Health Care Reform in Denver
Monday, February 4th, 2008 Colorado’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Health Care Reform, a 27-member panel, has been meeting for a year, drafting proposals for health care reform.
The intent of this Blue Ribbon panel is to uncover creative solutions to insure the 792,000 people in Colorado who do not have health insurance. Sounds simple? The real struggle is that these solutions have to be agreeable to the majority of Colorado Lawmakers, and ultimately, the people of Colorado.
The state’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Health Care Reform will present five recommendations to the Colorado General Assembly at noon Thursday in the Old Supreme Court Building chambers at the state Capitol in Denver. Here’s what was discussed:
Requiring all legal Colorado residents to have basic health insurance coverage.
Facilitating employee health insurance purchases by requiring employers to offer them pre-tax premium-only plans.
Creating a “connector” that helps employees and small employers to choose insurance options.
Expanding and reforming eligibility for Medicaid and the state’s Child Health Plan Plus.
Streamlining the system to reduce administrative costs.
Improving access to quality and cost information.
Enhancing quality and improving care coordination.
Encouraging people to take responsibility for their health.
Expand programs to improve services to vulnerable and under-served populations
Appropriately fund public health delivery systems and safety net providers.
I thought one of the better proposals was allowing and requiring the employers to offer pre-tax plans, which would allow employees to use some of their money that is taken in taxes, for their health insurance. There’s tax dollars working directly for the people who pay them.
What the results of this panel and the info presented to Colorado Lawmakers is yet to be seen, but you can count on about-denverco.ccom o report it when it becomes available.
In other news: The Democratic Convention in Denver this summer will be boosting local businesses in many sectors: food, hotels, travel, etc. and here’s a new one, the sex and adult entertainment industry.
What is this connection between politics and less than tasteful sex practices?
Here’s a link for the Rocky Mountain News story: here
