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Committee advances narrower obesity coverage bill after debate over drugs and costs
Summary
Sponsors pared back an initial expansive mandate and advanced Senate Bill 48 with amendments to require large-group insurers to offer behavioral therapy, diabetes prevention program coverage and bariatric surgery coverage, while allowing employers to opt in to GLP‑1 medication coverage.
The House Health & Human Services Committee voted to advance a narrowed version of Senate Bill 48 that would require certain large-group health plans to cover behavioral therapies, the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) or a comparable program, and bariatric surgery, while making coverage of GLP‑1 and other weight-loss medications an employer option.
Representative Mabry, one of the sponsors, opened the bill by citing rising obesity rates and state cost estimates. “The Colorado obesity rate is projected to increase … and the Colorado Department of Health estimates that obesity costs our state $1,600,000,000 annually,” she said. As introduced the bill included requirements across individual, small and large group markets and Medicaid for broader coverage, but sponsors said they negotiated a narrower approach to avoid large fiscal exposures.
Representative Brown, the co-prime sponsor,…
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