By Dr. Anthony Vigil None of us is competent to make the decision when to end life. We just dont, and never will, have all the data. Since we cannot see into the mind or the heart, we cannot weigh all the factors that may be going into a patients decision to end life. Patients are not obligated to fully disclose everything. We have no idea what is going on in the concious or unconcious of a person during the last moments. When we artificially bring them to the last moment, we are interfering with that process. In the Netherlands,…
Category: Opinion - Part 6
By Dr. Jay Want I do a fair amount of work in payment and delivery system reform in various communities around the country.I have been speaking to physicians about change coming for over a decade.If you have done any of this work, you may have had this common experience: that change is hard and people have to have a really good reason to change the status quo.I admit it sometimes seemed to me that change would never come. But lately I have noticed some of the conversations are different.I have been in a couple of meetings recently where audience physicians…
By Bob Semro Colorados Health Benefit Exchange is on schedule and heading for a successful startup on Oct. 1, 2013, top officials told lawmakers on Thursday. On that date, Colorado citizens and small businesses (with 50 or fewer employees) will be able to easily compare and shop for affordable health insurance coverage in a brand-new online marketplace. The exchange is a key feature of the Affordable Care Act and is designed to help more Coloradans get insurance. Through the exchange, Coloradans will be able to purchase insurance with the help of federal tax credits. One goal of the exchange is…
By Linda Gorman Gov. John Hickenlooper wants yet another expansion of Colorado Medicaid. This one will cover the more than 86,000 collegestudentsin Colorado that the Census Bureau estimates have incomes below the federal poverty level. It also will cover the unknown number of otherwise healthy single students above the poverty level who have incomes up to $15,414 a year. (Income figures do not include additional subsidies received for things like housing, child care, energy assistance and food.) As the Hickenlooper Administration claims the expansion would enroll an additional 160,000 people, it seems that college students will be its primary beneficiaries….
By Joe Sammen Infographic by Sarah Mapes As the Colorado Legislature began its 69thsession earlier this month, issues affecting rural Coloradans were at the forefront. A number of legislators expressed their commitment to working to find solutions around familiar rural concerns, including scarce water resources, protecting agricultural lands and issues around oil and gas production. But perhaps no other political issue will affect rural Colorado in thefuture as much as our changing health care landscape. Gov. John Hickenlooper recently announced Colorados intention to expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014 for our poorest citizens, creating unprecedented access to health insurance in our…
Dr. Bill Mandell Colorado ranks among the best in nation when it comes to overall health. However the state has some opportunities for improvement, according to the 23nd annual Americas Health Rankings from United Health Foundation. The report, the longest running of its kind in the country, placed Colorado No. 11 among all 50 states for overall heath, up three spots from last year. Heres a snapshot of how Colorado fared: Colorados Strengths Low prevalence of diabetes and obesity: Colorado has the lowest obesity rate in the U.S. at 20.7 percent of the population with 805,000 obese adults. Colorado also…
By Sarah Mapes Colorado ranks 38th in the country for kids who see a dentist regularly. One quarter of all Coloradans are children and only about 3 percent of these 1.2 million children have seen a dentist by age 1. Tooth decay is five times more common than asthma and four times more common than early childhood obesity. Research shows that good oral health is critical to a childs long-term success in life. Unfortunately, the data are not promising for Colorado kids. Tooth decay is almost entirely preventable, and yet around half of our Kindergartners suffer from it. Oral health…
By Sara Schmitt It is becoming more difficult for Coloradans to get oral health care. Last Thursday, legislators who attended the Hot Issues in Health Care conference in Colorado Springs, sponsored by the Colorado Health Institute, got a sneak preview of new Colorado Trust report on oral health. Based on findings from the 2011 Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS), the report, A Growing Problem: Oral Health Coverage, Access and Usage in Colorado, said there are now more than 2 million Coloradans without dental insurance an increase of 17 percent since the 2009 baseline survey. The survey also found that having…
By Dr. David Downs Medical science has advanced at a remarkable pace. We can now replace worn joints and diseased heart valves, open clogged arteries and identify cancers before they become untreatable. We can see into the center of the body with remarkable detail using CT scanners, MRI machines and other technologies all without pain or discomfort. These and many other modern medical miracles are generally viewed as a great benefit to the health of those for whom they are available. And in the American spirit of newer, better and faster, we have taken to these services avidly. It is…
By Linda Gorman The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has radically restructured federal subsidy programs for medical care. For the first time in decades, it makes it reasonable for Colorado to begin mending its structural fiscal imbalance by reversing the excessive growth in the states Medicaid and child health insurance programs. The act makes commercial insurance widely available for both working and nonworking people at all income levels. If it works as advertised, the federally subsidized commercial health coverage offered through the Affordable Care Act health benefits exchange will provide better health coverage for the basically healthy adults…