By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Health insurance premiums climbed just 4 percent this year over last, but employees feel bogged down because theyre paying a bigger share of their health costs, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation. This is historically a very moderate increase, but people dont perceive it that waybecause year after year, the share of what they pay has gone up, said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation. People still feel the pain of health care costs and worry about paying their health care bills. Premiums have increased 80 percent since…
News - Part 8
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Andrea Mahoney was skiing her last run of the day at Breckenridge in January when she heard her knee pop. It sounded bad. The diagnosis she got from her doctor confirmed her hunch. She had torn her ACL and MCL, and had damaged her meniscus. Mahoney had surgery in late February at a physician-owned outpatient center. After extensive pre- and post-surgical physical therapy and a grueling seven months of rehabilitation, shes pleased with her results and now is running again with a brace. Mahoney is eager to get back to her typical athletic routine full of…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon People living in resort areas of Colorado will have to pay higher health insurance rates than those in other regions when plans start being sold through the states health exchange on Oct. 1. An average 40-year-old non-smoker living in a resort area who is buying a mid-level silver plan could be charged a base rate as high as $667 per month compared to the least expensive silver plan for a comparable 40-year-old in Greeley, whose base rate would be about $232 per month. Shoppers will also be able to choose from lower level bronze plans and…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Just seven weeks before the Oct. 1 launch of Colorados health exchange, managers said that their IT systems are not getting accurate data from state Medicaid systems, prompting a warning to board members Monday. Adele Work, the project manager who leads technology for Connect for Health Colorado, shifted her readiness estimate for synching with state systems from yellow, meaning cautiously moving forward,to red, meaning not ready. She highlighted her concerns Monday that state IT systems may not properly communicate with the exchange systems by Oct. 1. Work said shes prepared to shift to contingency plans on…
By Mark Siebert Do you want to get the most calorie burn out of your workout? Are you finding that you are hitting a plateau? Interval training could be a great option. Interval training is alternating high intensity activity with lower intensity activity. Whether your exercise of choice is walking, running, using cardio equipment or group exercise, intervals can help you get the most from your efforts. After prolonged exercise at the same intensity, your body naturally adapts and becomes more efficient, needing less effort to perform the same activity. Adding intervals can help provide that high intensity exercise in…
By Dr. Jan Kief Gov. John Hickenlooper recently announced the most important and ambitious public health initiative in Colorados history. The State of Health Initiative aims to make Colorado the healthiest place to live in the United States. We at the Colorado Medical Society fully support the initiative and will be working to support its objectives through wide-ranging efforts from the 7,500 physicians, medical students and Colorado residents in our membership. The State of Health Initiative is a comprehensive, statewide effort that brings together the governors office, physicians and other health care providers, government agencies, nonprofits, private companies and the…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados Division of Insurance has approved 242 plans from 13 carriers for the states health exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, which is slated to open on Oct. 1. Deputy Insurance Commissioner Peg Brown briefed members of Colorados health exchange board on Monday on plans that her department has reviewed and approved. Were very pleased with the number of carriers and plans. It represents a wide variety of choice for the Connect for Health marketplace and healthy competition in the Colorado insurance marketplace overall, Brown said. Of the approved plans, 150 are targeted at individuals while 92…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon KEYSTONE Best known for beating brilliant humans at Jeopardy, Watson, the super computer, soon may be coming to a hospital or insurance company near you. But dont call him (or her) Dr. Watson. The more appropriate reference may be to Sherlock Holmes my dear Watson, the indispensable right-hand man or woman as Lucy Liu now portrays Dr. Joan Watson in the re-imagined TV show, Elementary. IBMs Watson is actually named to honor the companys founder, Thomas J. Watson. But as Watsons creators dream up future roles for their intelligent machine medical sleuth, patient watchdog and reading…
By Diane Carman While some researchers are celebrating what they see as a new, positive trend toward declining obesity rates among low-income preschool children in a report released this week, James O. Hill is skeptical. Too many toddlers are obese, said Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. Thats the bottom line. These are very tiny numbers that are bouncing around, he said. I struggle to say there are any real trends here. The report, Vital signs: Obesity Among Low-Income, Preschool-Age Children United States, 2008-2011, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that small but…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon KEYSTONE Colorado faces daunting challenges in providing a healthy environment for both its oldest and youngest citizens, according to a new report from the Colorado Health Institute. The report, Reaching Our Peak: Creating a Healthier Colorado, assesses how Colorado rates in five major areas that affect health: schools, workplaces, communities, medical providers and places where we age. The Colorado Health Institute unveiled the report at this weeks Colorado Health Symposium, a gathering of state and national health leaders sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation. Colorado scores lowest for healthy aging, according to the reports authors who…