Stay Informed: News
Sep 11: Ranks of Colorado uninsured continue to grow
Contrary to national trends, the number of Colorado's uninsured grew slightly last year, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Denver Business Journal
Sep 4: Study: Workers to pay more for health care
Get ready for another hike in copays and deductibles. The Associated Press reports that a survey being released Thursday by the Mercer consulting firm found 59 percent of companies intend to keep down rising health care costs in 2009 by raising workers' deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket spending limits. Associated Press
Aug 21: National execs in Denver to discuss wellness
The Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee has launched a series of 10 issue-oriented, non-partisan discussion, including one on health care that will be held Monday Aug. 25. Rocky Mountain Roundtable
Aug 14: Health reforms' impact on employers debated
Advisers to the two major presidential candidates during an online debate on the Wall Street Journal Web site discussed how their health care proposals would affect the employer-sponsored health insurance market. Health Blog, Wall Street Journal
Aug 7: Ex-Medicare chief criticizes reform proposals
In order to make health care affordable, the system needs more efficiency - not just more cash or tax credits, Mark McClellan, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told a crowd of more than 200 statisticians in Colorado on Monday. Colorado Independent
July 31: Colorado 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. (read more)
July 24: Forum tackles health cares diabetes report
Health care is expensive. It’s expensive for those who don’t have insurance; it’s expensive for those who have it; and it’s especially expensive for businesses, which in Colorado provide coverage for 60 percent of those who carry insurance. (read more)
July 10: Small business is latest focus in health fight
As the number of people without health insurance continues to rise, many states and Congress have begun to focus on one of the biggest causes: the growing number of small business owners and their workers who are unable to afford coverage. New York Times
July 3: Mixed reviews on new state health care laws
Democratic state lawmakers proclaimed victory for health care consumers Tuesday, the first day several health care laws passed earlier this year took effect. Denver Post
June 25: Business wants health care, not mandate
Nearly 30 members of the Grand Junction business community told representatives from the Business Health Forum, a nonprofit organization, they would like to see the Legislature mandate that all Coloradans secure some basic form of health insurance. The BHF polled attendees of a June 24 meeting hosted by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce on a series of questions related to health care reform. The Daily Sentinel
June 19: Health costs of illegal immigrants unclear
Agencies that provide health care in Eagle County say they don't know how much providing their services to illegal immigrants costs. Many undocumented residents seek health care at either the Eagle Care Clinic in Edwards or the Vail Valley Medical Center's emergency room, health providers say. The county is prohibited by state law from providing most health care benefits to illegal immigrants. Vail Daily
June 12: Health care measures remain on ballot
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 said Wednesday that it is withdrawing two of four proposed ballot initiatives, but two health care measures troublesome to the business community remain. The withdrawal is part of an effort to get business interests to pull their right-to-work measure. Rocky Mountain News
May 29: Rising cost hammer Colorado business
Between 2000 and 2005, Colorado businesses saw their health premiums increase nearly 60 percent. Premiums have grown, on average, more than five times faster than the rate of inflation. Click here for the brochure Health Care and Business: The Bottom Line
May 22: Center for improving health value begins work
Colorado's Center for Improving Value in Health Care, created by an executive order by Gov. Bill Ritter earlier this year, has formed a steering committee and hired a national consultant to help guide its formation. The Commonwealth Fund
May 15: CoverColorado costs will likely hit employers
Colorado employers will likely pay higher Insurance premiums next year because of legislation - awaiting the governor's signature - that affects a program providing care to some of the state's sickest residents. Business Health Forum newsletter
May 8: Session ends with mixed bag on health care
Going after the Insurance industry was not what a blue ribbon commission had in mind when it recommended sweeping changes in health care at the beginnig of the 2008 legislative session, the commission chairman said earlier this month. But Chariman Bill Lindsay acknowledged the Legislature this year established valuable building blocks to getting health care to 792,000 uninsured Coloradans. The Gazette
March 25: Business fighting medical malpractice bill
Doctors and employers are fighting a bill that would remove a cap on awards in certain medical malpractice cases. The bill, which would remove physical impairment or disfigurement from a damages cap in malpractice cases that juries can award, has drawn criticism from doctors who fear their malpractice insurance rates will skyrocket if it is approved.
Business groups, including the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, fear the bill will lead to higher health care costs. Pueblo Chieftain
Jan. 31: 208 Commission: Build on, improve current system
The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform presented its final recommendations to the Legislature Jan. 31, encouraging lawmakers to build on the strengths of the current system but make changes to improve access and affordability.
Click here for a brochure on the Commission's recommendations.
Nov. 1: Employers weigh in on health reform in new poll
Employers believe healthy behaviors should be rewarded with lower premiums, and 62 percent support requiring everyone to have health insurance, according to a new survey by the Business Health Forum.
The 10-question survey was given to members of the business community in six cities and was designed to gauge employers' views on certain values in health care reform, exploring the roles that employers, individuals and government should play. Click here for the complete results.
Sept. 28: Survey says: Health care, insurance are top priority
Steadily rising costs have made health care and health insurance the No. 1 issue in the minds of Colorado voters, according to poll results released this morning by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
That's a significant change from just nine months ago, when education polled as the state's most pressing concern.
And
while voters feel comfortable with their current tax burden, "other
data strongly suggest the public wants to avoid it getting any
heavier," according to David Hill, the Houston-based Republican
consultant who conducted the poll for the Chamber. Rocky Mountain News
Sept. 16: Send us your comments NOW on health reform
As the Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform gathers input on its work, it is important the business community's voice is heard. You can voice your opinion at meetings the commission is holding in each congressional district in October. Dates and times are online.
Can't attend a meeting? Please submit written testimony ON YOUR COMPANY LETTERHEAD, answering the following questions:
1. What should be the role of employers, government, providers and individuals in providing or assuring access to health care?
2.
What should the commission pay particular attention to in the five
proposals? Or what is missing from the conversation that would make a
difference to you as the commission develops its recommendations?
The Business Health Forum will collect letters and present them to the Blue Ribbon Commission. You can mail your letter to:
Business Health Forum
1799 Pennsylvania St. ,
Denver, CO 80202.
THE DEADLINE IS FAST APPROACHING. The first of the community meetings is Oct. 4 so letters must be received by Oct. 1.
Aug. 21: Health care forum: Engage and educate employers
A
new nonprofit organization working to engage and educate Colorado
employers tackled is tackling a chronic issue: how to provide
affordable health care.
About 20 people from the local business
and medical communities attended the Business Health Forum meeting Aug.
9 on the topic at the Loveland Chamber of Commerce. Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald
Aug. 2: State awarding grants to improve employee health
The
state is awarding $4,000 grants to organizations to implement programs
that will improve employees' physical activity and nutrition behaviors.
Grant
proposals are due no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20. For more
information, e-mail chris.torrizo@state.co.us or call 303-692-2430.
Download the application here. LiveWell Colorado
July 19: Business owners, leaders discuss health care reform
Nobody has a complete cure for Colorado's ailing
health care system, but as state lawmakers prepare to tackle the issue
next spring, they'll have a team of specialists ready to help.
Several business owners and community leaders
filled a room at the Fort Collins Hilton Wednesday morning for the
first of several planned meetings of the new Business Health Forum,
which is intended to bring business into the discussion about health
care reform. Whatever the final proposal looks like, business
needs to be more involved, Amy Fletcher, associate director of the
health forum, told the participants. Greeley Tribune
July 18: Employers urged to speak up on health care
Employers' voices are not being heard in the ongoing health-care reform
debate and need to make their views known before it's too late, members
of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry told a group of
about 50 mostly business people Wednesday.
Chuck Berry, a former state legislator and now CACI president, said
business people and especially employers need to be heard in the next
several months as the commission formulates its report. Northern Colorado Business Report
July 17: Study: deep cuts in premiums add few to ranks of insured
A 50 percent cut in health insurance premiums would only reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 3 percent, estimates a Rand study out Monday, which suggests that incentives and government tax cuts won't lead to universal coverage.
Instead, a federal requirement that all people have insurance may be the only way to achieve such a goal, says study author Susan Marquis, an economist at Rand, a think tank. The study comes amid heightened debate about ways to cover the approximately 45 million uninsured. Ideas on how to fix the problem cross the political spectrum, from loosening regulation of the industry to mandating a government-overseen health system. USA Today
July 5: Ritter's plan to cover all kids gets a boost
Access to children�s and prenatal health care for Colorado�s undocumented immigrants has broadened now that U.S. citizenship and identity documentation are no longer required for children and pregnant women who apply for the Child Health Plan Plus program, a state department said last week. Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction
July 2: Massachusetts residents hit deadline for buying insurance
On Sunday, Massachusetts hit a "largely symbolic but important deadline" � nearly everyone in the state was required to have insurance, whether through their jobs, on their own or through a new program that subsidized coverage for low-income residents. USA Today