From the Summer 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association
By Lauren Harvey, CDA Director of Government Relations
The Colorado General Assembly completed its 2025 legislative session May 7. It was a very busy and successful session for dentistry. As detailed in this Journal issue, the Dental Practice Act Sunset Review Bill — Senate Bill 194 — was the primary focus for the CDA in the 120-day session. That said, the CDA was also very active concerning the state budget, particularly regarding Medicaid dental funding.
One of the biggest responsibilities for the Colorado legislature is crafting the annual state budget. Each year, the state Joint Budget Committee hears from various state departments and interest groups on funding requests for the next fiscal year. The resulting legislation is a bill known as the “Long Bill” (short for Long Appropriations Bill).
One of the 2025 legislative session’s most marked issues was the state’s $1.2 billion funding shortfall going into the next state fiscal year (which begins July 1, 2025). While budget challenges are not unusual in Colorado, given state constitutional requirements of a balanced budget and of restrictions on growth of government (through what is called “TABOR”), this year’s budget shortfall was particularly severe, and state economic forecasters have noted that budget issues will very likely continue into future years.
To address the $1.2 billion state funding shortfall, each state agency was required to submit a budget plan that made cuts in their program areas. The state department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) proposed two cuts to Medicaid dental specifically 1. reducing the increase to critical dental rates that had just been implemented in July 2024, as championed by CDA in the 2024 legislative session, and 2. re-instating an adult dental benefit cap, which the CDA had been successful in removing in 2023.
The CDA worked with our contract lobbyists and our Medicaid Committee to do extensive advocacy to the Joint Budget Committee legislators—four Democrats and two Republicans charged with crafting the annual budget bill. Due to these tireless advocacy efforts, the CDA was successful in defending against cuts to Medicaid dental, and in doing so, kept intact the 2024 increases to select Medicaid dental codes, and prevented the reinstatement of an adult dental benefit cap. In addition, the Joint Budget Committee included in the Long Bill an increase of 1.6% across the board to all Medicaid rates–inclusive of all dental codes. The governor signed this budget bill on April 28, setting into place the small, but significant for this year, rate increase for Medicaid.
In addition to the Sunset Review and budget accomplishments this session, the CDA monitored nearly 40 bills related to dentistry or healthcare. Some of the key issues this legislative session included:
- Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program: SB25-314 (PASSED) implements several provider-friendly changes to the Medicaid RAC program, regarding audits of Medicaid claims. Changes to the program include reducing timeframes for lookbacks on audits, improving the process for appealing an audit finding and limiting the number of audits a provider may be subject to annually.
- Limitations on Restrictive Employment Agreements: SB25-083 (PASSED) limits an employer’s use of non-compete clauses for those who practice in medicine, dentistry or advanced practice registered nursing. An article specifically addressing this bill is also included in this issue of the Journal.
- Fingerprint-Based Criminal History Record Checks: SB25-146 (PASSED) allows regulators of certain professions and occupations, including dentists and dental hygienists, to require an applicant for a license, certification or registration to submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history record check.
- Behavioral Health Treatment Stigma for Providers: HB25-1176 (PASSED) makes changes to the application for a license, and form for license renewal, to practice medicine in Colorado, by removing questions that require disclosure of personal medical or health information that is not relevant to the applicant’s ability at the time of application to provide safe, competent and ethical patient care. The CDA monitored this bill as a potential model for future legislation related to the forms of licensure for dentistry.
The full legislature now stands in recess until next year’s session, which begins Jan. 14, 2026, barring any special legislative sessions being called by the governor. In news outlets, Gov. Polis has indicated that he may consider calling a special session in 2025 if U.S. Congress follows through on spending cuts. If so, the governor may reconvene the legislature to deal with impacts to programs such as Medicaid. If this occurs, the CDA will closely monitor and engage in any special session legislative activity. Outside of the potential for a special session, budget and policy discussions will also continue over the interim with a Nov. 1 deadline in place for the governor to submit fiscal year 2026-2027 department budget requests to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee.
The CDA will continue to closely monitor and engage in all budget and policy interim discussions that could impact dentistry.
If you have questions regarding the CDA’s legislative efforts, you can contact 303-996-2847 or lauren@cdaonline.org.
