Meeting of interest
12th Annual Meeting of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved
Friday, Sept. 26, 2008
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Red Lion Hotel
Denver Southeast
3200 S. Parker Road at I-225
"Keeping the Momentum"
The
12th Annual CCMU Conference will examine strategies from Colorado and
across the country to maintain progress in health care reform.
Invited
speakers include Governor Bill Ritter; Dr. Neal Halfon, Director, UCLA
Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities; Dr. Mark
Levine, Chief Medical Officer - Region VIII, Centers for Medicaid and
Medicare Services; and others.
The Colorado Coalition for the
Medically Underserved is a coalition of public, private and non-profit
organizations committed to access to affordable, timely, quality health
care for everyone in Colorado.
Register for the event online starting Aug. 1.
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The
Business Health Forum is funded by several foundations, including The
Colorado Health Foundation and The Colorado Trust. The BHF is a project
of the CACI Educational Foundation.
Stay tuned for info. about upcoming business health care forums in your community.
To learn more about the Forum, contact Amy Fletcher at afletcher@bizhealthforum.org or call 303-866-9659.
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Dear Amy,
As
health insurance premiums continue to soar and Colorado examines
wide-scale health care reform, there has never been a more important
time for the business community to engage in the debate. The Forum is a
new project to help you connect the dots and weigh in on solutions.
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Colo. leaders call for comprehensive reform
A panel of leading health care experts called Wednesday for
incremental, but comprehensive, health care reform, including improving
information sharing among providers and incentives created by the
current payment system.
Sky Ridge Medical Center CEO Maureen
Tarrant says her "jaw drops every day" when she understands how
irrational and full of fragmented rules the current system is.
"I
get paid best when you are the sickest," Tarrant said, noting that
certain procedures, including spine surgery, end up subsidizing the
cost of providing newborn and obstetrics care, as well as subsidizing
care for patients with substance abuse problems.
"We operate like a Robin Hood system," she said.
The panel, part of a community forum, was hosted by the Colorado
Hospital Association. The hospital association was promoting its
"Health for Life" framework for change, which emphasizes five elements
in health care reform: health coverage for all, paid for by all; a
focus on wellness; efficient, affordable care; high-quality care; and
the best health care information. Click here to learn more about "Health for Life."
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Top health care news
Hospice services returning to Roaring Fork Valley
The Roaring Fork Valley will again have a local hospice care provider by early fall.
Just one month after the Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs
closed Roaring Fork Hospice Program (RFHP), the valley's only provider
of hospice care, an independent hospice organization has been formed by
the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation, Aspen Valley Hospital and Valley
View Hospital.
The three parties have agreed to contribute money
toward the formation of an independent hospice program, and an
anonymous donor recently contributed $1 million to ensure the program's
long-term sustainability. Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Editor's
note: Spending for hospice care, which provides an alternative to
hospitalization, has a "marginal effect" on slowing health care costs.
That's according to the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which uses Medicare claims to measure the use of health care services.
U.S. House votes to let FDA regulate tobacco industry
The House approved legislation yesterday that would for the first time
empower the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco
industry, a measure long sought by anti-smoking advocates.
After
about 40 minutes of sometimes passionate debate, the House voted 326 to
102 to approve the measure, which would give the agency broad authority
over cigarette makers, including the power to ban marketing of
cigarettes to children, require disclosure of tobacco ingredients and
mandate larger, more specific health warnings. It would also enable the
agency to require tobacco companies to reduce or eliminate harmful
ingredients and ban candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes.
The
White House has signaled that President Bush will veto the legislation
if it is approved by the Senate, which may not have a veto-proof
majority in support of it.
"This is truly an historic day in the
fight against tobacco," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who
co-sponsored the measure with Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.). "Regulating
tobacco is the single most important thing that we can do right now to
protect the public health of all Americans, especially our children." Washington Post
Advocacy group recruits participants for affordability study
State
lawmakers are studying how to make health care more affordable.
However, for this to become a reality, we must understand what
Coloradans can spend on health care.
Here's how you can help.
From Aug. 6-22, Colorado Voices for Coverage will be conducting an
affordability study in conjunction with the Colorado Center on Law and
Policy. CVC will host workshops in communities statewide, where
participants will fill out a confidential household budget survey on
what they can afford for health insurance. This is an opportunity for
ordinary Coloradans to help inform policymakers and the public about
affordability as Colorado moves toward reform.
If you are interested in helping organize a workshop in your
community or recruiting workshop participants, please contact Kelli
Keck at cvcaffordability@yahoo.com or 303-839-1261. |
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