By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorado will get another $116 million to help launch the states new health exchange, Connect for Health Colorado. Federal cuts known as sequestration chopped $9 million from the states $125 million request. Last month, exchange CEO and Executive Director Patty Fontneau said that some programs may have to withstand higher cuts than others because managers already have signed contracts for services or technology so they cannot spread the cuts evenly across all programs. Myung Oak Kim, director of communications and outreach for the exchange, said the cuts shouldnt impact customers. The reduction in the grant due…
Category: News - Part 7
By Eric Worthan We are all health care consumers, whether paying directly or indirectly for coverage or care. In the past, many people were unaware of specific health care costs because there was little cost-sharing involved, and price transparency in health care has been limited. Yet as patients pay higher out-of-pocket costs, they are taking a closer look at doctor and hospital bills and rightly so. The recent spotlight on facility fees for physicians employed by health systems illustrates one aspect of health care sticker shock. We spend about $2.8 trillion a year on health care; thats almost 18 percent…
By Bob Semro The decision last week to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Acts employer mandate has received lots of attention. Pundits and proponents and opponents of the ACA have argued over the decision. Some pointed to the delay and said it is proof of a train wreck in implementing the health care law. Others said the delay wont mean much at all in the long run. What was missing from the (mostly) political debate was a thorough explanation of the mandate, officially known as the employer responsibility provision. Simply put, the employer-responsibility provision will require some businesses to…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon The Obama Administration may be hitting the brakes on a key component of health reform, but Colorado is pushing the accelerator. Colorado exchange managers have no plans to tinker with the states small business or individual health exchange. To be honest with you, we cant undo our plan, Patty Fontneau, CEO and executive director of Colorados exchange, said during an exchange board meeting on Monday. To not offer choice would cripple us. The Obama Administration last week postponed for one year the requirement that businesses with more than 50 employees provide health insurance across-the-board or face…
By Diane Carman Its much easier to develop innovative health care initiatives in Colorado because were not having the conversation about whos the biggest Bolshevik, said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet at the opening of the Healthy Transitions Colorado collaborative Monday. The goal of the collaborative over the next few years is to save $80 million in health care costs, prevent 8,700 hospital re-admissions and keep people out of the hospital a cumulative 34,000 days, Bennet said, all the while providing greater care for the people you serve and the people I serve. Because Coloradans have shown a willingness to address…
By Tom Walker Included in the laws passed in the waning hours of the 2013 session of the Colorado Legislature is one that has state, county and local officials bewildered. The so-called driving-stoned law, intended to minimize the public health threat of impaired drivers on the roads, is expected to be tough to enforce and likely will spark a host of changes for the legal community. The measure legalizing marijuana for recreational use was passed by voters in November. On the day after Memorial Day, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed measures asking voters to approve taxing the sale of non-medical use…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Citing Colorados reputation as one of the healthiest states in the country, producers of ABCs Extreme Weight Loss are filming the launch of Season 4 at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. (The center) has one of the best weight-management programs in the world and promotes and advances a comprehensive approach to overall wellness, which is an equally important process, J.D. Roth, executive producer, said in a statement. The show documents the 365-day transformation of super-obese people and is expected to start airing in May of 2014. James O. Hill, executive director for the center at…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados health exchange managers are bracing to cut expenses by about $9 million because federal sequestration is expected to axe 7.5 percent from a $125 million federal grant designed to help launch the exchange. Exchange CEO and Executive Director Patty Fontneau said during a finance committee meeting this week that managers are expecting a 7.5 percent cut in the newest implementation grant. Fontneau said some programs might have to withstand higher cuts than others because managers have already signed some contracts for services or technology so they cannot spread the cuts evenly across all programs. Sequestration…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon To call it a disease or not? That is the question. Since leaders of the American Medical Association last week trumped advice from their own committee of experts and declared obesity a disease, speculation has been rife. Will this be a game-changing decision? Or has the tree fallen in the forest and no one cares? Will insurers now pay for obesity care and prevention? Will people carting around extra pounds be convinced to take meds just like those with high blood pressure? Will doctors start talking about obesity with those of us who are elephants in…
By Bob Semro The biggest long-term concern with the American health care system is cost. The affordability of premiums, access to care and the impact of Medicare and Medicaid on state and federal budgets are all linked to the ever-rising costs of health care. Unless we bend the cost curve, the nations health care system will become increasingly unsustainable. The good news is that, even though costs and spending continue to increase, we have started to see a slowdown. Over the years, the news on this front has been consistently bad. For 31 of the last 40 years, health care…