Doctor asks, Why did you come to the ERtoday? This question emphasizingtoday is common practice in emergency departments helps us figure out how urgent a patients illness might be. But its a loaded question. Rephrased, it could easily mean, Do youreally believe you are seriously ill, or is it just that you couldnt wait to see a regular doctor? Read the full report from Time.
Category: Health Care Industry - Part 17
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Broomfield At age 3, Maria Serranos family learned that she had a dangerous growth of blood vessels in her brain. She then endured 23 procedures to shrink the growth a surgery every six weeks. Now 16, Maria is doing well and made the National Honor Society at her high school this year. She has some trouble with reading and writing, but the rare arteriovenous malformation that she was born with has not caused serious subsequent health challenges. Even though she doesnt have problems, we worry any time she gets the sniffles, said Marias father, Toby Serrano….
By Katie McCrimmon Colorado lawmakers are targeting $50 million from the hospital provider fee to fund Medicaid spikes as the state faces a billion-dollar budget shortfall this year. The themes of this years legislative session will likely be creative budget dances like the dip into the provider fee, and cuts, cuts and more cuts. Lawmakers must balance the budget and are considering slashing everything from the popular school breakfast program for poor children to pet programs for veterans, the unemployed and other interest groups. During a Joint Budget Committee briefing with both the Senate and House health committees last week,…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Major national health insurance carriers that have dropped child-only health plans in Colorado and throughout the country may be forced back into the childrens market if they wish to continue selling lucrative individual health insurance policies in Colorado. Childrens advocates, industry representatives and state officials have been meeting with lawmakers to draft a new law that likely will move forward in the coming weeks in the Colorado legislature. The measure has not been introduced yet. Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, will be sponsoring the measure in the Senate while Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver and Rep. Ken Summers,…
By Dr. Linda Gorman This years budget hearing documents show that officials at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing rate a piece of legislation, the 2009 Colorado Health Care Affordability Act, as their most effective program. Official response to HB11-1025, a bill introduced to repeal the tax levied by the act, will make it clear whether state officials seek to serve Colorado citizens or special interests seeking to prey upon them. If truth in advertising applied to legislation, the acts title would have landed someone in jail. In its first year, it raised health care costs by…
Is health insurance coverage of infertility treatments an essential benefit to help people manage a medical disorder? Or is it a life-enhancing benefit, nice to have perhaps but not essential because it doesnt sustain a persons life? Read the report from Washington Post
Federal agents recovered $2.5 billion from health care fraud judgments in the budget year that ended in September, a record-breaking amount they credit to whistle-blowers and a renewed effort from the Obama administration. Read the USA Today report.
There are many reasons why patients may not be getting preventive services. But the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the sweeping health reform law passed this year, is attempting to remedy at least one of them: cost. Read the Los Angeles Times story.