What’s Happening in Colorado

 

* The 2024 Legislative Session is ending in just over a week.

Many bills still need to complete the legislative process. You can keep track of what bills are being signed into law by Governor Polis after session concludes here.

Look at the 2024 Bill Tracker here.

* The Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is excited to announce the launch of its new OwnPath Learning Hub.

It’s a comprehensive online resource designed to provide free educational courses for behavioral health professionals, crisis and peer professionals, and interested individuals. The Learning Hub was created in response to Senate Bill 21-137.

Explore the Learning Hub Here.

* The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing submitted an amendment to Colorado’s existing 1115 wavier seeking authorization to expand coverage for certain populations.

These include: *Serious mental illness and serious emotional disturbance (SMI & SED) inpatient care effective July 2025 (This is IMD Exclusion Waiver we advocated for this Legislative Session!), Criminal justice reentry services effective July 2025, Continuous eligibility coverage for children 0-3 years effective January 2026, and Continuous eligibility coverage for adults released from Colorado Department of Corrections facilities effective January 2026.


A View from Washington, D.C.

 

* The Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General found access to mental health continues to be a challenge, especially for those covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

The new report, “A Lack of Behavioral Health Providers in Medicare and Medicaid Impedes Enrollees Access to Care,” found that there are shortages of providers that actively serve Medicare and Medicaid enrollees and that those who do represent one-third of the total workforce despite the demand. Additionally, the report revealed that most enrollees saw their provider in-person, traveling long distances to see them.

Read the full report here.

* The Biden Administration released the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, the first-ever federal action plan focused on suicide prevention.

The National Strategy provides concrete recommendations for addressing gaps in the suicide prevention field including actions such as identifying ways to address substance use and suicide risk together in the clinical setting, funding a mobile crisis locator for use by 988 crisis centers, increasing support for survivors of suicide loss and others whose lives have been impacted by suicide, and evaluating promising community-based suicide prevention strategies.

Read the full strategy here.

* The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) affirmed its commitment to hold nursing homes accountable.

It would be for providing safe and high-quality care for the nearly 1.2 million residents living in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities by issuing the Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting final rule.

Read the final rule here.