Category: Featured - Part 7

Feds require contingency plans for health exchange

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Federal health officials have required Colorado to create contingency plans in case the states health exchange cant function as planned by the beginning of October. Documents that Solutions obtained show that Colorado health exchange managers are preparing for three primary problems that could undermine the planned Oct. 1 launch: A federal data hub that does not work and therefore cannot verify income, immigration status or whether people applying for health plans are living behind bars. A recent report from the Government Accounting Office has found that potential problems with the hub could hamper state exchanges. The…

Rates vary widely, should promote brisk insurance market

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Competition among health insurance companies should be brisk in Colorado, according to an analysis by a consumer health advocacy group. As weve dug more deeply, weve seen enough competition that we think Colorados going to have a really good marketplace, said Dede de Percin, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI). Despite doomsday predictions, the state is not seeing rate shock, so many of the choices will be more affordable, especially with the subsidies. Regulators from Colorados Division of Insurance (DOI) are reviewing all proposed plans and must approve or deny them by July…

Rates âdecentâ for Colorado health exchange

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Rate shock. What rate shock? That seems to be the initial reaction both in Colorado and in states like California as rates for new plans proposed under Obamacare begin to emerge. Here in Colorado, while regular folks enjoyed Memorial Day, health policy geeks and insurance actuaries were mining a state website trying to find out how hundreds of proposed rates in Colorado look. The news about Colorado rates has been very slow to emerge because Colorados Division of Insurance (DOI) had a computer snafu that prevented industry insiders and members of the public from easily analyzing…

Accidental pot ingestion spikes in babies, kids

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Since medical marijuana has become legal in Colorado, doctors have seen a dramatic spike in the number of babies and children who accidentally ate marijuana and needed emergency treatment. A new study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics found that 14 children needed to be treated at Childrens Hospital Colorado for accidental pot ingestion after 2009, when medical marijuana shops began to proliferate in Colorado. The children ranged from an 8-month-old to a 12-year-old. The study authors cannot make a direct link between the proliferation of medical marijuana shops and the…

‘Man Therapy’ goes global

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon The pseudo therapist is the ultimate manly man: part Ron Burgundy, part Dr. Phil, and part Burt Reynolds. Meet Dr. Rich Mahogany, the hilarious, irreverent online doc who uses dark humor to combat the deadly serious topic of male depression and suicide. Dr. M, as his creators affectionately call him, teaches breathing exercises complete with the F-word so you can deal with your SOB boss and that 105-year-old lady doing 7 in the fast lane. His idea of yoga is the seventh-inning stretch. He cleans his desk with a leaf blower, counts a long spell on…

‘Man Therapy’ goes global

New health insurance era dawns with 19 companies competing

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Coloradans hunting for health insurance will have 19 companies competing for their business with up to 1,000 different plans that could be offered through the states new health exchange and on the open market. Starting in 2014, for the first time, insurance companies selling to individuals wont be able to exclude people with pre-existing health conditions. Thats one of the reasons consumers and competitors are eagerly awaiting plan details and costs, which Colorado authorities plan to unveil Wednesday. For now, Colorados Commissioner of Insurance Jim Riesberg says hes pleasantly surprised that 19 health insurance companies want…

‘Breakthrough’ drugs speed path to cures and the NBA

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Hovering at just over 4 feet 5 inches, the Broomfield second-grader is a smidge short for the NBA. But thats not stopping Caleb Nolan from planning his career as a basketball star and neither is his cystic fibrosis (CF). Diagnosed at birth with the rare disease, Caleb receives regular care at Childrens Hospital Colorado and happily plays basketball, soccer, baseball and football. Aside from licking salt on the sidelines to thwart dehydration, hes like any of the other boys on his team. And thanks to a new medication called Kalydeco that has been fast-tracked to market,…

Exchange board approves bid for $125 million

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados health exchange board approved a new federal grant request of $125 million on Friday that will include about $13 million to provide in-person assistance to the uninsured. Some board members tried but failed to boost the grant request even higher to between $133 and $135 million to ensure that Colorado will have enough money to reach out to people who may never have had health insurance and could need extensive help signing up for federal subsidies starting this fall. Now dubbed Connect for Health Colorado, the new exchange is slated to start signing up customers…

Governor adds deputy to health exchange board

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados governor has added his deputy chief of staff to the states health exchange board and says he wants the project to come in on time and on budget. Kevin Patterson, Gov. John Hickenloopers deputy chief of staff and chief administrative officer, joined the board following news that Colorado needed a mediator to help settle differences between the states Medicaid managers and those building the states new health exchange. (Read more: Mediator to triage health exchange problems) Kevin is one of the most talented people we have in the administration, Hickenlooper said this week. When theres…