COLORADO

STPA Legislative Needs and Concerns

Healthcare Reform and Mental Health Parity:
1) CPA is an active supporter of mental health parity legislation, which was signed into law in 2007 and enacted in January 2008; the legislation's primary sponsor, state Senator Moe Keller (D-Wheat Ridge, CO) received an award from both CPA (2007 State Legislator of the Year) and APA (2008 State Legislator of the Year) for her efforts in furthering mental health parity and mental health policy.
2) a final report with key recommendations was put forth in January 2008 by a Colorado governor-appointed commission (208, Blue Ribbon Commission); the report includes 5 key recommendations (one of which is a single payer system), which have already led to proposed legislation (e.g., changes to the role of insurance providers and the level of care for Coloradans).

-CPA continues to monitor the healthcare reform efforts in Colorado and educate our membership on the recommendations and potential impacts on consumers and providers of mental health services.

- Scope of Practice: two pieces of proposed legislation were put forth in the past legislative session re: competency evaluations (one for juveniles and one for adults); while the juvenile competency piece died in committee and the adult competency piece was successfully opposed by CPA and coalition partners (psychiatry), these pieces of legislation would have had a significant impact on the definition of "competency" for youth served in Colorado as well as the legal status given to providers in terms of who could perform competency evaluations (psychologists received formal-legal status last year, joining psychiatrists in Colorado; social workers were attempting to be added to the list of legal providers).

- As with healthcare reform, building grassroots efforts and legislative-policy influencing capacity is an ongoing need; CPA continues to monitor scope of practice issues in Colorado and nationwide and educate our membership about the influences on their scope of practice (positive, negative or in-between).