Senate Advances Fenberg’s Bipartisan Bill to Increase Access to Life-Saving Medications

HB23-1071 would allow psychologists who hold a prescription certificate to prescribe certain mental health medications

DENVER, CO – Senate President Steve Fenberg’s, D-Boulder, bill to grant mental health professionals the ability to safely prescribe life-saving mental health medication cleared the Senate today.

Cosponsored by Senator Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, HB23-1071 would establish rigorous standards and education requirements to give specially trained psychologists prescriptive authority, addressing burdensome wait times and delays. 

“Across the state, we are seeing a prolonged mental health crisis, particularly among our youth,” said Fenberg. “Every day, Coloradans battling mental health struggles face prohibitively long wait times to receive help and a lack of providers who can prescribe them with medication they need, only worsening our crisis. Expanding prescriptive authority to specially trained psychologists will help Coloradans access the life-saving medications that they need on a timeline that makes sense.”

The bill would allow psychologists who have obtained a Ph.D in psychology or Psy.D, completed a master of science program in clinical psychopharmacology, passed the psychopharmacology examination, undergone an independent peer review process, and completed hundreds of hours in diverse clinical settings to prescribe mental health medications, not including narcotic drugs. 

Psychologists seeking prescriptive authority would also be required to complete an additional, individual prescriptive license application. Once licensed, psychologists must maintain an ongoing, collaborative relationship with their patients’ primary care doctor and complete 40 hours of continuing education every two years.

HB23-1071 now heads back to the House for concurrence of amendments. You can follow the bill’s progress HERE.