HB 1336 CO Became Law
Increase Access to Pharmacy Services
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Summary
This bill expands pharmacist services in Colorado by requiring health benefit plans and Medicaid to reimburse pharmacists for services within their scope of practice without requiring collaboration agreements with physicians. The bill prohibits insurance carriers from discriminating against pharmacists based on their license type in participation, referrals, or reimbursement decisions. It also expands pharmacist prescriptive authority to include non-controlled drugs for children ages 5-11 for minor or self-limiting conditions, with notification to or referral to primary care providers required for patients under 18. Additionally, the bill establishes procedures for final product verification in pharmacies, allowing delegation to certified technicians and requiring quality assessment systems, with rules to be adopted by December 31, 2026.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill (from the OpenStates abstract — no full text available yet) — neutral, and may be imperfect.
Official abstract
If certain conditions are met, the act requires health benefit plans that provide hospital, surgical, or medical expense insurance to provide reimbursement for health-care services provided by a pharmacist that are within the pharmacist's scope of practice without entering into a collaborative pharmacy practice agreement. Similarly, under the medical assistance program (medicaid), the act authorizes reimbursement for services that are within a pharmacist's scope of practice and not duplicative of other pharmacist services or programs reimbursed by medicaid. Further, solely on the basis of the type of license or certification, a health benefit plan or health insurance company (carrier) shall not discriminate against a pharmacist who is acting within the scope of the pharmacist's license or certification under state law, with respect to participation, referral, reimbursement of covered services, or indemnification, or prohibit a pharmacist from membership in a provider network; except that, in selecting pharmacist providers, the act does not:Prohibit a health benefit plan or carrier from including providers in its provider network only to the extent necessary to meet the needs of the plan or from limiting referrals or establishing quality control measures;Require a health benefit plan or carrier to contract with any provider willing to abide by the terms and conditions for participation established by the health benefit plan or carrier; orRequire coverage for any health-care service that is not otherwise covered. The act makes changes to the definitions in the pharmacy practice statutes to include a definition for 'final product verification'. For drug, device, or product orders that are not for controlled substances, final product verification may be delegated by a supervising pharmacist to a certified pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern. A pharmacy or other outlet shall have a continuous quality assessment system in place to periodically verify the accuracy of the final drug, device, or product and must create a plan for final product verification, including how pharmacists' hours will be maintained to provide direct patient care. The state board of pharmacy is required to adopt rules relating to final product verification no later than December 31, 2026. Under current law, a pharmacist may administer certain tests to patients who are 12 years old or older for certain conditions and prescribe drugs to treat the tested conditions. The act adds to the definition of the 'practice of pharmacy' independent prescriptive authority for drugs that are not controlled substances, drug categories, or devices that are prescribed to patients who are 5 years old or older but under 12 years old for conditions that do not require a new diagnosis, that are minor and self-limiting, or that have a test that guides diagnosis and are not medications that may only be prescribed pursuant to a certified education program and a limited distribution network. If a pharmacist tests or treats any patient who is under 18 years old, the act requires a pharmacist to notify the patient's primary care provider consistent with health-care privacy laws or, if the patient does not have or disclose a primary care provider, refer the patient to a primary care provider for further care.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsors (4)
- M. Lindsay Democratic · sponsor
- T. Winter Republican · sponsor
- L. Cutter Democratic · sponsor
- R. Pelton Republican · sponsor
36 coauthors / cosponsors
- J. Bacon Democratic · cosponsor
- C. Barron Republican · cosponsor
- A. Boesenecker Democratic · cosponsor
- K. Brown Democratic · cosponsor
- J. Caldwell Republican · cosponsor
- C. Clifford Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Duran Democratic · cosponsor
- L. Goldstein Democratic · cosponsor
- R. Gonzalez Republican · cosponsor
- D. Johnson Republican · cosponsor
- B. Marshall Democratic · cosponsor
- T. Mauro Democratic · cosponsor
- J. McCluskie Democratic · cosponsor
- K. McCormick Democratic · cosponsor
- K. Nguyen Democratic · cosponsor
- A. Paschal Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Rutinel Democratic · cosponsor
- G. Rydin Democratic · cosponsor
- L. Smith Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Soper Republican · cosponsor
- K. Stewart Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Ball Democratic · cosponsor
- S. Bright Republican · cosponsor
- J. Carson Republican · cosponsor
- M. Catlin Republican · cosponsor
- J. Coleman Democratic · cosponsor
- T. Exum Democratic · cosponsor
- J. Gonzales Democratic · cosponsor
- I. Jodeh Democratic · cosponsor
- C. Kipp Democratic · cosponsor
- C. Kolker Democratic · cosponsor
- J. Marchman Democratic · cosponsor
- D. Roberts Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Snyder Democratic · cosponsor
- K. Wallace Democratic · cosponsor
- M. Weissman Democratic · cosponsor
Action history (14)
- May 29, 2026 Governor Signed · executive
- May 22, 2026 Sent to the Governor · executive
- May 22, 2026 Signed by the President of the Senate · upper
- May 22, 2026 Signed by the Speaker of the House · lower
- May 7, 2026 House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass · lower
- May 6, 2026 Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments · upper
- May 5, 2026 Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee · upper
- Apr 30, 2026 Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole · upper
- Apr 27, 2026 Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Health & Human Services · upper
- Apr 21, 2026 House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments · lower
- Apr 20, 2026 House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor · lower
- Apr 3, 2026 House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments · lower
- Mar 31, 2026 House Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole · lower
- Mar 17, 2026 Introduced In House - Assigned to Health & Human Services · lower
Full text
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