Category: Legislation - Part 14

Opinion: Affordable Care Act saving seniors money, closing ‘donut hole’

By Bob Semro Prescription drugs are a big part of the monthly budget for many seniors on Medicare, and provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are working to lower those costs. In 2011, 3.6 million Medicare recipients nationwide saved $2.1 billion in prescription drug costs, according to estimates released last week by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In Colorado, 39,746 Medicare recipients saved $22.8 million on prescription drugs, or $579 per person on average, according to these estimates. HHS projects these savings will increase over time totaling nearly $4,200 for the average Medicare recipient by 2020….

Opinion: Medical marijuana industry welcomes regulation

By Michael Elliott and Norton Arbelaez Staff Sergeant Mary McNeely joined the military, went to Iraq and served her country with honor. While there, she was injured in a car bombing. Upon returning to Colorado Springs, physicians at the Veterans Administration prescribed her narcotic pain medications to treat her various injuries. Nonetheless, her health kept deteriorating. The drugs did not effectively treat her pain, made her irritable, nauseous and unable to function. She grew distant from her daughter and husband. Through Colorados medical marijuana system, she discovered that cannabis controlled her pain and nausea with minimal side-effects. As a result,…

Senate committee votes to restore Medicaid funds for circumcision

By Diane Carman Despite the spirited testimony of seven opponents to routine circumcision, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Thursday voted 6 to 3 to restore Medicaid funding for the procedure. A change in the long bill, the budget document developed by the Joint Budget Committee, dropped funding for the procedure last year, making Colorado one of 18 states to defund circumcision under Medicaid. Senate Bill 90, introduced by Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver, would restore the funding, estimated at $186,500 annually. Foster told the committee that the bill was about disease prevention, fairness and social justice. More important, she…

Clarity on health law expected from high court

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an unprecedented five hours of oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act early next year and should rule by next summer in the midst of the 2012 presidential campaign. Colorado is one of 25 states that have joined Florida and the National Federation of Independent Business in challenging the Affordable Care Act. The justices could invalidate the most controversial part of the law, the individual mandate, which requires all individuals to buy health insurance. Legal scholars and lower court judges have opposing views on whether the individual…

Opinion: We can’t afford to turn our backs on victims of mental illness

By Lacey Berumen As a special committee of Congress takes on the important mission of reducing our countrys federal deficit, we must not lose sight of the need to protect some of our nations most vulnerable citizens those suffering from mental illness. Congress understandably will have to make some tough choices, but it also must set priorities. On the heels of Mental Illness Awareness Week, observed earlier this month, the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Colorado is imploring Congress to oppose cuts to Medicare and Medicaid that could imperil the estimated 195,000 Coloradans living with mental illness. This special…

Opinion: Medicare, Medicaid reach milestone,
 but budget battle could bring changes

By Bob Semro July 30, 1965, was a milestone in American history. On that day, the Social Security Act of 1965 was signed into law. That legislation, implemented a year later (45 years ago), introduced two new programs, Medicare and Medicaid. We take them for granted now, often without realizing how much they have achieved and how much we rely on them. In 1964, before the implementation of Medicare, 49 percent of Americans 65 years and older had no health care coverage and 30 percent of seniors lived below the poverty line. The average life expectancy in the United States…

Free birth control: Will it reduce unwanted pregnancies?

By Myung Oak Kim As a 20-year-old college student, Emma Carpenter faces a dilemma common among young women: how to access and pay for birth control. The Denver native gets oral contraceptives, through the health clinic on the University of Colorado Boulder campus where she is entering her senior year. Emmas pills initially cost her $50 a month, so she switched to a cheaper pill, which carries more side effects, but costs only $20 a month. Emma says she considers herself fortunate to have the awareness and the financial means to regularly use contraception. One of her friends cant afford…

Colorado Health Symposium forums available online

Student bloggers and live video streaming via the Internet will expand the reach of the sold-out Colorado Health Symposium, which runs Wednesday through Friday at the Keystone Conference Center. The agenda includes debates and discussions on health policy at both the national and regional levels. Live streaming of the forums will be broadcast via Ustream. Symposium Universityis designed to extend the content from the seminar into the classroom. Seven student bloggers will provide information throughout the three-day event. Comments are encouraged via Facebook and Twitter.

Opinion: Deficit-reduction plans target
 provider fees, Medicaid support

By Bob Semro The Health Care Affordability Act of 2009 is one of Colorados most effective reforms, but the program it fostered could be in jeopardy because budget-cutters in Washington are targeting the federal funding that makes the act work. As talks continue on deficit reduction and increasing the debt ceiling, a number of proposals are zeroing in on the federal matching funds that cover hospital provider fees and help support Medicaid funding. Colorado is not alone among states that could lose funds. The Health Care Affordability Act, with the agreement and support of state legislators and the Colorado Hospital…

Opinion: Businesses, communities key to health care debate

By Anne Warhover Theres been a lot of talk both fiery rhetoric and thoughtful discourse on the national stage about fixing health care since Congress and President Obama took a crack at overhauling the entire system last year. Fast-forwarding to mid-2011, health care reform is moving along, but many key provisions still face legislative, judicial and budgetary scrutiny not to mention an onslaught of partisan bickering and negative ads from both sides of the political aisle. Whether the pillars of the Affordable Care Act and the health care debate succeed in expanding access, improving quality and reducing costs, one fact…