CEO Says Jobs For Diverse Work Force Creates Wellness
May 21, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
Bill Morris’s 70-year-old brother, who has a developmental disability, has served as his inspiration for creating an award-winning company. Bill co-founded Blue Star Recyclers after discovering people with developmental disabilities and autism possess innate talents for disassembling electronics. Blue Star Recyclers has created a rapidly growing statewide network of local jobs for people with disabilities in six Colorado communities.
Attitudinal, Cultural Barriers Revealed at National Health Disparities Conference
May 7, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
An African-American woman with a physical disability has to fight for gynecological services because she does not have an attendant to help her onto the exam table. An African-American man, who is a paraplegic, is treated in the hallway because there is no way to get his wheelchair into the physician’s exam room. These are only two of the personal stories told by featured panelists at a national conference on health disparities research entitled, “Addressing Health Disparities at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Disability.”
Sponsor Predicts Passage of Adult Dental Services in Medicaid
April 22, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
State Representative Dianne Primavera (D-33) is co-sponsoring a bill which would require the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to implement a dental benefit for adults in the Medicaid program. Senate Bill 242 passed out of the Senate and was introduced in the House last week. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Program and Outreach Coordinator of the Health Care Advocacy Program, Representative Primavera, Chair of the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee, predicted the bill will pass.
Senator Hails Passage Of Bill To Address Health Disparities
April 8, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
State Senator Angela Giron, (D-3), sponsor of House Bill 1088, believes the Bill will strengthen the campaign against health disparities in Colorado. In addition to changing the name of the Office of Health Disparities to the Office of Health Equity, it broadens the scope of populations covered in statute to include the LGBT community, individuals with disabilities, and low-income groups. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Coordinator of the Health Care Advocacy Program, Senator Giron said the bill will give policy makers more tools to create health parity across the state.
Senator Says Medicaid Expansion Will Impact State’s Poverty Rate
March 14, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
State Senator John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins), a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 200 which would expand income eligibility in the Medicaid Program to 133 per cent of the federal poverty line. A longtime champion of lower-income Coloradans, Senator Kefalas was one of five senators who voted for the bill when it passed out of Committee last week. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Coordinator of the Health Care Advocacy Program, Senator Kefalas said expansion of the Medicaid program will have a positive ‘intergenerational effect’ on poverty in Colorado.
Bill Allowing Pharmacists to Substitute Biosimilar Products Advances
February, 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
On a vote of ten to one, House Bill 1121, a bill which would allow pharmacists to substitute less costly biosimilar products in place of more costly brand name drugs, has passed in the Health, Insurance & Environment Committee. Biosimilar products are most often used to treat serious chronic diseases including arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Coordinator of the Health CareAdvocacy Program, Representative Sue Schafer, one of the bill sponsors and Vice-Chair of the Health, Insurance & Environment Committee, explained that many states have introduced similar bills to advance cost containment measures for patients, insurance companies, and federal health care programs.
Child Welfare Reform Tops Priorities for Freshman Legislator
February 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
Reducing the number of child fatalities in the state of Colorado and improving the child welfare system will top the priority list for the Public Health Care and Human Services Committee. That is according to one of the Committee’s newest members, State Representative Jenise May. Representative May, a Former Deputy Director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, is passionate about the need to reform the front end of Colorado’s child welfare system. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Coordinator of the Health Care Advocacy Program, she said this is one of her top goals for the 2013 session.
Bill Eliminates Medicaid Providers’ Advance Notice Of Inspections
January 2013
Health Care Advocacy News
Under current state law, Medicaid providers in Colorado receive advance notice before being inspected for compliance with federal and state Medicaid requirements. If House Bill 13-1068 passes, those inspections will take place without advance notice to the providers. State Representative Dave Young (District-50), a member of the House Health, Insurance and Environment and Vice Chair of Public Health Care and Human Services Committees, is sponsoring the bill. He spoke with Catherine Strode, Coordinator of the Health Care Advocacy Program, about why he thinks inspections with advance notice should be eliminated.
UnitedHealthcare VP Praises Colorado’s Health Benefit Exchange
December 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Reese Edwards is the Vice President of State Government Affairs for UnitedHealth Group. In this role, he is responsible for Government Affairs activities in Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico. In a recent interview with Catherine Strode, Health Care Advocacy Program and Outreach Coordinator, he discussed the challenges of implementing the Exchange,and called Colorado’s Health Benefit Exchange ‘a model for the nation.’
Arc of Colorado’s Director Urges ‘Break Down Boxes’
November 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Executive Director of The Arc of Colorado, Marijo Rymer, is driven by a passion to support the cause of unlimited access to civil rights and opportunity for marginalized populations. With a background in public policy, and a long history of advocacy work, this cause reflects issues she has supported her whole life.
Division of Insurance Launches Consumer Education Effort
November 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Jo Donlin is the Director of External Affairs for the Division of Insurance, one of nine divisions within Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA.) In addition to supporting DORA’s legislative initiatives, she is the Division’s lead on outreach and communications.
Homestead Exemption, Gun Laws, On Denver Legislators’ Agenda
October 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
State Representatives Lois Court and Beth McCann are candidates for reelection in Denver’s Districts 6 and 8, respectively. If reelected, they will be placing means testing for seniors, and criminal justice legislation at the top of their 2013 session agendas.
Referred Measure For Universal Health Care Tops Legislator’s 2013 Agenda
September 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
As a member of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Senator Irene Aguilar has championed several pieces of legislation to make medical care for uninsured, low income patients, and for individuals with disabilites, more affordable. Senator Aguilar has served as a primary health care physician for 21 years, is on the Minority Health Advisory Committee at the Colorado Department of Health, and is a recognized leader in the health care field.
Regional Director: Colorado’s Medicaid Expansion Depends on Numbers
August 8, 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Under the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, states are not obligated to follow the law’s plan to expand Medicaid coverage to adults up to 133 percent of the poverty level. Instead, this part of the law will be optional for the states. In an interview with Catherine Strode, Health Care Advocacy Program Coordinator, the HHS Regional Director says Colorado’s decision whether to expand Medicaid coverage will depend on the number of individuals who are enrolled.
UC Family Medicine Professor: “Baby Steps” Won’t Deliver Reform
June 25, 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Dr. Ben Miller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine where he is the Director of the Office of Integrated Healthcare Research and Policy.
Colorado’s Health Policy Director Details Vision of Reform
June 4, 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
The Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, Sue Birch, sees sweeping bold initiatives in the future of state health care reform. Some of these will include a greater focus on population health, public and private partnerships, and data sharing.
Chief Medical Officer Pledges State’s Commitment to Health Reform
May 21, 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Colorado is one of fifteen states which has been awarded federal contract money to design a demonstration project to coordinate care for those individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Over the past several months, the State’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has been holding regular stakeholder meetings to find out the needs of the dual eligible population and to get input into the state’s redesign of the health care delivery system.
At-Risk Adults and Consumers Protected By Bills
May 8, 2012
Health Care Advocacy News
Two bills brought this session by State Representative Sue Schafer are intended to protect the most vulnerable of our state’s population: the elderly and children. Senate Bill 78 has been proposed as a way to fight the growing incidence of physical, emotional, and financial abuse against seniors in Colorado. House Bill 1303 is proposed to protect consumers from uncertified individuals who market themselves as professional speech language pathologists.