DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL - Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday will sign into law two bills that increase disclosures and transparency on free-standing emergency rooms.
It's the first time in five years of such efforts that Republicans and Democrats have joined together and agreed to increase regulations on a burgeoning industry that offers convenience to consumers — but at significant and sometimes surprising prices.
However, Republicans in the Legislature appear unwilling to take an even greater step and demand price controls on the health-care facilities. A third bill on the emergency departments that is moving through the process appears headed for defeat in the Senate.
Free-standing ERs have proliferated in Colorado in the past six years, leaving the state with the third largest amount of these structures in the country, said Sen. John Kefalas, a Fort Collins Democrat and co-sponsor of the two bills that will become law today. Their model is to offer many of the same services as hospital emergency departments, but in locations closer to people’s homes, primarily in suburbs around Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs.
