Update Air Ambulance Regulation

Under current law, Colorado requires air ambulance services to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) in order to operate legally in the state. However, some of the CAMTS standards relate to an air carrier's rates, routes, and service, which are matters that have been determined to be exclusively subject to federal, not state, regulation.

The act removes direct references to CAMTS accreditation as the necessary and sufficient condition for Colorado licensure and substitutes a regulatory structure in which CAMTS accreditation is one of a number of factors considered by the department of public health and environment in its licensing decisions. Other factors relate to patient care and the health, safety, and welfare of the general public, which are matters subject to state jurisdiction.

The state board of health is granted rule-making authority to set minimum standards for licensure of air ambulance services; issue provisional licenses and recognize licenses issued by other states; waive certain requirements if health and safety are not adversely affected; establish fees; and take disciplinary action, including the assessment of civil penalties, for violation of the rules.

For purposes of implementation, the act appropriates $18,036 to the department of public health and environment and $3,800 to the department of law for legal services. These appropriations come from the fixed-wing and rotary-wing ambulances cash fund created in section 25-3.5-307 (2) (a), C.R.S.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)