What’s Happening in Colorado
* The second month of the 2024 Legislative Session has concluded! This month, all three of our agenda bills had their first committee meetings and passed out of committee:
- HB24-1066: Prevent Workplace Violence in Health-Care Settings, which passed the House Health & Human Services Committee (12-1).
- HB24-1217: Sharing of Patient Health-Care Information, which passed the House Health & Human Services Committee (12-1).
- SB24-117: Eating Disorder Treatment & Recovery Programs, which passed the Senate Health & Human Services Committee (6-3).
* Additionally, Mental Health Colorado testified on over 10 bills in February to support their passage in committee, including:
- HB24-1038 High-Acuity Crisis for Children & Youth
- SB24-055: Agricultural & Rural Behavioral Health Care
- HB24-1136 Healthier Social Media Use by Youth
If you would like to get involved with these bills or others, please reach out!
A View from Washington, D.C.
* According to a new RAND study, more than 40 percent of Americans know someone who died from a drug overdose. Rates were significantly higher in New England compared to other parts of the country.
* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), finalized modifications to the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Patient Records regulations at 42 CFR part 2 (“Part 2”), which protect the privacy of patients’ SUD treatment records.
* Congressional leaders reached a deal to extend government funding by a week to give themselves time to pass annual spending bills. The House will then try to pass six appropriations bills – Agriculture; Commerce; Justice and Science; Interior; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and Energy and Water.
