A House committee gave the go-ahead to a controversial bill that would allow Colorado to join other states in opting out of national health care reform that was passed last year.
House Bill 1273, dubbed the Health Care Opportunity and Patient Empowerment (HOPE) Act, would create an interstate compact that would trump federal law.
“HOPE is our way of telling Washington, D.C. that the changes ‘Obama care’ brought to our state simply do not work,” said Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, the bill’s sponsor.
Stephens, the House Majority Leader, is also the sponsor of Senate Bill 200, which would set up health benefits exchanges in Colorado, which is a central facet of health care reform.
H.B. 1273 next heads to the House Appropriations Committee before it reaches the House floor for debate and a vote.
It’s near certain that the bill, if approved by the full House, will die in the Democrat-controlled state Senate
