By Kevin Vaughan and Burt Hubbard I-News Network During the 12-year span between the mass shootings at Columbine and Aurora, Coloradans used guns to kill themselves about four times more frequently than they used them to kill each other, an I-News analysis of death certificates found. The analysis, which covered the years 2000 through 2011, also found that white residents disproportionately committed suicides with guns while minorities were disproportionately victims of homicide shootings. In the wake of the July 20 attack at the Century Aurora 16, which left 12 people dead and more than 50 injured, state legislators introduced a…
News - Part 18
By Cari Frank An email with the subject line Patients Prefer High Cost Care came through my inbox a few weeks ago. It was spurred by a recent study in Health Affairs revealing that patients would typically select a higher cost service like an MRI over a lower cost CT scan even after being educated on the marginal difference between the results. As a part of CIVHCs Colorado All Payer Claims Database team, Im working to develop publicly available consumer information on cost and quality for health care services. The primary purpose of the patient focused information (planned for release…
By Sam Cole As the gun debate heats up in Colorado, it is victims of domestic violence who could be most affected by its outcome. On Monday, a Senate panel approved a bill that would require domestic violence offenders to relinquish their guns if a restraining order had been filed against them. When an offender has easy access to guns, there is nothing more dangerous for a victim. In a fit of rage or the heat of the moment, a womans life can end in an instant. There are 300 million guns in our country, enough for every man, woman…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon No doubt you have heard the recent news that the Mediterranean diet can improve your health and save lives. The results published in the New England Journal of Medicinewere so striking that the researchers ended their study early. They concluded that the only ethical choice was to encourage all study participants to eat a diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits, vegetables and plenty of wine. New York Times foodie Mark Bittman summed up the findings with a simple prescription: Eat like a Greek. When I read Bittmans advice, I wanted to know more….
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorado lawmakers plan to introduce legislation by next week to make it harder for people with mental illnesses to buy guns. The legislation, which does not yet have a bill number, marks the last of several measures that Democrats are sponsoring this year to try and curb gun violence in the wake of the Aurora theater shootings and the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The other bills include measures to limit magazines to 15 rounds, require background checks on all gun transactions, limit guns on campuses and require gun buyers to pay for their own…
By Dr. Greg Mann The next time you read news reports about rising health care costs, consider this: Some 39,000 Coloradans sought treatment last year at hospital emergency rooms for toothaches and other dental problems. Such unnecessary and expensive emergency room care affects all of us by contributing to health care costs. An estimated $2 million to $5 million could be saved each year in Colorado by preventing needless emergency room visits through timely dental care. Most hospital emergency rooms simply arent equipped or staffed to provide the ideal treatment for dental problems. Typically, the emergency room can offer a…
By Linda Gorman New results from Arkansas suggest that Colorado officials who favor Medicaid expansion may be able to negotiate a better deal for both low-income people and state taxpayers. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has negotiated an alternative to the standard Medicaid expansion offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Obamacare. Health and Human Services has agreed that Arkansas can pay premiums for commercial insurance purchased through the states health insurance exchange using the federal funding that would have gone to expand Medicaid. The program will extend commercial coverage to adults earning up to 138 percent…
By Sofia Griffin High school isnt the place where the worlds or even our own countrys problems are the main topic in the hallways. Sometimes I wonder why my teachers always told me that they were going to prepare me for the outside world, but failed to explain crucial problems in our society. For example, besides my personal struggles with health care, I never had to think about our health care system in high school. Get Healthy SLV has been educating the freshmen health class of the Alamosa High School about access to health issues. Our activities range from lectures…
By Mary Winter Mass shootings in Colorado, Connecticut and, most recently, in Southern California, where police say an ex-cop gunned down four people, raise questions we cant begin to answer: Did the shooters give warning signs we failed to spot? What caused them to snap? Could earlier mental health interventions or tougher gun laws have prevented the tragedies? And finally: When do we need to lock up mentally ill individuals for our own protection? The subject of forced hospitalization of potentially dangerous mentally ill people known as involuntary commitment has gained currency in the immediate aftermath of the killings. Had…
Colorados community health centers serve one-third of Colorados neediest patients through 17 health systems around the state, providing essential primary care in 57 of Colorados 64 counties. On Tuesday, the groups association, the Colorado Community Health Network, handed out their 2013 Community Health Champion awards. Solutions was honored for covering underserved people and putting a human face on health care. Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, a writer for www.HealthPolicySolutions.org, won the media award. (McCrimmons) in-depth reporting illuminates issues that often receive only limited coverage in other news media. Her writing is thoughtful and informative, said Donald Moore, CEO of the Pueblo Community…