What’s Happening in Colorado
* House Speaker Julie McCluskie announced committee appointments for the upcoming 2024 Legislative Session.
The changes include a combined Health and Human Services committee, which was previously the Health and Insurance Committee, and the Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee.
Find the new committee assignments here.
* Colorado’s state Peace Officers Standards and Training board voted unanimously to no longer include “excited delirium” in training documents starting in January
This change comes in the wake of Elijah McClain’s death. Two Legislators – Representative Judy Amabile (D-HD49) and Representative Leslie Herod (D-HD8) have drafted a bill to ban “excited delirium” from other police and EMS training and prohibit coroners from citing it as a cause of death.
Read more about the issue here.
* Governor Jared Polis unveiled his “Road Map to a Future Colorado 2026.”
It focuses on creating more affordable housing, expanding transit options, protecting Colorado resources, and improving air quality.
Read the comprehensive plan here.
A View from Washington, D.C.
* On December 15, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment.
It found that more than 650,000 individuals were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2023 – a 12% increase from the prior year nationwide. In the metro Denver area, the report found homelessness grew 46% from 2022-2023, the second-largest increase. Denver was ranked 5th among major metro areas. Homelessness among families with children grew a troubling 117%.
You can read the full report here.
* Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) joined Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) to introduce the Veterans Mental Health and Addiction Therapy Quality of Care Act.
This bill would require an independent organization to conduct a study to assess the quality of care veterans receive for mental health and substance use services within and outside the Department of Veterans Affairs.
* For the first time, over 400,000 marriage and family therapists and mental health providers can accept Medicare payments.
For decades, Medicare has only covered psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers and services, but many refused to see these patients due to low reimbursement rates and bureaucracy. With regulatory changes, Medicare is expanding the pool of providers to help support our aging population and their mental health needs.
