Want a fun diversion? Play the budget game. Zachary Barr of Colorado Public Radio makes it simple to understand why Colorados health programs and higher ed will take big hits as lawmakers slice and dice to balance the budget this year.
Category: News - Part 29
Christopher Bartkowicz, a Highlands Ranch man who ran a medical-marijuana-growing operation from the basement of his home, was sentenced this morning to five years in federal prison. Read the full report in the Denver Post.
Just call me liar of the year Reprinted with permission from Kaiser Health News ByMichael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute Tomorrow night, President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a chamber that just voted overwhelmingly to repeal his health care law. Before you believe anything I might have to say about that, however, theres something you should know: I am a liar. Just before the holidays, the fact-checking journalists at PolitiFact.com gave their Lie of the Year award to the claim that ObamaCare is a government takeover of health care.Backed…
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.
Two of the central promises of President Barack Obamas health care overhaul law are unlikely to be fulfilled, Medicares independent economic expert told Congress on Wednesday.The landmark legislation probably wont hold costs down, and it wont let everybody keep their current health insurance if they like it, Chief Actuary Richard Foster told the House Budget Committee. Read the Associated Press story.
Governors have deep differences over national health-care reform, but when it comes to insurance exchangesa centerpiece of the sprawling new federal law intended to make it easier for individuals and small businesses to shop for comparable coveragenearly every state is moving ahead with implementation. They are working under crushing deadlines, often with staffs thinned by layoffs. Read the report from Stateline.
The emotional health of college freshmen who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago. Read the New York Times report.
The Houston hospital where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is being treated is one of the few hospitals in the country using cognitive rehabilitation therapy. The Pentagons health program, Tricare, hasrefused to cover cognitive rehabilitation therapy for the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain injuries in the line of duty. Read the report from ProPublica.
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,…