Senator Moreno’s Bipartisan Hospital Transparency Bill Clears the Senate
March 14, 2019
Denver, CO – The Colorado State Senate today voted 34-to-1 to pass HB19-1001, Hospital Transparency Measures to Analyze Efficacy, a bill sponsored by Senator Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City) to increase hospital spending transparency and reduce healthcare costs. This bill now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Roughly 40 percent of Colorado’s total healthcare costs come from hospital care – and although hospitals receive hundreds of millions of dollars from state and federal governments, particularly in rural areas, privately insured individuals still face increasing costs.
“Coloradans have made it clear that lowering healthcare costs should be a top priority this session,” said Senator Moreno. “Today, the Senate delivered on this effort by passing an important bill that will finally address the high costs of hospital care and I look forward to Governor Polis signing it into law.”
HB19-1001 will require hospitals to provide annual reports tracking their costs and spending. By understanding hospitals’ financial expenditures, this legislation will help Colorado determine why costs are so high and help us hold hospitals accountable for lowering costs.
The bill was sponsored by Representative Chris Kennedy (D-Jefferson County) in the Colorado House of Representatives where it passed with bipartisan support with a vote of 39-22 on January 31, 2019.
To learn more about HB19-1001, please visit https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1001.
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