Compromise to Modernize Liability Caps Passes State Legislature, Averting Disaster at the Ballot and Stabilizing Health Care System

Medical community takes leadership role in shepherding HB24-1472 across the finish line

Denver – May 7, 2024: Coloradans Protecting Patient Access (CPPA) and its health care industry coalition members today joined Governor Polis, bipartisan legislative leaders, the business community and consumer and patient advocacy groups in acknowledging the importance of passing HB24-1472, a legislative compromise to safeguard health care access and patient safety improvement efforts.

HB24-1472 increases non-economic damage caps to $1.5 million for general liability and $875,000 for medical malpractice. The bill also makes changes to wrongful death damages and definitions and adjusts caps for inflation every two years. Most importantly, as a result of the compromise, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association (CTLA) has agreed to withdraw its proposed ballot initiatives that, if passed, would have had detrimental impacts on health care accessibility, affordability and quality in Colorado. CPPA has also agreed to withdraw its proposed initiatives.

“The most immediate win of this compromise is the withdrawal of ballot measures that would have potentially eliminated non-economic damage caps altogether and obliterated peer review protections that promote patient safety in medical care. This would have risked access to care and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Coloradans, particularly those in underserved and rural communities,” said Dr. Omar Mubarak, president of the Colorado Medical Society. “Instead, the medical community did the right thing by our patients and compromised on the numbers in order to preserve the cap, protect confidentiality and stabilize our health care system as a whole. We are grateful to Governor Polis and our legislative sponsors for getting this done at the state Capitol instead of punting it to the ballot, which would have resulted in a divisive, expensive and potentially detrimental fight.”

“This legislation is an important step in preserving access to high-quality health care for Coloradans and comes at a time when the majority of our hospitals are losing money or do not have sustainable margins. A responsible solution to maintain both a stable liability climate and our ability to improve patient safety and quality was vital to our hospitals,” said Jeff Tieman, president and CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association.

“Our coalition has advocated for a timely and reasonable increase to the non-economic damage cap this legislative session to ensure our patients are fairly compensated for their injuries, which is why we proactively brought forward Senate Bill-130 and held a critical seat at the table to advance House Bill 1472,” said Tamra Ward, executive director of CPPA. “This is a more dramatic increase to the non-economic damage cap than we were hoping, and as a result, we do have concerns about the increase to health care costs for patients. Through our health care coalition members, we look forward to ongoing work with our partners and state leaders to find ways to make health care more affordable in our state for all.”

“There’s so much at stake for reproductive and sexual health care providers in 2024 and beyond,” said Adrienne Mansanares, president & CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “We appreciate the hard work of our state leaders and coalition partners in coming together to build a balanced solution. We are proud to have played a role in ensuring a solution that is critical to preserving access to care for people seeking reproductive health services.”

For additional information on HB-1472, visit https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1472

About Coloradans Protecting Patient Access
We are a broad coalition of Colorado-based organizations that represent nurses, health facilities, dentists, physicians, women’s health advocates and other health care professionals. We work to maintain a stable medical liability environment that protects patients and providers by containing costs and ensuring access to care. By taking a balanced approach that considers the interests of everyone involved in the medical care delivery system, we advocate for the overall well-being of Coloradans.