Category: Archived - Part 15

Opinion: Parents should value children’s health more than sweets and booze

By Brian T. Schwartz Would you donate to a charity that allows parents well over the poverty line to pay just $25 per year for their childs medical insurance? What if many recipients previously paid for such insurance themselves, and spend hundreds of dollars a year on booze, sweets and entertainment? If you pay Colorado taxes, youre forced to fund such a charity the state-run Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). Senate Bill 11-213, which is awaiting the governors signature, would increase CHP+ enrollment fees for the wealthiest of eligible households, and rightly so. Families earning up to 250 percent of…

Opinion: Fibromyalgia patients seek acceptance, not ignorance

By Lannette Johnson Barriers to care in the fibromyalgia population are many. Not only do we consistently deal with physicians who refuse to believe that our condition is real, and insurance companies whose drug formularies dont include FDA-approved medications for FM treatment, we also deal with the high costs of this complicated condition to our careers, family lives and our mental health. Before I wrote this article, I checked to see if there were any other references to fibromyalgia on the Health Policy Solutions website. There were none. And only two articles that specifically mentioned chronic pain patients. Is this…

Denver a mecca for eating disorder recovery

By Mikaila Altenbern Katheryn Liermann decided that she needed help. She wanted to get better. The problem? As she began her search for treatment facilities, she found that her body weight was too low for her to be accepted. In other words, she was too sick to be treated. It felt like everyone had given up on me. It was really disheartening because I had already given up, says Liermann about her search for a clinic with the medical expertise to help her overcome her 12-year struggle with anorexia nervosa. Luckily for Liermann she found the A.C.U.T.E. center at Denver…

New understanding of genetics helps doctors prevent anorexia

By Mikaila Altenbern In 1975, Dr. Craig Johnson, then a medical student at the University of Minnesota, first encountered anorexia nervosa. Johnson found the illness intriguing and realized that there were very few people paying attention to it. It was rare to come across an anorexia patient, said Johnson, who added, It is easy to become an expert in a field where there arent a lot of cases. Today Johnson is one of many experts in eating disorder recovery and prevention working in Denver. Johnson is the chief clinical officer at the Eating Recovery Center in Denver. Specialists in the…

Opinion: A balancing act

By Molly Pond As a registered dietitian, I have made it my work to help people define and move toward a healthful lifestyle. One aspect of that is a balanced diet. Four good starting points for people to consider in creating a balanced diet are: energy, macronutrients, food groups and fun foods. Energy balance describes the relationship between the energy we consume in the form of food and that we expend through our daily activities and exercise. One aspect of a balanced diet is making sure we are eating the right amount not under-eating or overeating. To achieve this balance,…

Opinion: Hickenlooper should veto health fees for kids

By Adela Flores-Brennan and Gretchen Hammer The legislature recently sent a bill to the governor that represents a step in the wrong direction for Colorados children. SB 213 creates monthly premiums in the Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) program for kids who have family incomes between 206 percent and 250 percent of poverty. These are families of four who earn about $46,000 to $56,000 a year. As a matter of public policy and as a matter of fiscal policy, SB 213 makes little sense and is indeed harmful. The bill will add to the number of uninsured children in Colorado,…

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…

Opinion: The false promise of health care compacts

By Bob Semro The latest buzzword among those determined to undermine federal involvement in everything from health care to environmental regulation is compact. Take, for example, House Bill 1273 (the so-called HOPE Act), which recently passed the Colorado House and will be heard in the Senate early this week. It is supposed to be about allowing Colorado to design the health care regulatory regime that best meets the needs of its citizens. In reality, its about opting out of the national health care reform law with nothing to replace it. The idea for HB 1273 didnt originate in Colorado, and…

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…

‘Amycare?’ ‘Bettycare?’ Colorado’s 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,…