Category: Health Care Industry - Part 15

Costly health insurance driving workers, employers away

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Many Coloradans with jobs say they can no longer afford health insurance, a new analysis from the Colorado Health Access Survey has found. Nearly one-third of Coloradans more than 1.5 million people are either uninsured or underinsured, according to the initial survey results that were released in November. New analysis shows that 85 percent of uninsured Coloradans say they dont have health insurance because its too expensive. Job loss and poverty used to be the key causes for poor health coverage. But the landscape in Colorado is changing dramatically. Today, a good job no longer guarantees…

Marijuana for rare disease blocks teen from school

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon of Solutions COLORADO SPRINGS An attack seizes Chaz Moores body, stealing much of his breath. Spasms in his throat, lungs and diaphragm cause the 17-year-old to speak in hiccups, one syllable at a time. He says it feels like a grown man is jumping on his chest as the muscles in his belly roll like waves. Chaz opens a jar labeled MMJ, pulls out some fresh green buds and crumbles the marijuana into a small pipe. He lights up the bowl and inhales as deeply as possible through the spasms, turning to blow smoke out his…

Movie review: Good news in U.S. health care

By Diane Carman Listening to the candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination might lead your average health care consumer to think the system is on the verge of collapse. While the Affordable Care Act is not yet fully implemented and remains in large part unproven, some health care systems around the country are demonstrating the potential for significant improvements in cost control, access to care and better outcomes. They also are acting as testing grounds for such health care reform concepts as medical homes, virtual health care, electronic medical records, integrated behavioral health care and revenue pooling across care…

Opinion: Affordable Care Act saving seniors money, closing ‘donut hole’

By Bob Semro Prescription drugs are a big part of the monthly budget for many seniors on Medicare, and provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are working to lower those costs. In 2011, 3.6 million Medicare recipients nationwide saved $2.1 billion in prescription drug costs, according to estimates released last week by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In Colorado, 39,746 Medicare recipients saved $22.8 million on prescription drugs, or $579 per person on average, according to these estimates. HHS projects these savings will increase over time totaling nearly $4,200 for the average Medicare recipient by 2020….

University Hospital, med school poised for expansion

By Diane Carman When the Colorado Springs City Council voted 9 to 0 last weekto endorse a proposed lease agreement between the University of Colorado Hospital and city-owned Memorial Health System, it moved the Rocky Mountain region one step closer to a tectonic change in the landscape of health care. If Colorado Springs voters approve the plan, the University of Colorado Hospital (which is affiliated with the university, but is an independent legal and financial entity) will assume administration of the nonprofit Memorial Hospital. That would be one more step in the long-term drive to expand the University of Colorado…

Health IT incentives “rocket fuel” for innovation

By Diane Carman The success of health care reform depends on technological innovation. Otherwise, if health care costs continue to rise at the rate they have in the last few years, “we will buy nothing but health care in this country,” said Phil Weiser, dean of the University of Colorado Law School, at a conference Wednesday on health information technology. Aneesh Chopra, the White House Chief Technology Officer, told a the audience of lawyers, health care practitioners and business leaders at the event sponsored by the Law School and the School of Public Affairs that an array of incentives are…

Treating mental health woes could save billions

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon COLORADO SPRINGS – National leaders will be watching an ambitious experiment beginning at 11 sites across Colorado that aims to revolutionize and integrate long-separated primary care and mental health. As the economy continues to falter while health costs climb, Colorado alone could save an estimated $3 billion a year by giving integrated behavioral and medical care to people with complex illnesses, according to Steve Melek, a Denver actuary from Milliman, an international actuarial and consulting firm. The new program is called Advancing Care Together (ACT). It is bringing integrated care to adults and children in test…

Family fights obesity scourge

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon AURORA The dinner plates at the Veleasquez home were as colorful as a Cezanne painting. On this Saturday evening, the family was dining on pink grilled salmon, baked purple potatoes, yellow Colorado sweet corn and a mlange of steamed vegetables: carrots, green beans and cauliflower. Dessert was bright orange sweet potatoes, fresh from the grill. There was no butter sauce or sour cream to drench on anything. Instead green limes garnished each plate and Karla, 8, was squeezing them on her purple potato to add extra zest. This kind of healthy, nutrient-packed meal is the norm…

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…

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…