FOUGHT FOR PATIENTS
Responded to the opioid crisis with appropriate treatment for patients with chronic pain. SB23-144
Removed prior authorization, step therapy requirements for mental health prescription drug treatment with Medicaid coverage. SB23-033
Removed prior authorization burdens for serious mental illness. HB23-1130
Supported cost-sharing assistance programs to help patients afford medications. SB23-195
HELPING PHYSICIANS WHEN YOU NEED HELP
FOUGHT FOR YOUR PRACTICE
Drove an audit of the Medicaid RAC audit program to address transparency, appropriateness and accountability issues. HB23-1295
Protected physicians from unnecessary processing fees when being reimbursed for billed claims.
HB23-1116
FOUGHT FOR PHYSICIAN-LED TEAMS
Achieved important guardrails around psychologists’ prescriptive authority and physician assistants.
HB23-1071, SB23-083
FOUGHT AGAINST THREATS TO PHYSICIAN LIABILITY
Beat back efforts from trial lawyers that would have increased rates, number of settlements and exposed physicians to personal liability.
HB23-1192
MEET OUR CHAMPIONS OF MEDICINE
SENATOR JAMES COLEMAN
D - DENVER COUNTY
SENATOR KYLE MULLICA
D - ADAMS COUNTY
SENATOR JOANN GINAL
D - LARIMER COUNTY
SENATOR JANICE RICH
R- DELTA, MESA COUNTY
SENATOR LARRY LISTON
R - EL PASO COUNTY
SENATOR DYLAN ROBERTS
D - EAGLE, ROUTT COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE SHANNON BIRD
D - ADAMS, JEFFERSON COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
LESLIE HEROD
D - DENVER COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
ROSE PUGLIESE
R - EL PASO COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE LINDSEY DAUGHERTY
D - ADAMS, JEFFERSON COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
CATHY KIPP
D - LARIMER COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
SAID SHARBINI
D - ADAMS COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
ANTHONY HARTSOOK
R - DOUGLAS COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE
DAFNA MICHAELSON JENET
D - ADAMS COUNTY
REPRESENTATIVE MATT SOPER
R - DELTA, MESA COUNTY
From left: CMS Past President Mark Johnson, MD, talks with Rep. Judy Amabile before a committee hearing. COL Chair Darlene Tad-y, MD, Vice Chair Ramnik Dhaliwal, MD, JD, Courtney Olson and Zachary Miller celebrate the end of the legislative session. COL members Donna Sullivan, MD, A. Lee Morgan, MD, and Usha Varma, MD, also celebrate the end of the session.
I bring the perspective of a Trauma RN to the state legislature – and with it, my experience working side by side with doctors. I know how hard CMS members have worked to even get to be called a “physician,” through medical school, residency and specialized training. I know how much they care about their patients and issues that affect them – access, cost, quality care and the importance of working in a team-based model. CMS has been and continues to be a reliable and trusted thought partner to me on legislation.
As a legislator with no professional background in health care, I am grateful for the information provided by Colorado Medical Society at the Capitol to help me understand physicianpatient priorities in the legislative process, especially those affecting rural Colorado. We have worked together to build a stronger pipeline of health care professionals of all types to serve my constituents.
Physicians can expect stable leadership in both chambers. Speaker McCluskie will be back for three more years as Speaker, Senate President Fenberg will be back again in 2024, and champion award winner Representative Bird will be the Chair of the Joint Budget Committee. With over a third of the legislators coming back for their second year, they will have the lay of the land and will be more productive within the system in 2024.
The legislators have been clear with us – they want the physician to be the problem solver in a collaborative fashion concerning health care issues in the state and are looking to CMS for leadership. This will take a coordinated approach by the entire House of Medicine to change the lens in which the legislators see health care issues. The paradigm shift needs to be that the physicians are consulted on any issues regarding health care before the plans are involved.
We call upon CMS physicians to play a critical role in developing relationships with their respective legislators, as well as other key legislators in leadership positions. The relationships that physicians can build will help change the way in which legislators view physicians and health care in general. We need to not only wear white coats, but white hats.
Encourage your colleagues to join the Colorado Medical Society, the most powerful unifying voice of medicine in Colorado. cms.org/join
COMPAC can only win legislative battles with the financial support of Colorado physicians such as yourself. Bipartisan and multi-issue, we work to educate all candidates for the Colorado legislature and elect pro-physician, pro-medicine legislators. cms.org/contribute
scan to contribute
CMS can help you establish and build grassroots relationships with your legislators. By being “the local doc” your legislator can call about health care issues, you can have a profound impact on our advocacy efforts. Email jennifer_armstrong@cms.org for more information
Through Central Line, our virtual engagement portal, all CMS members can vote on and submit policy proposals directly to the CMS Board of Directors. Get involved at cms.org/central-line or watch your email for vote alerts
CMS’s Council on Legislation, with seats appointed by component societies and specialty societies, determines our position on legislation. They direct our advocacy efforts and resources to the issues they deem crucial. Seats are also available on our COMPAC Board of Directors and committees on various topics from scope of practice to value in health care to diversity, equity and inclusion and more. Email membership@cms.org for more information
Do you have policy areas of interest? Ahead of the 2024 legislative session, CMS is forming advocacy networks within our membership. These network groups will be vital in helping the Council on Legislation form policy. Please email jennifer_armstrong@cms.org if you have interest in a particular policy area and would like to learn more about how to be involved in the upcoming legislative session.
Colorado Medical Society launched Health
Can’t Wait Colorado to advocate and build a coalition to remove unnecessary and unwarranted prior authorization processes that delay patient care and burden physicians and their care teams. Health Can’t Wait Colorado needs patient stories about how prior authorization has delayed and disrupted patient care. Share your story or encourage your patients or practice staff to share their stories at HealthCantWaitCO.org