News - Part 35

Opinion: Both sides argue individual mandate 
in U.S. Court of Appeals

By Bob Semro The future of national health care reform under the Affordable Care Act may hinge on a single provision in the new law. The individual mandate, or the minimum essential coverage provision, requires most uninsured Americans to purchase health coverage or pay a tax penalty. The big question is whether the individual mandate is constitutional. Twenty-six state attorneys general (25 Republicans, including Colorados John Suthers, and one Democrat) have joined the state of Florida in challenging the mandate. That case, State of Florida vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, represents the most significant test of the…

Opinion: Affordable Care Act pushes limits of constitutionality

By David B. Kopel Within a few weeks, the federal courts of appeal may begin handing down their decisions in the constitutional challenges to President Obamas Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (PPACA). By now, almost everyone agrees that one or more of these cases is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. When the PPACA was moving through Congress, there was a lot of bluster from proponents of the law, who insisted that there were absolutely no potential constitutional problems. Most famously, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scoffed Are you serious? to a journalists question about the laws constitutionality. As it…

Opinion: Importance of payment reform cannot be overstated

By Michael Pramenko, M.D. Earlier this year, more than 100 physicians attended the Colorado Medical Society (CMS) Physician Summit on Payment Reform in Denver. Ninety-eight percent of them left the summit wanting to hear more and willing to stay involved with the discussion. The importance of payment reform cannot be overstated. Heres why. For years now, physicians have been talking about how the practice of medicine is changing. Weve been talking about our new realities, including decreasing reimbursement relative to inflation and the difficulty of maintaining a practice. At the same time, a wide range of public and private stakeholders,…

Health care enters digital age … at last

By Myung Oak Kim Most doctors in Colorado and across the United States still use a pen and paper to keep medical records. But those days are numbered. The health care industry is (finally) stepping firmly into the digital age. Spurred by new incentives and regulations from the federal government, thousands of medical providers are making the costly and arduous transition to electronic medical files, digital information sharing and computerized analysis of patient data to improve care and reduce costs. Were finally joining the rest of the world, said Michael Pramenko, president of the Colorado Medical Society, the Dr. Michael…

Student-run clinic offers care to kids in need

By Diane Carman Years ago when Teresa Long was a resident at Warren Village, she tentatively signed up for an appointment for well-child care at something called the Healthy Beginnings clinic, just to see what it was like. One of her children had a seizure disorder and all of them needed routine immunizations, treatment for the occasional cold or flu virus, check-ups and care for the bumps and bruises that come with normal childhood. The clinic was held nearly every Wednesday evening at Warren Village. It was free and residents could access it right where they lived. It was fabulous,…

Opinion: Healthy Beginnings a daring experiment that works

By Susan H. France Doctors can be scary. This is true for anyone, but more so for some. Imagine you are a low-income single mom with small children. You have a past filled with disappointment and disruption, bad luck and bad choices. You may have been mistreated very possibly abused. You have untreated health issues that you try to ignore. Your infrequent encounters with authority have not gone well. You have learned to keep your head down. Now at Warren Village, a community of single-parent families working to together to become self-sufficient through school, work and community service, you want…

Opinion: Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate at heart of legal challenges

By Bob Semro The individual mandate is a fundamental part of last years national health care reform law. Under the Affordable Care Act in 2014, Americans who do not have health insurance will be required, or mandated, to purchase coverage or pay a tax penalty. Exemptions will be granted for financial hardship, religious reasons or if the price of the lowest-cost plan exceeds 8 percent of annual income. After the act was signed into law by President Obama, the individual mandate was challenged in a number of federal courts. In perhaps the most important case, 26 state attorneys general (including…

Listeria in Colorado, E. coli in Europe vexing epidemiologists

By Diane Carman For Alicia Cronquist and fellow epidemiologists at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the recent listeria outbreak creates plenty of made-for-TV drama. The investigation under way is part CSI, part House, all with far greater urgency and complexity than any fictional drama could begin to depict. The timing of the listeria outbreak coinciding with the deadly outbreak of a previously unknown strain of E. coli in Europe has brought the work of epidemiological investigators into sharp focus this week. The United Nations News Service reported that as of Monday 22 people had died and more…

Opinion: 30 percent for 30 percent

By C.J. (Dian) M. Corneliussen-James The most devastating and feared breast cancer is metastatic (stage IV) breast cancer. This occurs when breast cancer spreads to distant, non-adjacent parts of the body. It strikes 30 percent of breast cancer patients and is fatal, taking lives on average within two to four years of diagnosis. Clearly, ending death from metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is of critical importance not only to those living with it, but also to anyone who has had, or may at some point develop breast cancer. Unfortunately, research for MBC is vastly underfunded. Indeed, research for all metastasized cancers…

Maia Rogers’ story

By Molly Maher Every Wednesday, Maia Rogers goes to her regular breakfast spot down the road from her childrens schools. Often she is joined by friends or sometimes by her son home from school with a cold, but on this day she is alone, her first day free of an oxygen tank since a bout with pneumonia. Rogers said this weekly breakfast is one way she has slowed her pace to enjoy life after being diagnosed with cancer. Though she mocks the clich in her feelings, she said cancer has changed her perspective. Youve just had a life-changing illness, she…