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COPPER urges 9‑year continuation of Medical Practice Act, committee adopts technical strike
Summary
The committee heard COPPER’s sunset review recommending continuation of the Medical Practice Act until 2035, structural and licensing changes, and several clean‑up proposals. Stakeholders testified primarily against changing board composition; the committee removed a proposed expansion by amendment and introduced a revised sunset bill.
Jennifer Lockwood of the Colorado Office of Policy, Research and Regulatory Reform (COPPER) presented the Sunset Review of the Medical Practice Act and urged continuation of the act and board for nine years, citing public protection needs and program size.
Lockwood outlined six recommendations including continuing the act through 2035, authorizing the board president to participate as a full member of licensing panels, amending board composition to balance physician assistants and public members, creating an administrative license category, changing renewal cadences for distinguished foreign teaching physicians, and exempting natural medicine program facilitators from the Medical Practice Act when practicing within that program’s scope.
Physicians who testified — including Dr. Kian Modianlu and Dr. Ramnik Dhaliwal — cautioned against expanding the board’s membership. They argued the current structure preserves peer‑review protections, and that inquiry panels require clinical expertise to assess complex care. Amy Cardone, outside counsel for the Colorado Medical Society, said changes to board composition could weaken peer‑review protections and urged the committee to preserve the board’s current physician majority.
Committee members discussed the recommendations and adopted technical and substantive amendments that removed a recommendation to expand board membership. The committee then introduced the sunset draft as amended for further consideration.
