Category: Public Health Issues - Part 27

Opinion: Time is now to build a model health exchange

By Steve ErkenBrack The complexity of purchasing health insurance has become almost overwhelming. What will you need? Whats a fair price? Is the lowest price the best value? How can you evaluate the quality of coverage? Large employers have human resources departments to sort through the maze of choices, but no such help exists to simplify the choices for individuals and small employers. Brokers do a terrific job, but the panoply of options and the uniqueness of each consumer defy simplification. For that reason, every serious health care reform effort in recent years has recommended the development of a health…

Red-state Utah’s health exchange model for Colorado

By Lois M. Collins SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Sharon Opfermann wanted to provide health insurance for the handful of full-time staff members at the doggy day care and boarding business she operates in South Salt Lake, but it wasnt very easy to pull off. The one-size-fits-all plan she first picked didnt serve each employee equally well. And it was expensive. When she got a chance to enroll her business, Camp Bow Wow, in the Utah Health Exchange a couple of months ago, she jumped at it. Shes paying the same amount toward employee health benefits, but each member of her…

âAmycare?â âBettycare?â Coloradoâs health exchange headed for final passage

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados health insurance exchange bill is sailing toward final approval with backers hailing the measure as the only successful bipartisan exchange legislation in the country. The measure garnered initial approval in Colorados Republican-controlled House on Tuesday evening. It will need final approval in both the House and Senate, but backers are confident that they will win final passage on what theyre calling landmark legislation. Democratic Gov. John Hickenloopers aides quietly have muscled lawmakers into supporting the bill behind the scenes and the governor is expected to sign the measure. An unprecedented bipartisan coalition of business advocates,…

Opinion: Health care integration = WHOLE health care

By Donald J. Mares It is no secret that there is a strong connection between the mind and body. Religious leaders, philosophers, doctors and many others have discussed the mind/body connection for centuries. Yet the treatment of mental and physical health has been compartmentalized in modern Western medicine. In the United States, there are two systems of care: the behavioral health system and the physical health system. These systems are perpetuated through insurance reimbursements, through laws, medical education and many other cultural and social institutions. The distinction between mental and physical health is both a product and promoter of the…

Opinion: Coping with Alzheimer’s a reality we all must face

By Zeik Saidman We lied, kidnapped, abandoned and then manacled and drugged my mother-in-law. At least this is the way my wife describes the experience of placing her mother in a nursing home. True, we did use the therapeutic fib (Alzheimers experts use this concept) to lure her to the nursing home facility. We told my mother-in-law that she was going to visit with the nice man who had come to her home to talk about senior services in the area. In actuality, he was the director of the Alzheimers unit and his visit was to conduct an assessment for…

Colorado No. 2 in increased rate of childhood obesity

By Diane Carman Colorado once again laid claim to being the fittest of the 50 states in 2010 with an obesity rate of 19.1 percent well below the national figure of 34 percent. When the statistics were released last summer, the chorus of self-congratulations could be heard from the Cherry Creek trail to the top of Mount Bierstadt. Behind those numbers lurks the specter of a far different future for the state, however. Childhood obesity here appears to be out of control. Lisa Piscopo, vice president of research for the Colorado Childrens Campaign, crunched the latest numbers from the National…

Colorado No. 2 in increased rate of childhood obesity

Schools test anti-obesity programs

By Rebecca Jones EdNewsColorado Keeping kids thin and fit is no small order in 2011. Schools experiment with countless ideas to battle childrens obesity. Theyve tried cooking classes, nutrition education, inviting kids to work in school gardens, improving cafeteria food, banning sugary snacks. Theyve upgraded playgrounds, tinkered with recess, mandated daily physical activity, organized bike clubs and revised physical education standards. Theyve coached parents, coached teachers, coached lunch ladies, coached coaches. Yet for all the different approaches, the empirical evidence proving what works and what doesnt is remarkably sketchy. Evidence-based anti-obesity programs that repeated studies have proven effective simply dont…

Treatment options few for overweight kids

By Diane Carman Dr. Daniel Feiten has been shepherding babies and their parents through the challenges of childhood and adolescence for more years than he cares to count. He is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he received the Career Teaching Scholar Award in 2009. He is one of the founders of Greenwood Pediatrics, one of the largest practices in Colorado. And, to his dismay mostly out of necessity he has become an expert on childhood obesity. So lets start with a little good news. Its my favorite success story, he said….

Budget fun: play a game and understand why Colorado’s billion dollar shortfall will hit health hard

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.