By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorado has made substantial progress in implementing a health insurance exchange, but significant work remains in part because of Colorados flawed computer systems, a new reportfrom the Urban Institute has found. The biggest challenge for Colorado may be that the state is starting with a flawed foundation, a legacy computer system CBMS (Colorado Benefits Management System) that is inflexible and difficult to modify, the report states. Researchers from the Urban Institute are conducting a comprehensive monitoring and tracking project to assess implementation of the Affordable Care Act throughout the U.S. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is…
Category: Featured - Part 17
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Good health makes us happy and happiness makes us healthy. So what are the secrets to becoming happier and healthier? Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist and author of the bestseller, Stumbling on Happiness, shared his insights on Monday during a speech at his alma mater, the University of Colorado Denver.. His prescription for a happy life could be summed up with these mini-mantras: Get married. Earn at least $50 K. Have sex. Skip kids. Work. Dont try to predict happiness youll be wrong. Women: talk and eat with friends. (Ahh. Happiness is summing up happiness in…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Despite vehement opposition from prosecutors and sheriffs, a bill that would reduce possession of small amounts of drugs from felony offenses to misdemeanors advanced in the Colorado legislature this week. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey told members of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that SB12-163 would destroy Denver’s drug court and undermine his ability to entice addicts into drug treatment because he could no longer threaten them with felonies. A representative for Colorado sheriffs also questioned the costs of the bill. The fiscal note predicts that it will save the state nearly $1 million next year and $2.2 million…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Donations for breast cancer took at hit in Colorado last year and the public battle between national Komen leaders and Planned Parenthood could further reduce fundraising this year, leaving breast cancer survivors without critical help. Already groups like Sense of Security, a small Denver nonprofit that serves low-income breast cancer patients throughout Colorado, have lost thousands of dollars. Sense of Security did not receive funding this year from the Denver affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, leaving a $60,000 gap in its $400,000 annual budget. Another nonprofit, Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance, lost $70,000 of its $425,000 annual budget…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon One of the biggest myths about the obesity epidemic is that Americans cant afford fresh fruits and vegetables, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said during a visit to Colorado this week. We have 18 million kids in this country who are food insecure while we also have an obesity epidemic, Merrigan said during a talk at the University of Colorado Denver on Thursday. I like to do some myth-busting, she said. People say if we increase the number of fruits and vegetables, it increases the cost. Fruits and vegetables are too expensive. We have a…
By Rebecca Jones of Education News Coloradoand EdNews Parent Colorado Samara Williams candy epiphany came on the morning she saw the dental van parked in front of Rose Hill Elementary, and the volunteers preparing to provide free teeth cleanings for second-graders. Rose Hill in Commerce City serves some of the poorest kids in the metro area and dental care is a precious commodity that many of their parents simply cant afford. Suddenly, it all clicked for Williams, the school principal. Why, she wondered, would the school arrange to clean the kids teeth in the morning and then pass out candy…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Colorados adult obesity levels recently jumped at the second-fastest rate in the country, a disturbing increase for a state that has long bragged of being the leanest in the nation. Its not good news. If anything, its even more of a wake-up call. One of the things we know about obesity is its much easier to prevent than to reverse it. Weve got the opportunity to use prevention in Colorado. Were going to rapidly lose that, said James O. Hill, director of the Colorado Center for Health and Wellness at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Possession of small amounts of meth, cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs would become misdemeanors rather than felonies under a new bill introduced in the Colorado legislature this week. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum formed a coalition to sponsor Senate Bill 12-163,which aims to give drug addicts treatment instead of costly prison sentences. State budget analysts are still determining the bills fiscal impact. The bill calls for savings to fund more drug treatment programs. A fiscal note is due within about a week. Sponsors acknowledged that they introduced the bill late in the session in…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Surveys of nearly 700 Coloradans found they support the states new health insurance exchange, but found they want hands-on help to make sense of the online market slated to go into effect in 2014. A navigator system is critical, said Danny Katz, director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group Foundation, CoPIRG, one of the groups that conducted focus group meetings in October and November at 53 sites across Colorado. People liked the idea of comparing health plans (online), but said, we need to have an ability to talk to somebody to get advice, Katz said….
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon As a child growing up in Denver and Sudan, Ali Khalifa used to carry a little white doctors bag with a red cross and a toy stethoscope. His parents were diplomats who traveled the world. Suffering through multiple bouts of malaria as a child in Sudan, Khalifa admired uncles who were doctors and cared for him in their homes as he struggled through weeks of fever and nausea. Seeing that spirit of compassion and sacrifice left a life-long impression on me, Khalifa said. Now 24, Khalifas dream of becoming a doctor moved one step closer to…