News - Part 33

Opinion: Medicare, Medicaid reach milestone,
 but budget battle could bring changes

By Bob Semro July 30, 1965, was a milestone in American history. On that day, the Social Security Act of 1965 was signed into law. That legislation, implemented a year later (45 years ago), introduced two new programs, Medicare and Medicaid. We take them for granted now, often without realizing how much they have achieved and how much we rely on them. In 1964, before the implementation of Medicare, 49 percent of Americans 65 years and older had no health care coverage and 30 percent of seniors lived below the poverty line. The average life expectancy in the United States…

Free birth control: Will it reduce unwanted pregnancies?

By Myung Oak Kim As a 20-year-old college student, Emma Carpenter faces a dilemma common among young women: how to access and pay for birth control. The Denver native gets oral contraceptives, through the health clinic on the University of Colorado Boulder campus where she is entering her senior year. Emmas pills initially cost her $50 a month, so she switched to a cheaper pill, which carries more side effects, but costs only $20 a month. Emma says she considers herself fortunate to have the awareness and the financial means to regularly use contraception. One of her friends cant afford…

Book review: Basic elements of science and humanity still at odds

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Crown, 366 pages) By Diane Carman The first time that author Rebecca Skloot heard of Henrietta Lacks was in a biology class. Her teacher mentioned the name of the woman whose cells had been used in thousands of scientific experiments over decades, and had enabled scientists to discover breakthroughs in prevention of polio, gene mapping, chemotherapy, in vitro fertilization and advancements in the understanding of a vast array of medical conditions. Skloots curiosity was piqued. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the culmination of a decade of dogged reporting and…

Colorado Health Symposium forums available online

Student bloggers and live video streaming via the Internet will expand the reach of the sold-out Colorado Health Symposium, which runs Wednesday through Friday at the Keystone Conference Center. The agenda includes debates and discussions on health policy at both the national and regional levels. Live streaming of the forums will be broadcast via Ustream. Symposium Universityis designed to extend the content from the seminar into the classroom. Seven student bloggers will provide information throughout the three-day event. Comments are encouraged via Facebook and Twitter.

Cancer struggle leads back home

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon ALAMOSA The grandmother sports chic short gray hair, her post-chemo look. She tells her doctor that she finally feels well enough to tend her vegetable garden this summer a sure sign that her cancer is abating. Dr. Madeleine Kane, a visiting medical oncologist and hematologist from the University of Colorado Cancer Center inDenver, confirms at this July follow-up appointment that the outlook is excellent. Your tumor markers are all normal, Kane tells Carla Shawcroft, 65, a mother of four and grandmother of eight, who lives in Manassa, about 30 miles south of this clinic at the…

Governor officiated at TriZetto exec’s wedding

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Gov. John Hickenlooper officiated at the Beaver Creek wedding of a TriZetto executive on May 28 weeks before naming controversial TriZetto appointee Eric Grossman to Colorados new health exchange board. The governors spokesman, Eric Brown, said Hickenlooper performed the wedding on behalf of the bride, Kasia Iwaniczko, who is a longtime friend. The wedding took place at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch. Through Brown, the governor said he had not met the groom, David MacLeod, or known where he worked until the couple came to Hickenloopers office for a 15-minute meeting in May to discuss plans for…

Opinion: Deficit-reduction plans target
 provider fees, Medicaid support

By Bob Semro The Health Care Affordability Act of 2009 is one of Colorados most effective reforms, but the program it fostered could be in jeopardy because budget-cutters in Washington are targeting the federal funding that makes the act work. As talks continue on deficit reduction and increasing the debt ceiling, a number of proposals are zeroing in on the federal matching funds that cover hospital provider fees and help support Medicaid funding. Colorado is not alone among states that could lose funds. The Health Care Affordability Act, with the agreement and support of state legislators and the Colorado Hospital…

Former board president challenges sale of hospitals

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon A former board president and negotiator of the original hospital sale that created the Colorado Health Foundation is warning that the foundation could lose control of $1.45 billion in profits from its current proposed sale of seven hospitals and should cancel the deal. Dick Anderson, who was chairman of the joint venture board that ran the hospitals from 1995 to 2000, filed comments with Colorados attorney general on Thursday. He believes that the original intent of the deal was to protect community assets, not to serve as an investment engine for the Colorado Health Foundation. Anderson…

Steak or scallops? Hospitals add luxuries to attract the well-heeled

By Myung Oak Kim Concierge service. Jacuzzi tubs. Bacon-wrapped scallops or New York strip steak prepared by professionally-trained chefs and brought to your room. These amenities can be found at most new hospitals in Colorado and across the country. Gone are the days of sterile, white hallways, fluorescent lights and cloth curtains separating patients in the same room. The newest hospitals offer bountiful natural light, warm-colored walls and floors, soothing art and private patient rooms with large windows and relaxation videos. Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree features fireplaces on every floor. Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora offers video…

Opinion: Businesses, communities key to health care debate

By Anne Warhover Theres been a lot of talk both fiery rhetoric and thoughtful discourse on the national stage about fixing health care since Congress and President Obama took a crack at overhauling the entire system last year. Fast-forwarding to mid-2011, health care reform is moving along, but many key provisions still face legislative, judicial and budgetary scrutiny not to mention an onslaught of partisan bickering and negative ads from both sides of the political aisle. Whether the pillars of the Affordable Care Act and the health care debate succeed in expanding access, improving quality and reducing costs, one fact…