April 22, 2026 · Health & Human Services · 6,721 words · 14 speakers · 120 segments
Senator Health and Human Services have come to order.
Mr. Brown, please call the roll. Senator Bright.
Here.
Cutter.
Present.
Doherty.
Excused.
Rizal.
Here.
Weissman.
Good morning.
Judah.
Present.
Mr. Chair Mullica.
Here. Members, we have our first bill up is House Bill 1214. Senator Mobley is with us. You want to start us off? Senator Mobley.
Yes. Thank you, committee. So I am here to present House Bill 1214. It is a sunset, and we want to continue to license the licensing of Controlled Substances Act. The bill is the result of the 2025 sunset review conducted by DORA, and they found that continued regulation is necessary to protect public safety and health. I think last time I was here I was also talking about this same subject. So I think we're doing a pretty good job in our state of making sure that people have access and that we're doing the right thing and providing the right kinds of treatments. and I think that it's important that we regulate this particular aspect because there are a lot of ways in which that can go wrong and there are a lot of ways in which that can go right and that regulation really helps with that. So it's a pretty simple re-upping and making sure that we're continuing to regulate controlled substances in an established framework to make sure that people have access to these medications who need them and that they're getting the right other kinds of treatments to go with them and helping people to get better. and there is no additional fiscal impact. It's just a continuation of what has been happening and I do have one amendment. Thank you.
Senator Mobley, does the committee have any questions for the sponsor? Seeing none, we do have one witness. Senator Mobley, you can just stay here. Mr. Mueller, if you want to come on up. If you want to state your name and who you represent, you'll have three minutes. That's a test if I start when you're ready.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It's on the neck of the microphone if you could push it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Ryan Mueller, State Opioid Treatment Authority with the Behavioral Health Administration. It's an honor to be with you today to share a critical piece of legislation which both builds and protects our substance use disorder treatment community. The Controlled Substance Act requires the BHA to regulate treatment facilities who dispense controlled substance medication for the purpose of treating a substance use disorder, including symptoms of withdrawal. Ultimately, the goals are to reduce overdose and to protect the public from potential harm. And for these purposes, the Act has been a success. Under it, the BHA, in concert with its community partners, has been able to make significant changes to opioid treatment rules, aimed at modernizing care, improving treatment outcomes, and empowering agency operators to expand their programming to meet the needs of existing and new populations. We are talking about methadone clinics and withdrawal management facilities. And both service types over the last five years have doubled their license counts and their capacity to serve more Coloradans. For example, we have 53 OTPs, that's methadone programs, operating in 17 counties and serving over 10,000 patients for the first time in our state's history. But it's important that we don't lose sight of the powerful nature and harmful potential of these medications. In terms of protection, the BHA's regulatory oversight employs a litany of mechanisms to ensure community and patient safety, including operation of the state's central registry. Research, evidence, and our collective experience all tell us that access to safe and effective treatment with medications save lives. And thanks to this bill and other factors, we are beginning to see that in the data. I'm happy to answer any questions about this bill, including recent amendments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Mueller. Let the record reflect that Senator Doherty has graced us with her presence. Does the committee have any questions for this witness? Seeing none, thank you, Mr. Mueller. That exhausts the witness list before me. Is there anyone else online or in person who wishes to testify on House Bill 1214? Seeing none, the witness phase is closed. To the amendment phase, Madam Vice Chair.
Madam Vice Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move L3 to House Bill 1214.
Tell us about Amendment L3, Senator Mobley.
Okay.
So it's just clarifying that you can use these medications in whatever form you want. So there are long-acting injectables, and then there are pills that people can take that do a similar thing. And so we just wanted to make sure that people can get the thing that's right for them.
Does the committee have any questions on Amendment L3? Is there any opposition to Amendment L3? Seeing none, Amendment L3 is adopted. Any further amendments from the sponsor?
No.
Any other amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Would you like to wrap us up?
Oh, thank you. That was so fast. Good bill vote, yes.
Thank you, Senator Molloy. Any closing remarks from the committee?
Senator Weissman. I was just going to observe that after the 200-page competency bill with 50 pages of amendments. And Judith Sherry, the senator from Boulder County, is averaging down. Thank you for that.
Madam Vice Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move House Bill 1214 as amended to the Committee of Appropriations with a favorable recommendation.
That is a proper motion. Mr. Brown, please call the roll.
Senators Bright.
Yes.
Cutter.
Yes.
Doherty.
Yes.
Rizal.
Aye.
Weissman.
Yes.
Judah.
Aye.
Mr. Chair Mulligan.
Yes, congratulations. That passes unanimously.
Thank you.
Next up, members, we have House Bill 1260 with Senator Cutter and Senator Bright. Senator Carter.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello, everyone. Thanks for hearing this bill today. I'm really excited to be able to work with Senator Bright because I know that he is a fierce champion of early childhood and of kids, and I appreciate that. So I'm looking forward to telling you about House Bill 1260 and why it's necessary to ensure Colorado families and their kids continue to have access to quality, affordable child care through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, known as CCAP. Access to affordable child care is really foundational in building Colorado's future. It strengthens our economy, supports our kids' healthy development, and sets both children and their families up for long-term success. Yet the rising costs of child care remains one of the biggest challenges that Colorado families are facing. According to a poll commissioned by Healthier Colorado last year, 72% of Coloradans think the cost of child care is unaffordable. My kids are struggling with child care. They both work, they both have decent incomes, and it's probably impacting their decision about whether to have a second child. so this is something that every person in Colorado is dealing with. Moreover, 65% of people surveyed said they do not have access to quality, affordable child care in their communities at all. Those numbers reflect what we know to be true. This is an issue that really transcends politics. Regardless of where you live or how you vote, we need to get more parents connected to affordable, reliable, quality child care. House Bill 1260 brings us one step closer to that. It allows the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to remain flexible to the state's current budget reality and build towards a long-term funding solution for CCAP. It extends the implementation date of four provisions that support child care providers and improve access to affordable quality child care from August 1, 2026 to August 1, 2028. These provisions include paying rates based on enrollment instead of attendance, compensating providers prospectively instead of through retroactive reimbursements, using grants or contracts to better serve certain populations, and ensuring that families spend no more than 7% of their income on child care. The bill also adds a reporting requirement to the Department's annual CCAP report to the legislature, detailing expenditure data from the Department and each county on administrative, indirect, non-direct, and direct service expenses. Many factors, like historic underinvestments in the program, coupled with rising child care costs driven by overdue provider paying increases, quality improvements, inflation, workforce challenges, and the goal of providing CCAP families with equitable access to child care, comparable to the private pay market, are placing the program under significant budget pressure. That's why we need you to support this bill, House Bill 1260 today. Thanks for your time, and I will turn it over to my co-prime. Senator Bright.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the committee, I'm going to go a little bit off script here and talk about why this is important. There was a bill passed in 2024 that was a complement to a federal initiative to spend more dollars in this space. And I was supportive of that bill, even though I wasn't a legislator at the time, because it did the very things that the child care network needed and the families that rely on child care services need to continue to be in that space. And unfortunately, as we all know, the administration, the federal administration, did not come through on some of those promises to backstop that funding. And so we were stuck as a state in a place where do we have to repeal the provisions of that 2024 piece of legislation or is there something else that we can do? And I proud that we found a solution to keep those key pieces in place and only just postpone the implementation of them because I would hate to see these things go away and we have to come back to the table and argue for those things again. And as you know, Colorado ranks among the most expensive states in the country for child care, and the high costs are forcing far too many families to live under financial strain, with many paying for child care as much as they do for rent or mortgage. Without consistent access to quality child care, parents are often forced to leave their jobs, reduce their work hours, use sick time, or postpone further education and professional training. As a result, our workforce cannot meet the needs of our businesses. Families are faced with reduced household income, costing the state billions in lost revenue with a B. This enormous economic burden impacts parents, their employers, and state taxpayers. For low-income families, CCAP is an opportunity for thousands of parents who are working, continuing their education, and furthering their skills to improve their lives and the future of their kids. As of April 1, 2026, just a few weeks ago, 20 counties are still frozen with regard to CCAP enrollments, and seven counties are on wait lists to serve those prioritized populations. This has resulted in almost 14,000 potentially eligible children without safe care. This is exactly why House Bill 1260 is needed. We can't afford continued disruptions in the program that have a ripple effect on our economy. All kids deserve the strongest possible start in life, and that begins with early access to quality, affordable care. The stronger the foundation our kids get in those early years, the better off we all are in the future. Parents deserve every chance to succeed in the workforce, go to school to advance their careers, look for a job, while also having the peace of mind of having access to affordable child care. And CCAP is a proven economic tool to ensure that child care isn't yet another hardship for working families in our state. Thank you for hearing this bill.
Thank you. Does the committee have any questions for the sponsors? Seeing none, we do have two people signed up to testify. Sarah Dawson and Christina Walker. We'll start off with you, Ms. Dawson. If you want to state your name, who you represent, you'll have three minutes to testify. Start when you're ready.
Great. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. My name is Sarah Dawson, and I'm the director of the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program here at the Department of Early Childhood. On behalf of the department, I'm here in support of House Bill 26-1260. As you heard from the sponsors, the bill does align some of the implementation deadlines for four crucial policies to the waiver that we received from our federal partners, so moving these deadlines from August 1, 2026 to August 1, 2028. This is especially important to align these deadlines so that we can continue to work towards the fiscal sustainability of the program while serving as many eligible families as possible. Thank you so much for hearing my testimony today, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Ms. Dawson. Ms. Walker, if you want to state your name, who you represent, and you'll have three minutes to testify. Start when you're ready.
Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My name is Christina Walker. I'm the Senior Director of Policy at Healthier Colorado, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing every Coloradan with the opportunity to live a healthy life. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of House Bill 1260. As you heard, CCAP is a lifeline for families with children. It allows parents to go to work or school and gives children the experiences that they need for their healthy development. In fiscal year 24-25, CCAP served 27,598 children and over 18,000 families across all of 64 counties. This represents 11% of the potentially eligible population. As you also heard, as of April 1st of this year, 20 counties are on a freeze and 7 counties are on a wait list. and given the lack of funding available to serve additional children. And so these policies being delayed in House Bill 1260 did not cause this financial strain, but they would definitely exacerbate the freezes and the wait lists that we currently have without additional funding. And so we appreciate the ability to work with our amazing bill sponsors as well as with the Department of Early Childhood to figure out this, pushing off these dates to 2028 to make sure that we don't exacerbate these issues. The other thing this bill does, which I really appreciate, is requires that the department and the counties need to provide data regarding how much they're spending each year on administrative expenses, non-direct services, as well as direct services within the program as part of CCAP's annual report to the legislature. And so I think this data will be really helpful in understanding and supporting transparency in the program, as well as understanding how much money we're spending by county and as a state to serve all of the children and the families in the program. Creating a child care system that meets the needs of parents at all income levels is good for kids, parents, and employers. As a working mother myself, I urge you to support House Bill 1260. Thank you for your time. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Ms. Walker. Does the committee have any questions for these witnesses? Seeing none, thank you so much for being here. That exhausts a list in front of me on witnesses for House Bill 1260. Is there anyone else online or in person who wishes to testify on House Bill 1260? Seeing none, the witness phase is closed. We are to the amendment phase. The amendment has been passed out. Who would like to move it?
Senator Bright. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move amendment L2 to House Bill 1260.
As a proper motion, tell us about amendment L2.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. L2 is a technical amendment due to drafting error on House Amendment L1. There were two Cs, and now it changes it from a C to a D.
Perfect. Does the committee have any questions on Amendment L2? Any opposition to Amendment L2? Seeing none, Amendment L2 is adopted. Any further amendments from the sponsors? Any amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Who'd like to wrap us up?
Senator Cutter. You know, I don't have too much to add other than this is just a great program and I think a really sensible way to protect the program going into the future and allow Colorado families to have these options. So I hope we can count on your yes today. Senator Bright.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the committee, thank you for hearing us today on 1260. Thank you to the witnesses that came forward to talk about the importance of this bill. Let's keep the quality pieces that we have in place, not let them expire and give them a chance to live. So I'd appreciate your support, your yes vote on 1260.
Thank you, Senator Bright. Any closing remarks from the committee? Seeing none, whoever wants to make the motion, the proper motion is as amended to appropriations.
Senator Cutter. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move House Bill 1260 as amended to appropriations with a favorable recommendation. That is a proper motion.
Mr. Brown, please call the roll.
Senator Bright.
Yes.
Cutter.
Yes.
Doherty. Yes.
Frizzell. Aye.
Weissman. Yes.
Judah. Aye.
Mr. Chair Malika.
Yes. Congratulations. That passes unanimously. I'm going to pass the gavel over to the Vice Chair at this moment. Sorry. Sorry. So we're on 162.
All right. We are now on SB 162. Who would like to start? Senator Frizzell.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I feel kind of weird being up here.
We can go down.
No, it's okay. It'll be fine.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
This bill, Senate Bill 162, is kind of me violating my cardinal rule of creating legislation around personal experiences. But I found, after doing a lot of talking and sharing, that my experience was not uncommon, unfortunately. So I'll start off with my experience. I think everybody on this committee knows that I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. And that was quite a journey that extended past session. and happily, you know, I'm doing really well now. But last summer after session, I had to undergo a series of tests to kind of ensure that my cancer had not spread elsewhere in my body. And I had a CAT scan and I had a bone scan done. And I also did something that was kind of unusual for me is that I did go on my patient portal after my bone scan. It was a few days after my bone scan. And read it. And it's very complex medical terminology. But the things that I read, many of which I didn't understand, so then I did probably what most people would do, is turn to Google and try to understand, decipher what this medical terminology was. And unfortunately, this is like at 7 o'clock at night, So my doctor's office is no longer open. But in that report was the statement that I had a metastasis in my L3 vertebrae, which is a clear indication, according to Google, that I had cancer in my L3 vertebrae. And my world stopped. as I think it would for anybody. And I did call my doctor's office and put in a message, but I didn't have the benefit of having the conversation with my doctor, with my oncologist, before reading that report. And I think that that would have been very helpful. after having conversations with other people who have experienced situations like this and it may not be cancer it could be a blood test it could be something else but it is traumatic and it's really important I think for patients especially cancer patients to be able to have those conversations with their oncologist because here's the thing that I found out after having cancer is that once you have cancer, everything is cancer. Everything. Every spot. Every abnormality. And even when you have a test that comes back negative, it's benign. That's how it works. And so I talked to my oncologist once, and I had lots of conversations with my oncologist about this because it was so alarming to me about why do these test results get pushed up so quickly And she said, well, it's the law. And I said, what law? Is it federal law, state law? And she was, candidly, she wasn't quite sure, because I think a lot of people mostly don't know, you know, what is state law, what's local, what's federal law. because it gets muddied sometimes. And I said, you know what? I'm in the Senate. I can do something. So this doesn't happen to other people. So as it turns out, in doing a little investigation over time, found out several things. One, that patient portals became required through the 21st Century CARES Act, which was passed at a federal level in 2016. and it enforces patient access to electronic health information. But, and this is the but, it also allows states to establish exceptions to these requirements for health care providers. And that has already been done. So happily, or not, depends on how you look at it, this law has already been passed in other states. So the first state was Kentucky, and they passed a law called the Compassionate Care Act in 2022, and that gives physicians 72 hours to review results that could indicate a cancer diagnosis and develop a plan for communicating that information to the patient. In 2025, well, back up, California was the second state in 2022. Their law is quite a bit broader, but California passed a law requiring sensitive information like HIV antibody tests, hepatitis antigen tests, drug tests, tissue tests, revealing malignancies are disclosed to the physician through oral communication before or instead of directly through a patient portal. So that's California's version. And Texas just passed their law last September, which is patterned after Kentucky's. So we have a blueprint that is available to us, and this bill, Senate Bill 162, is patterned after the Texas and Kentucky legislation. So all it does is it ensures that doctors have 72 hours to communicate test results. This particular bill is specific to cancer tests, including genetic markers. So that's what this bill is. I can talk a little bit more about it. I'd be happy to answer any questions. My good co-prime may have a few words to say as well.
Mr. Chair Mullica. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. And really just want to take this opportunity to thank Senator Frizzell for bringing this bill. I know all of us have been standing side by side with her during her battles, and we have been supportive. and I think that when she brought me this bill and this idea, it makes sense. You know, I work in the ER. I take care of patients who oftentimes are in a crisis in some of the most difficult times in their lives, and I don't think that it is a bad thing to think about when a patient maybe has a cancer diagnosis, that we give that space to make sure that the provider or the doctor has the ability to speak to the patient before they get some really, I think, complex information. And I think we're all probably guilty of it, of taking our symptoms to, you know, Dr. Google and searching things up. And in those high-stress situations, that's not always helpful. And so I think that this bill makes sense not only from, you know, a personal standpoint, hearing stories and I agree, Senator Frizzell, that this is not, you're not the only case where this has happened. But I even think from a provider standpoint, this makes sense as well to make sure that those communications are happening with the provider so that the patient can have the best information possible. And that's, I think, the goal here. And I want to be clear with this is that I think Senator Frizzell and I both see the value of patient portals, see the value of patients having access to their information. What this bill is, is that when these results first come out, especially in some of these situations, this isn't, you know, a flu test. These are really important results that are life-altering. And those conversations should be being had between the provider and the patient, not necessarily just the patient reading them, you know, on their computer at 7 o'clock at night. when they have no support or have no ability to maybe understand completely what those results are. And so I'd ask for a yes vote.
All right. We are going to move on. I apologize. Is there any questions from the committee? Okay. Seeing none, we are going to move on to the testimony phase. We have three people signed up, all remote, two for one and amend. We have Colleen Murphy and Sean Pazowski. Please tell me. I'm sure I said that wrong. And Audrey Reich-Loy in an amend position. All right. Well, we'll start with Dr. Pozowski. Your three minutes can start now.
Perfect. Go ahead. Yeah. Well, thank you, Madam Chair, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Dr. Sean Pazowski and I serve as President-Elect of the Colorado Medical Society, representing more than 6,500 physicians across our state. I'm here to express our support for Senate Bill 162 and the forthcoming amendments. And I want to thank Senators Frazell and Mullica for championing this important patient protection. This bill is about one thing, making sure that when a patient receives news that may change their life, they don't receive it alone. The 21st Century Cares Act was passed with genuine good intent to empower patients with access to their own health information. Colorado physicians support that goal, but the act's immediate release requirements have created an unintended consequence that we see playing out in our clinics and hospitals every day. A patient picks up their phone, opens their portal, and reads a pathology or radiology report with words like suspicious mass or consistent with malignancy before their physician had an opportunity to call them, to provide context, or simply to be present for that moment. That is not how a potential cancer diagnosis should reach a patient, and it doesn't have to be this way. As a practicing neurologist in Fort Collins, I have seen firsthand how this impacts patients. Sometimes I have to order labs for perineoplastic markers. These are tests that detect specific antibodies in blood or cerebrospinal fluid that indicate an immune response triggered by a tumor. These tests take time to process, and that waiting, of course, creates anxiety. I do my best to interpret these tests immediately and contact my patients, but sometimes the automated portals with raw data are faster, and then my discussions about really any type of cancer can become even more challenging. Senate Bill 26162 creates a brief three-business-day window. Time for the ordering physician to review sensitive results and reach out to the patient before those results appear in their portal. That conversation matters enormously. It's the difference between a patient spiraling in fear over a result they don't yet understand and a patient who hears difficult news with their doctor beside them, ready to answer questions, explain next steps, and provide the support that medicine is meant to offer. We urge this committee to support Senate Bill 26162 as amended. Thank you, and be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. Next, we will go on to Audrey Wright-Loy in an amend position.
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Audrey Wright-Loy, Director of Programs at San Luis Valley Health, the regional health care system for the San Luis Valley. I am here on behalf of the Colorado Hospital Association in an amend position. San Luis Valley Health serves as the only level 3 trauma hospital for the region and provides the only comprehensive specialty oncology and birthing service to the region. For this southern part of the state, residents would otherwise have to travel at least 100 miles over a mountain pass in any direction to receive comparable care. Most of us in this room have sat with someone who we love while they wait for results. We know what that waiting does to a person and we understand the intention behind this bill. patient should face a cancer diagnosis alone. However, delaying the release of certain sensitive results in already available to hospitals is already available to hospitals through the 21st Century Cures Act. Situational exceptions may be made to the immediate release of results when deemed necessary to prevent harm to a patient or another person. At San Luis Valley Health, we have implemented this part of the Cures Act and currently delay pathology results for five days so that they can be interpreted and reviewed by the ordering provider for this very reason. However, any hold on cancer-related pathology, radiology, and genetic test results creates a delay that carries its own clinical risk. In oncology, that window can affect when a referral gets made, when a specialist gets involved, and when a treatment begins. A result that finalizes on a Friday may not reach a patient until the following week under this framework. Rural hospitals across Colorado continue to respond to the challenges before them, largely facing financial and regulatory barriers to maintaining access for their communities. As such, rural hospitals are often cautious to take on new laws or regulations that come at a cost to the slim margin many rural hospitals are managing within. It is important to note that not all EMRs share the same functionality. Many of Colorado's rural hospitals do not have access to systems with this capability and would have to do this manually, potentially creating additional expense and IT burden for hospitals already operating on thin margins.
We also have strong concerns that implementing laws such as these will create additional delays and bottlenecks in an already fragmented healthcare system where timely throughput of orders and results are critical to ensuring optimal care outcomes We are a committed partner and look forward to working with the bill sponsors to enhance this policy and to address such concerns so that we are supporting the relationship between the medical provider and their patient Patients have worked hard to secure direct access to their own health information. We want to protect both that right and the physician-patient relationship, and we believe there is a path that does both. We respectfully ask for the opportunity to keep working with the bill sponsors to find it. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. And we had one more witness sign up. Dave Donovas, if you want to come up. And if you don't mind just scanning the QR code in the back, you know the drill, and your three minutes can start. Thanks.
Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the committee. My name is Dave Donovas. I'm part of the lobby team along with Emma Hudson for the Colorado Oncology Society. Dr. Marie Wood was signed up to testify, but was in clinic right now, so we're going to speak for her. We're here on behalf of Colorado Oncology Society, asking you to support Senator Frizzell and Chair Mullica's Senate Bill 162, Sensitive Test Results in Healthcare. Oncologists know how important it is to both patients and physicians that they be able to discuss results of sensitive tests together, especially when the information in those tests can be so potentially life-altering. Patients can often receive results from scans before they've had a chance to review and discuss. Receiving a notification the results are in your portal late at night or on the weekend can easily lead to Dr. Google or Dr. Chat GPT, and the search can suggest metastatic disease. But when we review the scans with our patients, the findings can be dismissed or reinterpreted in a way that is not so challenging or life-altering. Sometimes a scan could suggest progression of a disease only because it was not compared to the most recent scan in the record, where in reality there was no progression in the chronological scans. Our oncologists have also had many patients be told they have metastatic disease on a scan, but it was really a benign process. Having the release of these records delayed for 72 hours gives us time to thoroughly review the tests and to have an informed and thoughtful discussion with our patients. We urge you to vote yes on Senate Bill 162. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer any questions, although I think the doctors would probably be better at that.
Thank you. All right. I see Mr. Seward also would like to testify.
Madam Chair, thank you. My name is Chet Seward. I'm with the Colorado Medical Society, and I'm here speaking on behalf of Dr. Murphy. She's in surgery. And sometimes surgeries don't go on schedule. on schedule. Forgive me, I am not a physician, so ask Dr. Pozowski if you have questions.
Madam Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Dr. Colleen Murphy, and I'm a practicing physician in Denver. I'm here today to support of SB 162, including the amendment that will be offered. As a breast surgeon, I spend part of my practice delivering difficult news. That is a responsibility I take seriously, and one that requires preparation, compassion, and the right moment. Let me describe what that moment looks like today. I order an imaging test, the results come back, and the moment they are finalized, the clock starts. Because I know that my patient's portal may post those results before I have had a chance to call her. So my staff and I begin making calls. We try our cell phone, we leave messages, we send texts, we try again. all while knowing that somewhere on the other end of a notification maybe already waiting on her phone, a notification that could tell her she has cancer before I had a single opportunity to support her through a conversation. There is nothing more defeating than picking up the phone to call a patient only to find she already saw the result alone at work in her car. I've seen what happens next. A patient calls our office in a panic. She has read lab imaging results she doesn't fully understand. Malignant, consistent with carcinoma, further evaluation needed. And she has spent hours, sometimes days, trying to make sense of them on her own. By the time I reach her, that conversation, which should be one of the most important of her life, has already been defined by fear and confusion. We are no longer starting from a place of care. We are starting from a place of crisis. That is not the medicine any of us want to practice, and it is not the experience our patients deserve. SB 162, as amended, addresses this directly. Three business days is a brief, purposeful pause, a bridge to a better conversation. This is about ensuring that life-changing information reaches patients with the guidance and support they deserve. The physician-patient relationship exists precisely for moments like this, and our patients deserve to have this beside them when it matters most. I have other patient stories, although I don't, and I urge your support. Thank you.
Thank you. Members, are there any questions for this panel or the folks online? All right. Seeing none, the witness phase is closed. Thank you so much for your testimony. We are on to the amendment phase. Members, amendments? Yes. Take it away.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move L-001 to Senate Bill 162.
That is a proper motion. You want to explain the amendment?
Absolutely. Yes, this comes out of further stakeholding with the Colorado Medical Society and some of the hospital providers that really just makes the implementation of this law in more alignment with Kentucky and Texas and also just easier for them to implement.
Perfect. Any questions about the amendment? Seeing none, is there any objection to the amendment? All right, the amendment is adopted. Wrap-up. Sponsors. Senator Frizzell.
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Committee. I am so, so grateful to the stakeholders who have helped with this policy because I think it's really important, and I'm grateful that they think so too. So I just, I don't think I finished my story, actually. As it turned out, my malignancy or metastasis on my L3 vertebrae wasn't that. My apologies.
Take your time. It's okay. Thank God it wasn't that.
But I didn't know. And I didn't know for another week and a half. So I jokingly say, and I thought about how I was going to death clean my house, and deal with further treatment and keep fighting. And then I didn't have to worry about it anymore. Thank God. Thank God. I think we can do better. Patient portals are so important, and they're a great tool. They're a great resource. for patients, for doctors. It's a fantastic way to communicate, but we can do better. I ask for your aye vote on Senate Bill 162.
Awesome. And I apologize to close the amendment phase. So the amendment phase is officially closed. Members, any closing comments?
I will just say, Senator Frizzell, I lost both my parents to cancer, And you're right, the portal is incredibly helpful, but there is that waiting period that is excruciating, and seeing scans on your portal with masses that are lit up, and you don't know what that means, can lead to death cleaning, if you will. So thank you for the bill. I'm an enthusiastic yes today.
Senator Weissman. Thank you, Madam Chair. I did want to let Mr. Chair Coprime jump in, too. But, you know, I spoke to both of the sponsors. I thought I should say something on the record here, too. Understanding how deeply personal this is for the senator from Douglas County, I will not personally be supporting the bill today. I did want to say why. I guess without going into too much detail, these questions of what happens and how it goes when you get certain test results back have become personal for my family as well. Fundamentally, I think the information just belongs to the patient in the first instance. I think it's obvious the situation that's too common in our modern world what the bill is trying to get at there are some good medical sources out there online none equal to a good long conversation with a medical professional and then there's a lot of crap and then there's a lot more crap being pumped out by AI and that's a whole separate conversation nonetheless because we're talking about results that are about the patient's body life. I just think that they ought to have the right to jump right into that if they want. And there are risks, and I think they've been powerfully spoken to. But anyway, it's just sort of a philosophic thing for me. I do believe the bill is coming from a good place. I just thought I should say something about my vote. Thanks.
Any further comments? All right, seeing none, the proper motion is to the Committee of the Whole as amended.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move Senate Bill 162 to the Committee of the Whole as amended.
As a proper motion, Mr. Brown, please take the vote.
Senators. Bright.
Yes.
Cutter.
Yes. Yes.
Doherty.
Yes.
Rizal.
Aye.
Weissman.
Respectfully, no.
Mullica.
Yes.
Madam Chair.
Aye. Aye. That passes on 6-1. Congratulations. You are going to the Committee of the Whole. That concludes our business today for the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. We'll see you tomorrow.