Category: Public Health Issues - Part 12

Colorado mounts turnaround after flunking on childrenâs health

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorado is flunking when it comes to childrens health and its time to mount an aggressive turnaround campaign. That was one of the key lessons from the release last week of the annual Colorado Health Report Card. Were not growing our own healthy children. Our child obesity rate remains in the middle of the pack, said Anne Warhover, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Foundation, which releases the report card each spring. Thats where the foundation is really going to emphasize more and more of our work in trying to prevent childhood obesity. It leads…

Colorado third state to ban discrimination against LGBT patients

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Health insurance companies in Colorado can no longer discriminate against people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Colorado is the third state to prohibit discrimination in health coverage. California and Oregon have barred the practice along with the District of Columbia. The federal Affordable Care Act calls for equity in LGBT health care, but very few states have taken action thus far to codify these rights. Colorados Division of Insurance issued a bulletin last week that outlines the new rules. It states that health plans in Colorado can no longer: Charge LGBT people higher rates…

Opinion: Refugees struggle to get adequate care

By Gretchen Hammer In 2012, Colorado welcomed roughly 1,800 refugees as new residents of our state. Mirroring national trends, in recent years the majority of refugees who settle in Colorado are Bhutanese, Burmese, from Iraq and Iran, and from African countries including Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. The path to Colorado is not smooth for many of these individuals and families. Many have spent years living in camps or moving from place to place to escape danger and suffering. By definition, refugees are persons who have fled their home country due to a well-founded fear…

Health access improves but more kids in poverty

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon The percentage of Colorado children whose families live in poverty nearly doubled over the last decade from 10 to 18 percent, marking the steepest increase in the country except for Nevada, according to the 2013 KIDS COUNT report. That meant that an additional 6,000 children sunk into poverty between 2010 and 2011, on top of 113,000 children already subjected to poverty since 2000. We are not where we should be. We are not even close to where we want to be, Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday when the Colorado Childrens Campaign unveiled the new data at…

Medicaid expansion bill advances without support of two Republicans

By Diane Carman The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted Thursday to support Medicaid expansion in Colorado. And while no one appeared in the four-hour hearing to testify against the bill, SB 200, an exchange between Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and representatives of the health insurance industry vividly illustrated why objections to expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are waning in Colorado and across the country. I understand why the business community is trying to grasp onto short-term advantage by grabbing the federal cash, said Lundberg, fuming, but Obamacare is designed to shut the private sector down. I…

Opinion: Behavioral health, firearms and suicide: The public health conversation we arenât having

By Michael Lott Manier In the wake of the heartbreaking tragedies in Aurora and Newtown, the debate over gun control has taken center stage in Colorado. The legislature is now set to consider an expansion of the ways in which individuals who have received treatment for mental health conditions or substance use disorders (collectively known as behavioral health) can be prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. The rampage killings that reignited the gun control debate have been inextricably linked in the public consciousness with the issue of mental health. Politicians and gun-rights advocates have focused on the message that the…

Opinion: Expansion of Medicaid a boon for low-income baby boomers

By Bob Semro The expansion of Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act will help thousands of Colorado families who lack insurance. Youve probably heard that. What you might not have heard is that the expansion will greatly benefit a large number of Colorados aging baby boomers. These are low-income residents between the ages of 50 and 64 who may be in great need of health care coverage but often are not be able to afford it. Senate Bill 200, which recently passed in the Colorado Senates Health and Human Services Committee by a bipartisan vote of 5-2, is the…

The risks of aging in the closet

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon The retirees were so deep in the closet in their younger years that no one even talked about closets. Thats because few in their generation ever dared to come out, fearing that acknowledging being gay meant they would lose jobs, be run out of town or face violence. Today, as Colorado lawmakers are legalizing civil unions, President Obama has affirmed gay marriage and even the Boy Scouts are considering revisions to decades of discrimination, many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender seniors remain hidden and, as a result, dont get the health care they need. A 2011…

Opinion: Politicians donât understand what citizens want

By Dr. Tom Gottlieb The recent Time Magazine Special Report by Stephen Brill Why Medical bills Are Killing Us demonstrates a series of narratives that describe problems in our health care system. The article focuses on the cost of health care services. Brill blames cost problems on insurance companies, medical equipment manufacturers, hospitals (both for-profit and nonprofit) and pharmaceutical companies. He says that excess costs by and large are not related to physician and patient behaviors. Brill suggests that real solutions might be related to lowering the age for Medicare eligibility and implementing a single-payer system. He further states that…

User fees to fund Colorado health exchange

Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados health exchange board approved administrative fees of 1.4 percent on insurance plans that will be passed on to customers to help fund the exchange. If Colorado lawmakers do not back a proposed measure that aims to divert cash from Colorados high-risk health insurance fund Cover Colorado to the exchange to help cover their costs, those fees could rise to an estimated 3.4 percent. Cover Colorado will no longer exist because the federal Affordable Care Act requires commercial health insurance companies to accept all customers, including those with serious health problems and pre-existing conditions. The high-risk pool…