Category: Public Health Issues - Part 7

Opinion: The role of the âemployer mandateâ in the Affordable Care Act

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…

Feds brake, Colorado hits accelerator on health reform

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…

Opinion: Who is to blame for rising health costs?

By Robert Smith Princeton economics professor Uwe Reinharts strident New York Times editorial about the ultimate party responsible for out-of-control health care costs properly emphasizes the employers crucial role in the health care system. U.S companies, nonprofits and government entities pay for the majority of our health care costs. They have been the sloppiest purchasers of health care in the world, he writes, because they have passively paid for just about every health care bill put in front of them. Employer passivity has supported an opaque and chaotic pricing system, inappropriate incentives, rampant medical inflation, waste and lagging quality. Employers…

ABC’s ‘Extreme Weight Loss’ comes to Colorado

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…

Driving stoned a growing public health issue in Colorado

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…

Opinion: Cuts to Medicare Part B will hurt older Coloradans

By Ron Haberkorn I proudly enlisted in the U.S. Army and fought in Vietnam, but my longest and biggest battle has been against lupus. I was diagnosed in 1981. Little was known then about lupus and it still remains a mystery in the medical community today. Unfortunately, there is no known cure. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, kidneys, lungs, heart, nervous system and/or other body organs or systems. It acts as if the body is allergic to itself. It is estimated that over 20,000 Coloradans and 1…

Exchange bracing to slash $9 million

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…

Obesity a disease, cure elusive

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…

Law requiring physical activity in schools a bust

By Kevin Vaughan I-News Network A 2011 state law requiring 30 minutes of physical activity a day for elementary students was supposed to provide a new tool in the fight against childhood obesity but in reality it did little more than reinforce the status quo, an I-News examination found. The measure was so gutted during the legislative process that it has meant virtually no meaningful changes in the way elementary schools are operated. The standard imposed by the law, which allows recess to count as physical activity time, was already being met by districts across the state. Two years later,…

Opinion: Protecting Colorado health data while making costs transparent

By Tracey Campbell The news is riddled with stories of frustrations over the cost of health care and the lack of transparent information available to patients and employer purchasers. Look at the responses to the recent Time magazine article about bloated hospital costs, and the release of Medicare information about the wide variations in hospital pricing. Consumers are aghast at high and wildly varying prices, especially in light of little information about quality. The Colorado All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) is an essential tool for identifying differences in price and quality, and enabling consumers to shop for health care services in…