House Bill 25-1176 Introduced

A Bill for an Act

• Page 1, Line 101Concerning measures to reduce the stigma of behavioral

• Page 1, Line 102health treatment for medical practitioners.

Bill Summary

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)

The bill requires the following regarding the application for a license to practice medicine in Colorado (application) and the questionnaire accompanying the form for a license renewal (questionnaire):

• The application questions reflect the recommendations of the Federation of State Medical Boards and the requirements of the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990";
• The application and questionnaire do not require the disclosure of personal medical or health information that is not relevant to the applicant's ability at the time of application to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care; and
• The application and questionnaire do not include questions seeking information about past health-related conditions that do not impact an applicant's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application.

The bill clarifies that an individual subject to the licensing requirements of the "Colorado Medical Practice Act" is not required to disclose a physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder that no longer impacts the individual's ability to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients.

Current law requires that if a health-care professional has a physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder that renders the person unable to practice the applicable health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients, the licensee, registrant, or certificate holder shall notify the regulator that regulates the person's profession or occupation of the physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or mental health disorder. The bill requires that a health-care professional must additionally 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.

• Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

• Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1.  Legislative declaration. (1)  The general assembly finds and declares that:

• Page 2, Line 3(a)  Physicians and physician assistants experience significantly

• Page 2, Line 4higher rates of suicide compared to the general public, with stigma surrounding mental health care as a major contributing factor;

• Page 2, Line 5(b)  The Physicians Foundation reports that 80% of physicians

• Page 2, Line 6believe stigma exists around mental health care, and a substantial

• Page 3, Line 1percentage of physicians and physician assistants fear professional repercussions if they seek mental health care;

• Page 3, Line 2(c)  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health

• Page 3, Line 3challenges among health-care providers, with medical students and

• Page 3, Line 4residents experiencing even greater mental health burdens than practicing physicians;

• Page 3, Line 5(d)  Research by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine

• Page 3, Line 6indicates that mental health receives disproportionately greater scrutiny

• Page 3, Line 7compared to physical health in licensure applications, which may deter health-care providers from seeking necessary treatment;

• Page 3, Line 8(e)  The Federation of State Medical Boards, Federation of State

• Page 3, Line 9Physician Health Programs, National Institute for Occupational Safety

• Page 3, Line 10and Health, and American Medical Association all support efforts to

• Page 3, Line 11remove stigmatizing questions about mental health diagnosis and treatment from medical licensing and credentialing applications;

• Page 3, Line 12(f)  The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation has identified overly

• Page 3, Line 13broad and invasive mental health questions in licensure applications as

• Page 3, Line 14stigmatizing, discriminatory, and harmful to physician wellness and patient safety;

• Page 3, Line 15(g)  A health-care provider's application or renewal questionnaire

• Page 3, Line 16should not require the disclosure of personal medical or health

• Page 3, Line 17information that is not relevant to the applicant's current ability to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care;

• Page 3, Line 18(h)  A health-care licensing application should not include

• Page 3, Line 19questions seeking information about past health-related conditions that no

• Page 3, Line 20longer impact a licensee's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical

• Page 3, Line 21patient care;

• Page 4, Line 1(i)  Medical students and residents report that stigma and fear of

• Page 4, Line 2disclosing treatment to a future employer or licensure body are prime reasons that they do not seek mental health care;

• Page 4, Line 3(j)  At least 29 states have revised their licensure application language to align with best practices;

• Page 4, Line 4(k)  More than 450 hospitals and health systems have revised their credentialing language to align with best practices; and

• Page 4, Line 5(l)  The state of Colorado has an opportunity to reduce stigma and

• Page 4, Line 6encourage health-care providers to seek care by modernizing its licensure and credentialing applications.

• Page 4, Line 7(2)  Therefore, the general assembly declares that it is in the best

• Page 4, Line 8interest of the people of Colorado to modernize the language in medical

• Page 4, Line 9licensure and credentialing applications to support the well-being and safety of health-care providers and the public.

• Page 4, Line 10SECTION 2.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, amend 12-240-115 as follows:

• Page 4, Line 1112-240-115.  Applications for license. (1)  Every person desiring

• Page 4, Line 12a license to practice medicine shall make application to the board, the

• Page 4, Line 13application to be verified by oath and to be in the form prescribed by the

• Page 4, Line 14board. The application shall be accompanied by the license fee and the

• Page 4, Line 15documents, affidavits, and certificates necessary to establish that the

• Page 4, Line 16applicant possesses the qualifications prescribed by this article 240, apart

• Page 4, Line 17from any required examination by the board. The burden of proof shall be

• Page 4, Line 18upon the applicant, but the board may make such independent

• Page 4, Line 19investigation as it may deem advisable to determine whether the applicant

• Page 4, Line 20possesses the qualifications and whether the applicant has at any time

• Page 4, Line 21committed any of the acts or offenses defined in this article 240 as unprofessional conduct.

• Page 5, Line 1(2)  The board shall ensure that the application questions

• Page 5, Line 2reflect the recommendations of the Federation of State

• Page 5, Line 3Medical Boards, or its successor organization, and the

• Page 5, Line 4requirements of the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990", 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq.

• Page 5, Line 5(3)  The application must not require the disclosure of

• Page 5, Line 6personal medical or health information that is not relevant to

• Page 5, Line 7the applicant's ability at the time of application to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care.

• Page 5, Line 8(4)  The application must not include questions seeking

• Page 5, Line 9information about past health-related conditions that do not

• Page 5, Line 10impact an applicant's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of application.

• Page 5, Line 11SECTION 3.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 12-30-108, amend (1), (2)(a), and (4)(a)(II) as follows:

• Page 5, Line 1212-30-108.  Confidential agreement to limit practice - violation

• Page 5, Line 13grounds for discipline. (1) (a)  If a licensee, registrant, or certificate

• Page 5, Line 14holder has a current physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral

• Page 5, Line 15or health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use

• Page 5, Line 16disorder that renders the person unable to practice the applicable

• Page 5, Line 17health-care profession or occupation with reasonable skill and safety to

• Page 5, Line 18patients or clients, the licensee, registrant, or certificate holder shall notify

• Page 5, Line 19the regulator that regulates the person's profession or occupation of the

• Page 5, Line 20physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral or health disorder,

• Page 5, Line 21mental health disorder, or substance use disorder in a manner and

• Page 5, Line 22within a period determined by the regulator. 

• Page 6, Line 1(b)  The regulator may require the licensee, registrant, or certificate

• Page 6, Line 2holder to submit to an examination or refer the licensee, registrant, or

• Page 6, Line 3certificate holder to a peer health assistance program, if one exists, to

• Page 6, Line 4evaluate the extent of the current physical illness, physical condition,

• Page 6, Line 5or behavioral or health disorder, mental health disorder, or

• Page 6, Line 6substance use disorder and its effect on the licensee's, registrant's, or

• Page 6, Line 7certificate holder's ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients.

• Page 6, Line 8(c)  This section does not require the disclosure of a

• Page 6, Line 9physical illness, physical condition, behavioral health disorder,

• Page 6, Line 10mental health disorder, or substance use disorder that no

• Page 6, Line 11longer impacts a licensee's, registrant's, or certificate holder's

• Page 6, Line 12ability to practice the applicable health-care profession or

• Page 6, Line 13occupation with reasonable skill and safety to patients or clients.

• Page 6, Line 14(2) (a)  Upon determining that a licensee, registrant, or certificate

• Page 6, Line 15holder with a current physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral

• Page 6, Line 16or health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use

• Page 6, Line 17disorder is able to render limited services with reasonable skill and

• Page 6, Line 18safety to patients or clients, the regulator may enter into a confidential

• Page 6, Line 19agreement with the licensee, registrant, or certificate holder in which the

• Page 6, Line 20licensee, registrant, or certificate holder agrees to limit the person's

• Page 6, Line 21practice based on the restrictions imposed by the physical illness, physical

• Page 6, Line 22condition, or behavioral or health disorder, mental health disorder, or substance use disorder, as determined by the regulator.

• Page 6, Line 23(4) (a)  This section does not apply to:

• Page 6, Line 24(II)  A licensee, registrant, or certificate holder subject to

• Page 7, Line 1discipline for habitual or excessive use or abuse of alcohol beverages, a

• Page 7, Line 2habit-forming drug, or a controlled substance as defined in section

• Page 7, Line 318-18-102 (5), except for an individual licensed under article 240 of this title 12.

• Page 7, Line 4SECTION 4.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 12-240-130, add (2)(c) and (2)(d) as follows:

• Page 7, Line 512-240-130.  Renewal, reinstatement, reactivation -

• Page 7, Line 6delinquency - fees - questionnaire. (2) (c)  The questionnaire must

• Page 7, Line 7not require the disclosure of personal medical or health

• Page 7, Line 8information that is not relevant to the licensee's ability at the

• Page 7, Line 9time of renewal to provide safe, competent, and ethical patient care.

• Page 7, Line 10(d)  The questionnaire must not include questions seeking

• Page 7, Line 11information about past health-related conditions that do not

• Page 7, Line 12impact a licensee's ability to practice safe, competent, and ethical patient care at the time of renewal.

• Page 7, Line 13SECTION 5.  In Colorado Revised Statutes, 12-240-121, amend (1)(e) and (1)(i) as follows:

• Page 7, Line 1412-240-121.  Unprofessional conduct - definitions. (1)  "Unprofessional conduct" as used in this article 240 means:

• Page 7, Line 15(e)  Habitual or excessive use or abuse of alcohol, a habit-forming

• Page 7, Line 16drug The use of a substance, including alcohol, an illicit drug,

• Page 7, Line 17or a controlled substance as defined in section 18-18-102 (5), which

• Page 7, Line 18results in the inability to practice with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety;

• Page 7, Line 19(i)  Failing to notify the board, as required by section 12-30-108

• Page 7, Line 20(1), of a current physical illness, physical condition, or behavioral,

• Page 8, Line 1mental health, or substance use disorder that impairs the licensee's

• Page 8, Line 2judgment or impacts the licensee's ability to perform a medical service

• Page 8, Line 3with reasonable skill and safety to patients; failing to act within the

• Page 8, Line 4limitations created by a current physical illness, physical condition, or

• Page 8, Line 5behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorder that renders the

• Page 8, Line 6licensee unable to perform a medical service with reasonable skill and

• Page 8, Line 7safety to the patient; or failing to comply with the limitations agreed to

• Page 8, Line 8under a confidential agreement entered into pursuant to sections

• Page 8, Line 912-30-108 and 12-240-126. This subsection (1)(i) does not require

• Page 8, Line 10the disclosure of a physical illness, physical condition, or

• Page 8, Line 11behavioral, mental health, or substance use disorder that no

• Page 8, Line 12longer impairs the licensee's judgment or impacts the licensee's

• Page 8, Line 13ability to perform a medical service with reasonable skill and safety to patients.

• Page 8, Line 14SECTION 6.  Act subject to petition - effective date. This act

• Page 8, Line 15takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the

• Page 8, Line 16ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except

• Page 8, Line 17that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V

• Page 8, Line 18of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this

• Page 8, Line 19act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take

• Page 8, Line 20effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in

• Page 8, Line 21November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.