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DENVER, CO — The House today passed legislation to expand access to behavioral health care by cutting red tape for providers and patients. HB26-1002, sponsored by Representatives Lindsay Gilchrist and Kyle Brown, would reduce barriers for certain providers seeking reimbursement, modernize licensing requirements and save patients money on out-of-pocket care.
“Coloradans with health insurance still face gaps in coverage and are often forced to pay out-of-pocket for behavioral health care, which can be expensive,” said Rep. Lindsay Gilchrist, D-Denver. “This bill eliminates barriers that prevent behavioral health providers from entering an insurance network and receiving timely reimbursements in Colorado. We are building on our work to support providers and patients to lower costs and improve access to behavioral health care in Colorado.”
“With the passage of this bill, we’re one step closer to making it easier for patients to use the insurance they already have to access the behavioral health care they need,” said Rep. Kyle Brown, D-Louisville. “This bill works in multiple ways to improve our behavioral health care system by reducing some of the cumbersome barriers that providers and patients face when using insurance plans they already pay for. Our bill streamlines and improves Colorado’s behavioral health care system to save patients money and boost our provider network.”
HB26-1002 passed the House by a vote of 51 to 13. This bill would improve access to behavioral health care and substance use disorder treatment by reducing barriers to both providers and patients. Coloradans are nearly eleven times more likely to be forced to rely on costly out-of-network providers when seeking behavioral health care than physical health care. In addition to confusing processes to find providers, insurance companies’ slow, confusing, and inconsistent credentialing processes cause delays for providers eager to see patients and patients wait longer to receive care.
To help remedy the insurance hurdles, save patients money and reduce wait times for behavioral health care, HB26-1002 sets timely standards in state law for the credentialing of providers and ensures qualified, pre-licensed providers get the reimbursement they deserve. The bill also updates licensing requirements for social workers and tackles misleading “ghost networks,” which offer patients contact information for providers that are not actually covered in their plan.
If signed into law, Colorado would join Oklahoma, New York, New Jersey and Illinois in taking similar action to boost their behavioral health care workforce and patients’ access to timely care.