We’ve just passed the halfway mark in the 120-day legislative session, which is always a milestone looked to by those working at the Capitol as a signal that the pace will continue to pick up and we’ll be spending more time on the Senate chamber floor as well as in committee hearings.
Unfortunately, my biomass electricity generation bill that included a provision for the production of carbon-negative biochar was killed by Democrats in the House on a party-line vote. Given the strong bipartisan support in the Senate for the bill and the many environmental benefits that it offered, it was a disappointing result and demonstrates the need for more independent thinking at the Capitol. Discussions are under way to see if another bill might be possible this session that would integrate improved forest health, watershed protection and biochar production, so we’ll see if there’s more to report.
I have several bills on health care cost containment this session. One requires the state agency administering the Medicaid program to provide statements to Medicaid clients, listing what the state has been billed for on behalf of the client. This would allow Medicaid patients or their representatives to know what medical services and equipment are being claimed and, if there is a discrepancy with what is actually sought and received by the patient, they’ll be able to spot it and report that difference.
The best testimony in support of the bill came from those permanently disabled with chronic health conditions – and, in one case, from the accountant mother of a child with severe disabilities – who want to be part of the solution in addressing Medicaid fraud in our system. This bill was tagged with a fiscal note by the state agency that appears not to like it as much as the advocates for the disabled community. According to the agency, the state will incur costs in notifying the Medicaid clients, so this bill awaits a hearing in front of the Appropriations Committee.
Another health-care costs-related bill of mine comes up for a hearing this week. This bill seeks to have the Colorado health care cost commission, a volunteer panel of experts, look into the advisability of a rural pilot program regarding how hospitals are paid. Given the exponential rise in costs of health insurance premiums, especially on the Western Slope and in my district, that relate at least in part to the increase in health care costs billed by hospitals, under this bill, the cost commission will look into what different approaches to governmental payments might be worth trying in certain areas of Colorado.
In yet another area of health care cost containment, I had signed on as a Senate co-prime sponsor of a bill seeking greater transparency in drug production costs. The pharmaceutical lobby was not a fan of this bill and it died last week in the House committee, so it’ll not make it to the Senate this year.
There can be no sacred cows as we look into the challenges of ever-increasing costs to the state budget for the Medicaid program and on the average household. Given the input from my deeply concerned constituents advising me their family insurance premiums now meet or exceed their mortgage or rent payments, we need to understand the cost drivers as state policies and actions are developed.
Ellen Roberts represents Senate District 6 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses Montezuma, Dolores, La Plata, Archuleta, Montrose, San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray counties. Contact Sen. Roberts by phone at (303) 866-4884, or by e-mail ellen.roberts.senate@state.co.us.