Well, it worked so well the first time! Part 1: Thank some Legislators! How about we try it again!
Now that we are are out of the Colorado state House, we now have the Colorado state Senate Health and Human Services to get through:
Where:
Colorado State Capitol
200 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80203
Senate Committee Room 356
When:
Thursday, March 15th
1:30pm
Why:
Support bill HB1204, state bill for the certification of hemodialysis techs.
From what I understand there is only a sponsor on the bill on the Senate side and co-sponsors might come later?
So the Sponsor to thank is Colorado State Senator Betty Boyd, Chair of the Health and Human Services committee and President Pro Tempore: betty.boyd.senateatstate.co.us ph. 303-866-4857
And while we are at it, I think Senator Bob Bacon ought to be thanked for his work on the 2007 bill! His work got us the critical vote to get us out of committee by one vote back in 2007! And who knows, maybe we could hint we wouldn’t mind seeing him as a co-sponsor! Senator Bob Bacon, bob.bacon.senateatstate.co.us ph 303-866-4841
REASONS FOR THE BILL:
- This state bill ties in tech certification with a dialysis clinic’s license. Tech certification is checked at the start of a clinic, during the annual license renewal, and during state inspections - other states don’t do this! California for example only checks every 3 years! We believe this may allow clinics to be less tempted to hire less qualified individuals.
- This bill is a backup – think of it as insurance – if the feds weaken or abolish current regulations.
- Abolishing this bill might encourage those who favor a less-qualified labor force to bring in a watered-down tech certification such as California’s CDC program
- Little fiscal impact: ($1,818 in 2010)
- DORA now recommends it (change from 2007): http://www.dora.state.co.us/opr/archive/2011HemodialysisTechnicians.pdf
Objections:
- Duplicates the federal regulations. Answer: see above
- If home dialysis caregivers don’t require certification, why do techs? Answer: A caregiver specializes in one patient, a tech is required to help a group of people with different reasons for kidney disease - who have other illnesses many times. Also home dialysis patients are usually healthier than the general dialysis population.