| Bill # | Short Title | Sponsors | Bill Summary | Calendar Notification | Most Recent Status | News Links | Fiscal Note | Comments |
| HB10-1009 | Pinnacol Assurance Board Of Directors | MIKLOSI / HODGE | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. The bill requires 2 employee members of the board of directors of Pinnacol Assurance (board) to be nonmanagement employees. Adds 2 additional members to the board: An injured worker and the executive director of the Colorado department of labor and employment or his or her representative. The bill increases the per diem for the board members from $140 to $250. The bill requires the board to post the date, time, and location of board meetings on the Pinnacol Assurance web site at least 7 calendar days prior to a meeting. Requires the board to allow reasonable time for public comment at all board meetings. |
Bill HB10-1009 - MIKLOSI / HODGE Pinnacol Assurance Board Of Directors | 05/26/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA is neutral on this bill. | |
| HB10-1012 | Limit Surveillance Workers' Comp Claims | PACE / CARROLL M. | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. Section 1 of the bill: * Prohibits an insurer or employer from conducting surveillance of an employee who has submitted a workers' compensation claim unless the insurer or employer has a reasonable basis to suspect that the employee has committed fraud or made a material misstatement concerning the claim; * Allows the employee to request an expedited hearing before a prehearing administrative law judge; * Requires the insurer or employer to provide all materials collected during the surveillance to the injured worker and to destroy all materials collected during the surveillance unless the materials are reasonably necessary to resolve an ongoing claim of fraud; * Requires persons conducting surveillance to answer the employee's questions truthfully; and * Creates a $1,000-per-day penalty for violations. Section 2 of the bill: * Directs the prehearing administrative law judge to issue an injunction against the surveillance unless the insurer or employer shows that it has a reasonable basis to suspect that the employee has committed fraud or made a material misstatement concerning the claim; and * Allows the identity of a witness or whistleblower who provides evidence in good faith to be withheld or limited to an in camera review. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/05/2010 Senate Committee on Judiciary Postpone Indefinitely | HB10-1012: Rep. Pace’s Surveillance Bill Killed | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| HB10-1038 | Workers' Comp Claims Process Brochure | MIKLOSI / CARROLL M. | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. The bill requires the employer or the employer's insurance carrier to provide a brochure to a workers' compensation claimant, in a form approved by the director of the division of workers' compensation, that describes the entities the claimant may contact for information, the claimant's rights related to his or her medical treatment and rights to receive benefit payments, and the claims process. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/26/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA worked with the bill sponsor on amendments to this bill. The amendments, to allow electronic transmission of the brochure and with Director Summers on development of the brochure through a rule-making process, were adopted in committee and will become part of the legislation. | |
| HB10-1109 | Inmate Work Program Workers' Comp | MCCANN / MITCHELL | As a condition of participating in the federal prison industry enhancement certification program (PIECP), federal law requires workers' compensation benefits to be made available to an inmate working in a PIECP-certified training, rehabilitation, or work release program. In order to comply with that requirement, the bill clarifies that, for the purposes of state laws concerning workers' compensation, the term "employee" includes an inmate of a city, county, or city and county jail who is working, performing services, or participating in a program that has been certified under the PIECP. Further, for workers' compensation purposes, PIECP-certified programs shall carry workers' compensation insurance, and an inmate working in a PIECP-certified program is an employee of that program. In order to provide cities, counties, and cities and counties with more insurance options for PIECP-certified programs, current law is amended to allow public entities to select more than one method of workers' compensation insurance. The bill also clarifies that workers' compensation benefits to which an inmate is entitled as a result of working in such a program shall not be suspended for the period of time during which the inmate is incarcerated. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/29/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA is neutral on this bill. | |
| HB10-1168 | Limit Reimburs Fully Comp Injured Person | LEVY / STEADMAN | Benefield, Carroll T., Casso, Court, Ferrandino, Hullinghorst, Labuda, McFadyen, Merrifield, Middleton, Pommer, Primavera, Scanlan, Schafer S., Solano, Todd Shaffer B. Under current law, an insurer that pays benefits to a person who is injured due to an act or omission of a third party may, under some circumstances, obtain repayment of those benefits out of any recovery paid to the injured party, regardless of whether the injured party has been fully compensated for his or her losses. The bill would limit the ability of an insurer to obtain a repayment of benefits if the repayment would cause the injured party to not be fully compensated. Additionally, if the injured party has been fully compensated and the repayment is allowed, the amount of the repayment is limited to the amount actually paid by the insurer. Finally, the bill requires the insurer to pay its proportionate share of attorney fees and costs incurred by the injured party in obtaining the settlement or judgment. If a dispute arises regarding an insurer's right to reimbursement or subrogation, it is to be resolved in the same jurisdiction in which the underlying civil claim was handled. When the injured party recovers damages that he or she believes are not sufficient to fully compensate him or her, the injured party must notify the insurer in writing that the recovery obtained is less than the sum of all of the injured party's damages. If the insurer disputes the injured party's claim, the insurer may file a post-trial or other appropriate motion, or if there is no underlying civil action, may seek a declaratory judgment, to determine whether the injured party's recovery is insufficient to fully compensate the injured party. If the court agrees with the injured party, the insurer has no right to reimbursement or subrogation. An insurer is precluded from bringing a direct action against the at-fault third party for subrogation or reimbursement, and the third party cannot add the insurer as a copayee on any check or draft in payment of a settlement or judgment for the injured party. Insurers cannot delay, withhold, or reduce benefits because the obligation to pay benefits results from the acts or omissions of a third party or as a means to compel reimbursement or subrogation. Additionally, if an insurer obtains reimbursement of benefits paid, the insurer must apply the amount of the reimbursement as a credit against any applicable lifetime cap on benefits contained in the applicable policy or plan. The bill does not affect statutory liens granted to hospitals that provide care to an injured party. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/28/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| HB10-1234 | Fair Settle Ins Claim Medical Benefits | PRIMAVERA | Current law authorizes double benefits, attorney fees, and costs to a first-party claimant whose claims for benefits under an insurance policy have been delayed or denied without a reasonable basis for that action. The bill establishes a presumption of unreasonableness when an insurer either: * Denies or delays a claim without a reasonable basis for the action; or * Denies or delays the payment of a claim for medical benefits or a request for authorization for medical services by a first- or third-party claimant; the decision to delay or deny payment of the medical claim relates to medical necessity, appropriateness, or reasonableness; and the decision is made by a person who is not licensed in good standing in Colorado and in active clinical practice in the same field or specialty area as the field or specialty area to which the medical claim or requested medical service relates. The bill extends the remedies available under current law to third-party claimants who assert a claim for medical benefits or request for authorization for medical services against an insured under a liability policy when the claim is denied or delayed as described in the second bullet, above. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/20/2010 House Second Reading Lost with Amendments | No news items found | ||
| HB10-1247 | Sunset Work Comp Class Appeals Board | GAGLIARDI / CARROLL M. | Sunset Process - House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. This bill implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its sunset review of the workers' compensation classification appeals board by continuing the board until 2021. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/05/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | No interest. | |
| HB10-1327 | Cash Fund Transfers Augment General Fund | POMMER / WHITE | Budget Package Bill. For the purpose of augmenting the amount of revenues in the state general fund for the 2009-10 state fiscal year, the state treasurer is required to transfer specified amounts of moneys to the general fund from the following funds: * The employment support fund; * The higher education maintenance and reserve fund; * The motor fleet management fund; * The public safety communications trust fund; * The emergency controlled maintenance account in the capital construction fund; * The waste tire recycling development cash fund; * The processors and end users of waste tires cash fund; * The local government permanent fund; * The Colorado water conservation board construction fund; * The operational account of the severance tax trust fund; * The local government severance tax fund; * The law enforcement assistance fund for the prevention of drunken driving and the enforcement of laws pertaining to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (referred to as the LEAF fund). The transfers from the specified funds will occur on the effective date of the bill. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/15/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | ||
| HB10-1354 | Approval Of Legislative Interim Studies | BENEFIELD & ... / MORSE | Under section 1 of the bill, all interim studies will be one-year studies conducted by the appropriate joint committee of reference of the general assembly, based on the issues to be studied. If a legislator seeks authorization for an interim study, he or she will introduce a joint resolution (resolution) that, at a minimum, identifies the issues to be DelGrosso, Ferrandino, Frangas, Gagliardi, Gardner C., Gerou, Hullinghorst, Kerr J., King S., Labuda, McFadyen, Merrifield, Middleton, Miklosi, Murray, Nikkel, Rice, Roberts, Scanlan, Schafer S., Solano, Summers, Swalm, Tipton, Todd, Vaad, Vigil studied and the joint committee of reference that will conduct the study. The legislative council will be the committee of reference for all resolutions that authorize an interim study. If the legislative council approves the resolution, the legislative council must amend the resolution to specify the number of interim committee days that are allocated to the interim study. The legislative council will not allocate more than 25 interim committee days in any one interim or such other number of days as may be budgeted for in the legislative department budget for the applicable budget year. The chairs of the joint committee of reference may appoint subcommittees of the committee to conduct the study or studies assigned to it, but any bills or joint resolutions recommended as a result of a study must be approved by a majority of the members of the joint committee of reference. The chairs may also appoint a task force of interested persons from the community to advise the joint committee of reference or a subcommittee and shall appoint such a task force if required by the resolution that authorized the study. Any bills that a joint committee of reference chooses to recommend must be pertinent to the policy issues identified in the resolution that authorized the interim study. The joint committee of reference may also recommend a joint resolution to continue the interim study for another year if necessary. The recommended bills will be considered interim committee bills and will not count against a legislator's 5-bill limit only if the interim study met the statutory requirements for interim studies and was approved by the legislative council. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall each appoint to the joint committee of reference a prime sponsor of the resolution if at least one of the prime sponsors in each house is not a member of the joint committee of reference. The legislative staff agencies will provide staff support, as necessary, for each joint committee of reference, or subcommittee, that conducts an interim study. A joint committee of reference conducting an interim study will not be allowed to accept in-kind donations of services from a private organization unless the services are in addition to and not in lieu of the services normally provided by legislative staff. Sections 2 through 27 of the bill repeal the interim committees that currently are established in statute and make conforming amendments, including specifying the appropriate committees of reference for reports that, under current law, are submitted to statutory interim committees. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/30/2010 Senate Second Reading Lost with Amendments | No news items found | ||
| HB10-1356 | Workers' Comp Policyholder Prot Act 2010 | RYDEN / TOCHTROP | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. If the surplus of Pinnacol Assurance is greater than 800% of risk based capital, this bill requires the board of directors of Pinnacol Assurance to credit to the accounts of Pinnacol Assurance policyholders a dividend to bring the surplus of Pinnacol Assurance to less than 800% of risk based capital. For the prior approval of a pure premium rate filed by a workers' compensation insurance rating agency, this bill would require the insurance commissioner to approve the lowest rate recommended either by the rating organization or by the independent actuary employed by the division of insurance, unless the commissioner explains the rationale or justification for a different rate in the final agency order. The bill requires background material related to a workers' compensation pure premium rate filing to be posted on the division of insurance web site prior to any public hearing. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/06/2010 House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor Postpone Indefinitely | No news items found | ||
| HB10-1366 | Prohibitions On Circulating Petitions | APUAN / NEWELL | The bill makes it unlawful for any person who is on parole or probation for offenses involving unlawful sexual behavior or felony fraud Scanlan, Todd to act as a petition circulator. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/07/2010 Senate Committee on Finance Postpone Indefinitely | No news items found | ||
| HB10-1376 | Long Appropriations Bill | POMMER / KELLER | *** No bill summary available *** | NOT ON CALENDAR | 04/29/2010 Governor Action - Signed | HB10-1376: Ritter Signs $18.2 Billion Budget | ||
| HB10-1385 | Funding Insurance Fraud Cases | LAMBERT / TAPIA | Budget Package Bill. Under current law, insurance companies pay an annual insurance fraud fee of $425 to fund part of the department of law's expenses in investigating and prosecuting allegations of insurance fraud. The revenue from this insurance fraud fee is deposited in the division of insurance cash fund. The bill redirects the insurance fraud fee into the newly created insurance fraud cash fund, and replaces the fixed insurance fraud fee, as set in statute, with a fee set annually by the attorney general at a level sufficient to provide for the department of law's direct and indirect costs for insurance fraud investigations and prosecutions and to allow for the creation and maintenance of a 3-month reserve in the fund, phased in over 3 fiscal years. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/05/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | ||
| HJR10-1016 | Convening Date For 2011 Regular Session | WEISSMANN / MORSE | *** No bill summary available *** | NOT ON CALENDAR | 06/07/2010 Signed by the Speaker of the House | No news items found | ||
| SB10-011 | Workers' Comp Conflicts Of Interest | CARROLL M. / MIKLOSI | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. Section 1 of the bill requires a physician who has been proposed by the division of workers' compensation (division) in the department of labor and employment to perform an independent medical examination (IME) of an injured worker to disclose any business, employment, financial, or advisory relationship with an insurer or self-insured employer if a party requests the information. Section 1 gives a party to the IME process the right to obtain and review the information regarding any physicians proposed to conduct the IME prior to making a determination to eliminate one of the proposed physicians as an examiner. Section 1 also directs the director of the division to adopt rules as necessary to implement the disclosure requirements. Section 2 of the bill prohibits the payment of a financial incentive by an insurer, self-insured employer, or health care provider to deny or delay a workers' compensation claim, or to deny or delay medical care or payment for medical treatment for any such claim. Section 2 declares that a violation of its provisions constitutes bad faith and an unfair or deceptive practice in the business of insurance and subjects the person committing the violation to penalties under the unfair or deceptive insurance practices statutes, which may be up to $3,000 per violation, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $30,000, or, in the case of knowing violations, up to $30,000 per violation, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $750,000 annually. Section 2 also subjects persons violating its provisions to penalties under the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado". Section 3 prohibits a treating physician from communicating with the insurer or employer of an injured worker unless the injured worker is present or the communication is in writing and is provided to the injured worker. Section 4 specifies that contractual provisions that establish a reversionary interest in an insurer for indemnity benefits are void as against public policy. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/27/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| SB10-012 | Workers' Comp Benefits Knowing Penalty | TOCHTROP / PACE | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. Increases the penalty for violating the workers' compensation laws from up to $500 to up to $1,000. Changes the mental state from "willfully" to "knowingly" in the statute that penalizes denying workers' compensation medical benefits, delaying payment of medical benefits for more than 30 days, or stopping payments. Allows the director of the division of workers' compensation or an administrative law judge to apportion the penalties, in whole or part, among the aggrieved party, the medical services provider, and the workers' compensation cash fund. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/26/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| SB10-013 | Workers' Compensation Accountability | HODGE / RYDEN | Interim Committee to Study Issues Related to Pinnacol Assurance. Section 1 of the bill requires workers' compensation insurers to survey a limited number of injured workers at the close of each claim. Section 1 also requires the insurers to report the results of the surveys to the division of workers' compensation (division) in the department of labor and employment, and requires the division to post the survey results on the division's web site. Finally, section 1 prohibits an employer or insurer from taking disciplinary action or otherwise retaliating against an injured worker or his or her dependents for completing a survey. Section 2 of the bill requires the chief executive officer of Pinnacol Assurance to submit an annual report to the governor and committees of the general assembly reporting on the business operations, resources, and liabilities of the Pinnacol Assurance fund. Section 3 of the bill requires the division to post on the division's web site the procedure for an injured worker to follow to file a complaint with the division regarding any issue over which the director or his or her designee has authority to pursue, settle, or enforce. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/27/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| SB10-076 | Unreasonable Insurance Claims Practices | CARROLL M. / PRIMAVERA | Section 1 of the bill defines as an unfair claim settlement practice and a deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance the practice of providing compensation to induce or encourage the decision to deny or delay resolution of a claim or to cancel or rescind an insurance policy. In civil actions in which a jury is to determine whether an insurer's delay or denial of a claim was reasonable, section 2 of the bill allows the court to instruct the jury that the willful payment of a financial incentive is prohibited and may be considered if the prohibited conduct caused or contributed to the delay or denial and the claimant's injury, damage, or loss. Section 3 of the bill establishes a presumption of unreasonableness when a claim for benefits is denied or delayed and the person who makes the decision to delay or deny payment of the claim receives any personal financial incentive, including compensation, to deny or delay the claim. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/17/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA opposes this bill. | |
| SB10-112 | Workers' Compensation Ins Rate Setting | KOPP / SWALM | The bill modifies 3 areas of current law regarding rate setting for workers' compensation insurance. First, under current law, when an insured employer agrees to pay a deductible as part of its workers' compensation insurance policy, the carrier is allowed to determine the amount of offset to apply to the insured employer's premium based on the deductible. Section 1 of the bill requires the carrier to give the insured employer credit against the premium for the full amount of the deductible. With regard to rate filings by workers' compensation rating organizations, section 2 of the bill makes the complete recommendations and supporting materials of the rating organization and the independent actuary employed by the commissioner of insurance (commissioner), including any rationale for rate changes, available to the public. Finally, section 3 of the bill requires the commissioner to use a competitive bid process when selecting and licensing rating organizations for workers' compensation rates that are effective on or after January 1, 2012. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 03/31/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | CSIA will monitor this bill. | |
| SB10-163 | Workers' Compensation Procedures | TOCHTROP / KERR A. | The bill amends various procedural laws related to workers' compensation. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the bill apply the provisions of Senate Bill 09-168, which bill is declared to be procedural in nature, to all workers' compensation claims regardless of the date the claims were filed. Section 5 requires the director of the division of workers' compensation in the department of labor and employment to promulgate rules biennially that establish a single life expectancy table based on mortality tables issued by the federal government and private industry. Section 5 also requires lump sum settlements to be paid to a claimant within 15 days after the respondent receives the executed settlement order. Section 6 requires documents to be transmitted or served using identical means to all required recipients. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 03/31/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | This is the "procedural" bill that CSIA, Pinnacol and the WCEA negotiated. No known opposition. | |
| SB10-178 | Fair Workers' Comp Provider Reviews | HODGE & ... / GEROU & ... | The bill creates the "Provider Review and Disclosure Act". The act requires workers' compensation insurers to include quality and patient data in performance initiatives. The act also requires such initiatives to be based on objective data that is available to affected providers. The act requires credentialing, quality, and service reviews to be based on objective criteria that are applied consistently. The act provides due process for health care providers, including disclosure of the processes followed, the provider's rights, and an appeal process to challenge results and decisions relating to performance initiatives. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/26/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | ||
| SB10-187 | Workers' Comp Act Various Provisions | TOCHTROP / RIESBERG | The bill makes various changes to the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado" (act). Section 1 excludes medicaid and other indigent health care programs from the purview of health insurance plans, the cost of which is factored into a calculation of wages under the act. Section 2 adds a compensable cost under the act by requiring a court to award all reasonable costs (not including attorney fees) to a claimant when medical maintenance benefits that have been recommended by an authorized treating physician but are unpaid and contested are: * Admitted fewer than 20 days before the date of the hearing; or * Ordered after the application for hearing on the benefits is filed. Section 3 clarifies that the phrase "at the time of injury", with respect to calculation of a worker's average weekly wage, means the wages the worker was earning on the date of the worker's accident. Section 4 eliminates permanent partial disability from the types of disabilities for which payments must be reduced under the act in order to offset benefits payable under the federal "Old-age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Amendments of 1965" (federal act). This section also repeals the requirement that employees apply for benefits under the federal act upon request by the insurer or employer. Section 5 describes some circumstances under which a temporarily disabled employee's rejection of an offer of modified employment does not constitute employee responsibility for termination of employment. Section 6 replaces loss of an eye by enucleation on the schedule of specific permanent medical impairment injuries with loss of a tooth, and sets the compensation period for such loss at 6 weeks. Section 7 requires the director of the division of workers' compensation (director) in the department of labor and employment to annually adjust, based on his or her annual adjustments to the computation of average weekly wages, the amount of compensation for combined temporary disability payments and permanent partial disability payments. This section takes effect January 1, 2011. Section 8 forbids the director or an administrative law judge from conditioning a lump sum payment on the claimant's waiver of his or her right to pursue permanent total disability payments. | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/27/2010 Governor Action - Signed | No news items found | ||
| SCR10-003 | Ballot Initiatives To Amend Constitution | TAPIA / COURT | *** No bill summary available *** | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/12/2010 House Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely | SCR10-003: Constitutional-Change Resolution Lacks Support SCR10-003: Will Voters Make it Tougher on Themselves to Amend the Constitution? | ||
| SCR10-009 | Length Of GA's Regular Sessions | SCHWARTZ & ... / MAY & ... | *** No bill summary available *** | NOT ON CALENDAR | 05/03/2010 Senate Committee on State, Veterans & Military Affairs Postpone Indefinitely | SCR10-009: Bid to Shorten Legislative Session Falls Short |