HB22-1289 (Gonzales-Gutierrez & McCluskie/Moreno) Health Benefits For Colorado Children and Pregnant Persons (aka Cover all Coloradans)
Summary
This bill will provide comprehensive public health insurance coverage to children, pregnant and postpartum undocumented Coloradans and make a number of other investments in perinatal care and services in Colorado.
Cover All Coloradans will:
- Provide full health coverage for undocumented pregnant people up to the CHP+ income limit, making Colorado the eighteenth state to provide coverage to pregnant people who would qualify for public insurance except for their immigration status.
- Leverage federal funding match to keep undocumented pregnant people enrolled in coverage for 12 months postpartum, which is the same period of coverage afforded to other perinatal Coloradans on public coverage programs.
- Provide coverage for all children in Colorado, regardless of immigration status, up to the CHP+ eligibility limit.
- Improve the quality of health insurance coverage available through the existing Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise.
- Eliminate CHP+ enrollment fees for all children in Colorado use CHP+ for their health insurance
- Improve the health and wellbeing of all Coloradans during the perinatal period by:
- Expanding access to comprehensive lactation support, including double electric breast pumps for all people enrolled in Medicaid and CHP+ for their insurance coverage.
- Drawing down federal funds to support perinatal and postpartum health priorities determined through a diverse stakeholder process.
- Creating a Special Enrollment Period for pregnancy so that people who are eligible to buy insurance on Connect for Health Colorado can sign up as early as possible in their pregnancies.
- Strengthening a critical state-wide data source on birthing parents through the public health department, to ensure that experiences of birthing people of color are sufficiently represented.
View the fact sheet for this bill in English or Spanish.
View the full list of Cover all Coloradans supporters here.
Position
The Children’s Campaign supports this bill. Health insurance coverage is an important social determinant of health and a building block of family financial security. Perhaps at no time are these benefits more important than during pregnancy and childhood. For decades, Colorado has been working to expand access to excellent prenatal and pregnancy-related care and get every Colorado child covered. Unfortunately, thousands of pregnant people and children with undocumented immigration status in low-income families are still left out. We have the power to ensure these last groups finally have the coverage they need. Colorado must join the growing list of states ensuring that families can get covered, starting with pregnancy and extending through childhood. Better health care for pregnant people and kids is a win for families, communities, and our state’s economic future. We can’t afford to leave any families behind or our whole state will fall behind – it’s time to finish what we started. Cover All Coloradans will improve and expand health coverage options available to children and pregnant people, regardless of immigration status, while leveraging the use of federal dollars the state is currently leaving on the table. It’s not too much to ask that every pregnant person and child in Colorado have access to affordable, comprehensive coverage.
Current Status
In its final concurrence vote, the bill passed out of the House on a vote of 42-23. It now heads to the governor for his signature.
Previous Statuses
May 6, 2022
The bill passed out of the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 21-12 on May 5, 2022 and is being referred back to the House as amended for a concurrence vote.
May 1, 2022
The bill passed out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on a vote of 4-3. Erin Miller, our Vice President of Health Initiatives, testified in support. The bill now heads to Appropriations.
April 22, 2022
The bill passed out of the House on April 22 and now heads to the Senate.
March 25, 2022
The bill passed out of the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee on a vote of 8-4. Erin Miller, Vice President of Health Initiatives, testified in support.
March 18, 2022
The bill was introduced and assigned to the House Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee, where it will be heard upon adjournment on March 25. You can endorse the bill and get engaged at coverallcoloradans.org/endorse.
