News - Part 39

Opinion: Ryan plan all about budget, but also health care overhaul

By Bob Semro Many people dont realize that the budget proposal put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in April, is the also the most significant piece ofhealth care legislation since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Even though the Ryan budget plan as now constructed is not likely to become law, it represents an official alternative and warrants real debate. Most of the conversation has centered on changes to Medicare, but the impact on other federal health care programs and the Affordable Care Act itself is even more profound. Heres how…

Doctor coaches cadre of immigrant women

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon When a robber pointed a gun at Oumar Ouattara while he was working the graveyard shift at a busy 7-Eleven on Denvers East Colfax Avenue, Ouattara begged the gunman not to shoot and wondered why he had ever left his native Ivory Coast. Like many immigrants, Ouattara had to take any job he could to survive after arriving in Colorado. Unlike some immigrants, Ouattara was highly educated and had left behind a good life in his native Africa. A doctor, he was married and owned a four-bedroom home. On a lark, Ouattara entered the annual U.S….

Refugees find path back to medicine

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon After arriving in the U.S., the Cuban refugees darkest moments came when he had to scrub dishes and install wood floors. He missed being respected in his community and practicing medicine, especially caring for babies. Then, when he moved to Denver in 2007 after brief stints in Miami and New Mexico, the doctor with nearly 15 years of medical training in Cuba who is a specialist in both family medicine and radiology, couldnt get a single employer to call him back. All Dr. Edilberto Edy Diaz Rodriguez wanted was a basic health care job like drawing…

Opinion: Health care exchange key bipartisan legislative victory of 2011

By State Sen. Betty Boyd Americas health care system is good in many ways, but affordable and easy to navigate it is not, especially for Coloradans in the individual and small-group health insurance markets. Thats why Republican Rep. Amy Stephens and I set aside political differences this session to pass Senate Bill 200 creating the Colorado Health Benefits Exchange. The health exchange is a bipartisan, uniquely Colorado solution to the challenges in the health care industry in our state. In fact, it is the only exchange bill in the country to have passed through split chambers, a testament to Colorados…

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: Immigrants bring valuable skills to health care system

By Susan Downs-Karkos Each year Colorado becomes the new home to immigrants and refugees from across the world, bringing a vast diversity of experience and perspective to our state. Their health care interactions have continued to demonstrate the need to strengthen health literacy, health system navigation and health promotion activities among newcomer populations while working with the health care system to consider the implications for services. Integrating into a new community is never easy, and differences in language and culture typically make the task a stressful one. Of all the community institutions immigrants and refugees have to learn to navigate,…

Fleeing death threats, Iraqi surgeon starts over

By Diane Carman Dr. Muthanna Jabbar was approached by some men outside his home in Iraq on the day his life changed forever. They pulled me over and said, Are you Muthanna? Quit working with the Americans or were going to kill you. Jabbar turned and walked toward his home a few yards away. I was almost closing my eyes, anticipating a bullet or something in my head, he said. When I reached my kitchen, I thought, Its a miracle. Nothing happened. They left. It was just the first of many miraculous circumstances that led him to Fort Collins, Colorado…

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…

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…

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…