Last Wednesday, the current representative of Colorado House District 39 took to social media and in a series of posts incited her followers to harass (or worse) doctors who had testified against a bill that she supports.
Thank you for letting us know the threatening statements towards and inaccurate information about doctors who testified against a bill that our CO House District 39 representative supports. Thanks too for the facts and the medical reports on this important health care issue.
In the interest of concision, I refrained from exploring how the current representative misrepresented the bill.
Below is the bill summary:
*****Under current law, a medical malpractice insurer (insurer) is prohibited from increasing premiums for, refusing to issue, canceling, terminating, or refusing to renew a medical malpractice insurance policy (prohibited actions). The bill permits an insurer to take prohibited actions against an applicant or named insured, including an individual health-care professional or business, or against a health-care facility, such as a hospital or clinic, that allows the use of facilities, equipment, or supplies for, or provides, prescribes, orders, or performs, gender-affirming health-care services for an individual who is a minor under 18 years of age.
The bill also prohibits an insurer from accepting state money for the payment of premiums if the malpractice policy covers actions relating to providing gender-affirming health-care services to minors.*****
And here is how she characterized it:
*****FIVE American Academy of Pediatric Doctors testified against Rep Bottom's bill to protect medical providers who do not want to provide gender-affirming care.*****
.
Doctors are under no obligation to provide gender-affirming care and the Bottoms bill does not offer protection against such an imagined obligation. What the bill in fact does is allow insurers to take steps with respect exclusively to providers of gender-affirming care that insurers under current law are prohibited from undertaking against any medical provider.
Thank you for letting us know the threatening statements towards and inaccurate information about doctors who testified against a bill that our CO House District 39 representative supports. Thanks too for the facts and the medical reports on this important health care issue.
Thank you for that, Theresa.
In the interest of concision, I refrained from exploring how the current representative misrepresented the bill.
Below is the bill summary:
*****Under current law, a medical malpractice insurer (insurer) is prohibited from increasing premiums for, refusing to issue, canceling, terminating, or refusing to renew a medical malpractice insurance policy (prohibited actions). The bill permits an insurer to take prohibited actions against an applicant or named insured, including an individual health-care professional or business, or against a health-care facility, such as a hospital or clinic, that allows the use of facilities, equipment, or supplies for, or provides, prescribes, orders, or performs, gender-affirming health-care services for an individual who is a minor under 18 years of age.
The bill also prohibits an insurer from accepting state money for the payment of premiums if the malpractice policy covers actions relating to providing gender-affirming health-care services to minors.*****
And here is how she characterized it:
*****FIVE American Academy of Pediatric Doctors testified against Rep Bottom's bill to protect medical providers who do not want to provide gender-affirming care.*****
.
Doctors are under no obligation to provide gender-affirming care and the Bottoms bill does not offer protection against such an imagined obligation. What the bill in fact does is allow insurers to take steps with respect exclusively to providers of gender-affirming care that insurers under current law are prohibited from undertaking against any medical provider.