Legislative Updates

House Bill 1188, sponsored by Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Sens. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City, and Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, implements certain recommendations from the state’s Mandatory Reporter Task Force, including requiring mandatory reporters to inform law enforcement of known or suspected child abuse or neglect to be made within 24 hours or less.

Other provisions of the measure, such as a prohibition on making reports based on a family or child’s race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or disability status or solely based on a reporter’s belief that a child has inadequate “housing, furnishings, income, or clothing,” went into effect upon the law’s passage.

The bill passed on a 43-19 vote in the House and a 27-8 vote in the Senate. As reported in ColoradoPolitics.

On May 31, 2025, Governor Polis signed HB25-1087: Confidentiality Requirements Mental Health Support into law. The bill prohibits a peer support team member from disclosing the confidential communications made by the recipient of peer support during a peer support interaction with specified conditions. Furthermore, the bill expands an exception allowing specified mental health professionals to disclose confidential information when a recipient makes a threat against an individual or themself.

On May 31, 2025, Governor Polis signed HB25-1176: Behavioral Health Treatment Stigma for Providers into law. This bill updates requirements for application for medical board licensees, including adding that: the board shall consider the recommendations of the Federation of State Medical Boards, or its successor organization, and the requirements of the federal “Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”, when developing application questions; asserting that an application must not require the disclosure of personal medical or health information that is not relevant to the applicant’s ability to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care; stating that an application must NOT include questions seeking information about past-health related conditions that do not impact an applicant’s ability to practice safe care. The Board is likewise required to provide information in the application about the board’s paper health assistance program, the applicant’s ability to self-refer to the peer health assistance program at any time, and the applicant’s ability to self-refer in lieu of disclosure to the board. For other health-care boards, the bill requires that a health-care professional must provide notice of a substance use disorder and specifies that the health-care professional is required only to provide notice of a current physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder. 

*MFTs not included in list On June 2, 2026, Gov. Jared Polis signed SB25-146, Fingerprint Based Background Checks, into law. This bill allows a regulator to require an application for licensure, certification, or registration to submit a fingerprint based criminal history record check for the following professions: 

• Audiologists; 

• Certified midwives; 

• Cremationists; 

• Dental hygienists; 

• Dentists; 

• Embalmers; 

• Funeral directors; 

• Licensed professional counselors; 

• Mortuary science practitioners; 

• Natural reductionists; 

• Occupational therapists; 

• Occupational therapy assistants; 

• Physician assistants; 

• Social workers, and; 

• Speech language pathologists. 

Applicants are required to pay any costs associated with the history record check. The applicant shall have their fingerprints taken by a local law enforcement agency, or a third party approved by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. If the results of the criminal history record check reveal a record of arrest without a disposition, the Department shall require the applicant to submit a name-based judicial record check. Note that requirements for these professions were already in place. This bill aligns language with federal law.

On May 5, 2025, Gov. Jared Polis signed SB25-152: Health-Care Practitioner Identification Requirements into law. Beginning June 1, 2026, this bill requires advertisements for healthcare-related services that identify a healthcare practitioner by name must also identify the type of state-issued license, certificate, or registration held by the practitioner. Additionally, under this bill, a healthcare practitioner providing services in a general hospital licensed or certified by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is required to display a name tag or other worn display that includes the type of state-issued license, certificate, or registration held by the practitioner. The name tag must be visible and apparent during patient encounters. Furthermore, a healthcare practitioner must verbally communicate to a patient the type of state-issued license, certificate, or registration they hold when establishing a practitioner-patient relationship.

New Legislation Ensures Equal Coverage for Mental Health Services.

The Colorado General Assembly has passed HB25-1002, mandating that health insurance plans provide coverage for behavioral, mental health, and substance use disorders equal to that for physical illnesses. This legislation requires insurers to use standardized, evidence-based criteria from recognized psychiatric organizations when determining coverage for mental health services. The bill also specifies criteria for utilization review, service intensity, levels of care, and provider reimbursement, ensuring fair and adequate coverage. This move aims to eliminate discrepancies in coverage, ensuring that Coloradans receive necessary mental health care without facing additional barriers.

See bill summary here