ADVOCACY PROTECTING AND ADVANCING QUALITY, SAFE CARE
RESULTS THAT MATTER, TOGETHER
With a single vote, lawmakers can reshape your practice — that’s why Colorado physicians depend on the strength of CMS advocacy. This work takes commitment and consistency over many sessions. This guide gives you an overview of top priorities and legislative wins.
FOR PHYSICIANS, BY PHYSICIANS
The Colorado Medical Society puts advocacy front and center – for you, your profession and your patients. Whether it’s shaping legislation in the statehouse or influencing regulation in state agencies, CMS is there – because both determine how medicine is practiced in Colorado with the power of law. Legislation writes the prescription. Regulation fills it.
THE COUNCIL ON LEGISLATION
Each week during the legislative session, the Council on Legislation (COL) – a diverse group of physicians from across specialties and regions – meets to review and take positions on bills that impact health care in Colorado. After COL acts, our team of physicians, staff, lobbyists, and legal experts gets to work at the Capitol, making sure your voice is heard. With more than 600 bills introduced each session, CMS is your trusted advocate at the statehouse.
COLLABORATION
The Colorado Medical Society works hand in hand with partners across the House of Medicine – including specialty societies –to amplify our collective voice. Together, we shape policy and protect the future of the profession.
“ Whether it is securing necessary funding for Medicaid, eliminating prior authorization burdens, making sensible rules around RAC audits, or maintaining Colorado’s stable liability climate, I am proud of our recent efforts and committed to making Colorado health care better. CMS is a trusted partner in this work.”
REP. SHANNON BIRD
D-DISTRICT
29
ADAMS AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES
PROTECTING PATIENTS AND PHYSICIANS
PRIOR AUTHORIZATION REFORM
Physician and patient demands for elimination of prior authorization barriers have driven years of meaningful outcomes. CMS has successfully championed bills to get patients the timely care they need, including laws that extend commercial health plan prior auth approvals to one or three years, ensure greater transparency,
SCOPE OF PRACTICE
require the creation of alternative programs for prior authorization, and allow dosage changes for chronic medications (HB24-1149, effective Jan. 1, 2026; and SB25-301). CMS also helped to remove prior auth burdens for Medicaid patients with serious mental illness (HB23-1130).
Safeguarding care lies at the center of medicine. CMS has and will continue to oppose efforts that inappropriately expand the scope of practice for non-physician health care providers, including successfully killing bills that would have empowered naturopaths to prescribe most schedule III-V medications (HB24-1171 and SB25032). Ensuring safe and effective care depends upon physician-led, multi-disciplinary teams.
A FOCUS ON PATIENTS
Protecting patients as technology evolves is critical. CMS physician leadership drove the passage of first-in-the-nation neurorights legislation (HB24-1058) that ensures patient privacy and protection keeps pace with rapid advances in technology.
From driving prevention, treatment and harm reduction to combat the opioid epidemic (HB211276, HB24-1003) to growing the health care workforce especially in rural areas (SB22-172), we support robust public health and access to care.
Colorado’s commitment to patient care starts with serving those most in need. CMS has a long history of supporting the safety net and Medicaid, and this work is more urgent now than ever before (SB25-290, HB25-1288).
STABLE LIABILITY CLIMATE
Stable liability climate and strong safety culture remain core CMS priorities, despite trial lawyer initiatives targeting non-economic damages caps and confidential peer review protections. Through key collaboration with Coloradans Protecting Patient Access, Copic and others, CMS secured passage of HB24-1472, preserving liability stability by updating non-economic
PHYSICIAN WELLBEING
CMS advocacy drove the Colorado Medical Board (CMB) to ensure a robust, confidential peer assistance program for physicians. In addition, CMS successfully helped champion a bill to reduce stigma around mental health care for physicians by removing problematic questions from Colorado’s medical licensing and renewal applications (HB25-1176). Physicians
PRACTICE VIABILITY
CMS advocacy was pivotal in passing a bill to prohibit non-compete clauses in physician employment contracts. It ensures that health care providers can inform patients about their continued practice, new contact information, and the patient’s right to choose their provider (SB25-083).
We get it – keeping your practice viable is hard. So, we advocate tirelessly for you by defeating mandatory participation in plans (HB21-1232), opposing misguided provider rate setting (HB251174), working to ensure physicians get paid what
damages caps. CMS also successfully blocked trial lawyers’ litigation expansion attempts that would have exposed physicians to triple damages through expanded deceptive trade practice suits (SB25-157, HB24-1014, Public Health Emergency Unwind disenrollment, calls to action on proposed federal Medicaid funding cuts).
deserve to care for their mental health without facing untenable choices between their wellbeing, patient care, and their profession. In poignant Senate committee testimony, COL Chair Darlene Tad-y, MD, MBA, shared, “I want to thank you for seeing me as a human being as well as a physician.”
they are owed (HB25-1151), and fixing flawed Medicaid RAC audit programs (HB23-1295, SB25-314).
Regulatory and administrative burdens are exhausting. So we cut through the red tape to support lifelong learning that does not require issue-specific CME mandates (HB24-1153, effective Jan. 1 ,2026), streamline the health plan credentialing process (SB21-126), and protect emergency access without duplicative regulation (SB25-130).
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The Colorado Medical Society is a go-to voice on health care in our state – bringing together expert minds to tackle tough issues. I appreciate the support CMS has given me as I addressed issues like Medicaid funding and prior authorization reform. When it comes to protecting Colorado patients, they’re a trusted ally on the front lines.”
SEN. BARBARA KIRKMEYER
R-DISTRICT 23
LARIMER AND WELD COUNTIES
As chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee I am proud to work with the Colorado Medical Society on health care legislation that is impactful for patients and providers.”
SEN. KYLE MULLICA
D-DISTRICT 24
ADAMS COUNTY
COMPAC AND THE SMALL DONOR COMMITTEE
COMPAC and the Small Donor Committee play key roles in advancing our advocacy efforts.
While COMPAC accepts larger donations from individuals and organizations, the Small Donor Committee (SDC) focuses on gathering contributions of $50 or less.
Together, these funding sources enable CMS to support over 60 candidates in their elections. Your donations empower us to vet and back candidates who champion the needs of physicians and the future of health care.
WAYS TO BE INVOLVED
PolicyPulse
PolicyPulse
Stay informed during the legislative session with our PolicyPulse newsletter – your go-to source for updates and key policy developments. Want even more? Become one of our top advocacy champions by joining Insiders’ Edge, an exclusive regular briefing packed with deeper insights and behindthe-scenes intel.
Submit a Central Line proposal. Central Line is a cutting-edge approach to governance by bringing member voices directly into the CMS Boardroom. Proposals can span all topic areas; see our policies for more ideas.
COMPAC is the nonpartisan political action committee of the Colorado Medical Society, supporting pro-patient and physician candidates at the state level.
Donate to COMPAC at cms.org/contribute
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