collected pursuant to section 17-1-113 (2), C.R.S., for indirect cost2
131	127		assessment is decreased by $772.3
132	128		(2) For the 2025-26 state fiscal year, $157,179 is appropriated to4
133	129		the department of corrections for use by the medical services subprogram.5
134	130		This appropriation is from the general fund and is based on an assumption6
135	131		that the department will require an additional 1.5 FTE. To implement this7
136	132		act, the subprogram may use this appropriation for personal services.8
137	133		SECTION 5. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,9
138	134		determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate10
139	135		preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for11
140	136		the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state12
141	137		institutions.13
142	138		1026
143	139		-5-