Eye on the Legislature

March 19, 2018

House Bill 18-1252: Cheating in academia happens in a number of ways, but with the advent of the internet, the availability of sources grew exponentially. HB 18-1252, titled “Unlawful Sale of Academic Materials for Submission to an Institution of Higher Education” is one long in need of attention.

HB 1252 adds Section 18-13-131 to Section 1 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, and defines the conduct as “A person commits unlawful sale of academic materials for submission to an institution of higher education if:

  •  If the person sells or offers to sell an assignment to another person knowing, or under the circumstances having reason to know, that the whole or a substantial part of the assignment is intended to be submitted under a student’s name in fulfillment of the requirements for a degree, diploma, certificate, or course of study at any institution of higher education;
  • The person sells or offers to sell to another person any assistance in the preparation of an assignment knowing, or under the circumstances having reason to know, that the whole or a substantial part of the assignment is intended to be submitted under a student’s name in fulfillment of the requirements for a degree, diploma, certificate, or course of study at an institution of higher education;
  • The person sells or offers to sell another person a document or service that provides answers for an online exam that is administered pursuant to a course of study at any institution of higher education; or
  • The person sells or offers to sell a service that completes on behalf of a student an online exam that is administered pursuant to a course of study at any institution of higher education.

      But, HB 1252 includes these affirmative defenses to the crime of unlawful sale of academic materials for submission to an institution of higher education if the person renders for a fee:

  • Tutorial assistance if the assistance is not intended to be submitted in whole or in substantial part as an assignment or as an answer to an only exam; or
  • Service in the form of typing, transcribing, assembling, reproducing, or editing an assignment or, answer to an online exam if this service is not intended to make substantive changes in the assignment or answer to an online exam.

   Some comments from the fiscal impact statement and probably accounts for  some of the basis of the bill:

  • The sale of academic materials for submission to an institution of higher education is not currently prohibited;
  • It is assumed that individual schools have policies in place to monitor for and respond to incidents of suspected plagiarism and the submission of academic materials not attributable to the student; and
  • Based on responses from Colorado institutions of higher education when canvassed for the bill, the fiscal note assumes all impacts are minimal.

   While Colorado institutions have policies in place, adding this new criminal offense to the Colorado Revised Statutes provides the attorney general and each district attorney with authority to apply to any court with jurisdiction for injunctive relief.

Sponsors of House Bill 18-1252:  Representatives Dylan Roberts (D-Eagle, Routt) and James D. Wilson, (R-Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Park) 866-2747; and Senator Kevin Priola (R-Adams) 866-4855.

House Bill 18-1283:  Health care providers must include certain identifying information on all claims for reimbursement for health care services for non-emergency care for common conditions at freestanding emergency departments. The General Assembly made these findings and declared that:

  • Health care spending accounts for over 17% of the United States Economy;
  • Health care costs in Colorado continue to increase, and spending on health care is growing faster than the economy as a whole;
  • More accountability for and transparency in health care system costs is needed so that consumers can make better health care decisions and policymakers can finds ways to address rising health care costs;
  • In Colorado, 39 cents of every dollar spent on health care is for hospital care:
  • Hospitals and other organization health care providers have expanded to create a number of off-campus or separate physical locations for delivery of health care (“off-campus locations”), which include freestanding emergency departments. In 2016, there were 37 freestanding emergency departments in operation in Colorado;
  • When consumers seek non-emergency care for common conditions at freestanding emergency departments, delivery of that level of care in that setting can increase costs in the overall health care system;
  • Coloradans deserve to have information about the costs associated with seeking services at off-campus locations, including freestanding emergency departments;
  • In many cases, off-campus locations share the same identifier for billing purposes as their affiliated hospital or organizational health are provider, and because the costs associated with care delivered at off-campus locations are not transparent, it may be impossible for consumers to understand the basis for charges and for policymakers to evaluate the effects of these costs on overall system costs;
  • Under federal regulations, an organization health care provider that has separate physical locations, referred to as “subparts” of the organization provider, may obtain a unique identifier for each subpart, which facilitates identifying the types of health care services and the location where the services are provider. 

   The provisions of HB 1282 requires “off-campus locations of a hospital to obtain and use a unique National Provider Identifier (NPI) code used by the main campus of the hospital starting January 1, 2019, and that “each organizational health care provider that participates in the Medicaid program to obtain a unique NPI code for each subpart and location at which it provides services.”

The definition for NPI codes are ones that are issued to health care providers by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Such codes are issued by the federal government at no cost to registering entities.

HB 1282 on first reviewing seems a lot of words about a small code, but the national statistics on duplicate billings and worst of all, outright fraud in billings must be dealt with so this bill may be a good start.

Sponsors of House Bill 18-1282:  Representatives Susan Lontine (D-Denver, Jefferson) 866-2965 and Lang Sias (R-Jefferson) 866-2962; and Senators Jim Smallwood (R-Douglas) 866-4869 and John Kefalas (D-Larimer) 866-4841.

Senate Bill 18-173: Colorado’s “cork and carry” policy allows certain licensed establishments to sell one partially consumed and resealed bottle of wine to a customer (to be consumed off the licensed premises “as long as the container does not exceed 750 milliliters of wine and the licensee has meals available for consumption). SB 173 “clarifies that the specified licensees may instead have sandwiches and light snacks available for consumption.”

The following license types is permitted to sell wine under the “cork and carry” policy:

  • wine manufacturer;
  • limited winery;
  • hotel and restaurant;
  • brew pub;
  • vintner’s restaurant;
  • club;
  • distillery pub; or
  • lodging and entertainment facility.

 Sponsors of Senate Bill 18-173:  Senator Bob Gardner (R-El Paso) 866-4880; and Representative Leslie Herod (D-Denver) 866-2959.

The reader's comments or questions are always welcome. E-mail me at doris@dorisbeaver.com.

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