Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
House Passes Markey-Perriello Bill to End Monopoly Protections for Health Insurers
Key bi-partisan health care reform bill passes 406-19
WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives today voted 406-19 to pass H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, introduced by Congresswoman Betsy Markey and Congressman Tom Perriello. The two-page bill repeals the special anti-trust exemption that health insurance companies have enjoyed since 1945, and will restore competition to the health insurance market to promote affordability, improved quality, and greater consumer choice in health plans.
“I’m proud of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for standing up for a common sense bill,” said Rep. Markey. “Long ago, the insurance industry got a special deal from Washington. Big health insurance companies could conspire with each other to fix prices, divide territories and never be punished for it. It's wrong, and this bill fixes it–once and for all.”
“Today, Washington finally took a stand for patients, for the free market, and for common-sense, bipartisan principles of fairness. Today, we sent a simple message: health insurance companies must compete for business like everyone else,” said Rep. Perriello. “Working and middle-class families are sick and tired of getting nickel and dimed by these companies while they rack up billions in profit and enjoy their monopoly protection. I applaud my colleagues for standing on the side of consumers over the health insurance companies.”
Under the legislation, health insurers will no longer be protected from liability for antitrust practices like price fixing, dividing up market territories, or bid rigging. In the last 14 years, there have been 400 mergers among health care insurers so that 95% of health insurance markets are “highly concentrated,” which means consumers have little or no choice between insurers. During the past decade while this concentrated market has enjoyed its exemption from antitrust regulation, health insurance premiums have doubled.
Repealing the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the National Farmers Union, among others. The Obama Administration also released a strong statement of support yesterday saying, “This bill will benefit the American health care consumer by ensuring that competition has a prominent role in reforming health insurance markets throughout the nation.”
Watch Representative Markey on the floor of the House
WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives today voted 406-19 to pass H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, introduced by Congresswoman Betsy Markey and Congressman Tom Perriello. The two-page bill repeals the special anti-trust exemption that health insurance companies have enjoyed since 1945, and will restore competition to the health insurance market to promote affordability, improved quality, and greater consumer choice in health plans.
“I’m proud of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for standing up for a common sense bill,” said Rep. Markey. “Long ago, the insurance industry got a special deal from Washington. Big health insurance companies could conspire with each other to fix prices, divide territories and never be punished for it. It's wrong, and this bill fixes it–once and for all.”
“Today, Washington finally took a stand for patients, for the free market, and for common-sense, bipartisan principles of fairness. Today, we sent a simple message: health insurance companies must compete for business like everyone else,” said Rep. Perriello. “Working and middle-class families are sick and tired of getting nickel and dimed by these companies while they rack up billions in profit and enjoy their monopoly protection. I applaud my colleagues for standing on the side of consumers over the health insurance companies.”
Under the legislation, health insurers will no longer be protected from liability for antitrust practices like price fixing, dividing up market territories, or bid rigging. In the last 14 years, there have been 400 mergers among health care insurers so that 95% of health insurance markets are “highly concentrated,” which means consumers have little or no choice between insurers. During the past decade while this concentrated market has enjoyed its exemption from antitrust regulation, health insurance premiums have doubled.
Repealing the anti-trust exemption for health insurance companies has been endorsed by the American Hospital Association, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the National Farmers Union, among others. The Obama Administration also released a strong statement of support yesterday saying, “This bill will benefit the American health care consumer by ensuring that competition has a prominent role in reforming health insurance markets throughout the nation.”
Watch Representative Markey on the floor of the House
President Obama's Healthcare Summit
As most everyone has heard by now, President Obama will be holding a televised healthcare summit tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 25th. It will air at 8am MST on C-SPAN3.
Your guess is as good as mine as to what is going to transpire during this summit. All I can say is, get your popcorn ready! Here's to hoping our Government can act like adults and discuss healthcare reform in a rational and reasonable way.......
List of Senators expected to attend:
Harry Reid, D-Nev., majority leader
Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., majority whip
Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., Democratic Caucus vice chairman
Patty Murray, D-Wash., Democratic Caucus secretary
Max Baucus, D-Mont., Finance Committee chairman
Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., Banking Committee chairman
Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, HELP Committee chairman
John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., Finance Subcommittee on Health Care chairman
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Budget Committee chairman
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., minority whip
Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Republican Conference chairman
Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, Finance Committee ranking member
Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., HELP Committee ranking member
John McCain, R-Ariz., HELP Committee member
Tom Coburn, R-Okla., M.D., HELP Committee member
John Barrasso, R-Wyo., M.D.
List of Representatives expected to attend:
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Speaker of the House
Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., majority leader
James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., majority whip
Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., Ways and Means Committee chairman
Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., Energy and Commerce Committee chairman
George Miller, D-Calif., Education and Labor Committee chairman
John D. Dingell, D-Mich., Energy and Commerce Committee chairman emeritus
Robert E. Andrews, D-N.J., Education and Labor HELP Subcommittee chairman
Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., Democratic Caucus vice chairman
Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Blue Dog Coalition member
Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y., Rules Committee chairwoman
John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, minority leader
Eric Cantor, R-Va., minority whip
Support Rural Health - Protect Rural Medicare!
The following is from our partners, the National Rural Health Association:
On December 31, 2009, a number of rural Medicare add-on payments expired. Although extenders of these provisions were included in both the Senate and House versions of health reform legislation, these payments have lapsed, jeopardizing access to care for rural Medicare beneficiaries, while health reform lingered.
As you well know, rural health care providers operate on a very thin margin and these payments allow them to remain in business and providing care to patients in their communities. Email your Representatives today and urge them to sign on to the Rural Health Care Coalition's letter supporting the extension of these important provisions as part of any current legislation.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION & EMAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
On December 31, 2009, a number of rural Medicare add-on payments expired. Although extenders of these provisions were included in both the Senate and House versions of health reform legislation, these payments have lapsed, jeopardizing access to care for rural Medicare beneficiaries, while health reform lingered.
As you well know, rural health care providers operate on a very thin margin and these payments allow them to remain in business and providing care to patients in their communities. Email your Representatives today and urge them to sign on to the Rural Health Care Coalition's letter supporting the extension of these important provisions as part of any current legislation.
CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION & EMAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
FY10-11 Proposed Healthcare Cuts
Please note: The CO Rural Health Center has not taken a formal position on any of these proposed cuts.
Get ready for FY10-11 budget fun under the dome as the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) will be figure setting for the Health Care Policy & Finance (HCPF) Department on March 11th. What this means is that funding and budget proposals regarding Medicaid and other healthcare services will be set during this time as the JBC prepares the long bill (aka our state budget). Public testimony is not allowed during figure setting or for the long bill, but members of the JBC may be contacted via email or phone if you are concerned by any of the proposed cuts that are planning to make up the HCPF figure setting. FY10-11 will begin July 1, 2010 and runs through June 30, 2011.
Some of the proposed HCPF cuts for FY10-11 include:
A 4-week delay in Medicaid payments (meaning Medicaid providers will most likely get paid the first week of June 2011, but won't be paid again until after July 1, 2011);
$25.7 million cut from Amendment 35 funds, which will leave $17.3 million for prevention, early detection, and treatment programs; tobacco education; and health disparities programs;
Medicaid reimbursement cut of 1%; and
10% Medicaid cuts to Advance Practice Nurses(APN) and Physician Assistants(PA).
This last cut, in particular, will greatly impact rural healthcare providers and services. Cutting reimbursement to APNs and PAs to 90% of what a physician receives for providing the same service will very much be felt in many rural communities and counties where APNs and PAs serve as the primary healthcare provider.
If you are concerned about these proposed cuts and/or would like more information, please contact Terri Hurst, CRHC Policy Analyst, or call 303-407-2031.
Get ready for FY10-11 budget fun under the dome as the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) will be figure setting for the Health Care Policy & Finance (HCPF) Department on March 11th. What this means is that funding and budget proposals regarding Medicaid and other healthcare services will be set during this time as the JBC prepares the long bill (aka our state budget). Public testimony is not allowed during figure setting or for the long bill, but members of the JBC may be contacted via email or phone if you are concerned by any of the proposed cuts that are planning to make up the HCPF figure setting. FY10-11 will begin July 1, 2010 and runs through June 30, 2011.
Some of the proposed HCPF cuts for FY10-11 include:
A 4-week delay in Medicaid payments (meaning Medicaid providers will most likely get paid the first week of June 2011, but won't be paid again until after July 1, 2011);
$25.7 million cut from Amendment 35 funds, which will leave $17.3 million for prevention, early detection, and treatment programs; tobacco education; and health disparities programs;
Medicaid reimbursement cut of 1%; and
10% Medicaid cuts to Advance Practice Nurses(APN) and Physician Assistants(PA).
This last cut, in particular, will greatly impact rural healthcare providers and services. Cutting reimbursement to APNs and PAs to 90% of what a physician receives for providing the same service will very much be felt in many rural communities and counties where APNs and PAs serve as the primary healthcare provider.
If you are concerned about these proposed cuts and/or would like more information, please contact Terri Hurst, CRHC Policy Analyst, or call 303-407-2031.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Health Policy Update
We're five weeks into the 2010 Legislative Session and the exhaustion is already starting to show! There are approximately 84 bills that have been introduced dealing with healthcare issues alone. CRHC is actively supporting four bills and all of them seem to be sailing through without many issues (hooray!). I'll be giving an update on those bills and more in the next couple of days.
I'm finally getting my head above water and will be able to keep all of you up to speed as to what is going on under the gold dome! It has been a whirlwind of a month so far......
I'm sure most of you have heard, the President is holding a Healthcare Summit next Thursday, Feb. 25th, which will supposedly be televised. Stay tuned for more information on this as well in the upcoming days.....
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Protect Rural Medicare Beneficiaries & Providers
The following is a call-to-action from our partners, the National Rural Health Association:
Extend Rural Medicare Add-on Payments
On December 31, 2009, a number of rural Medicare add-on payments expired. Although extenders of these provisions were included in both the Senate and House versions of health reform legislation, these payments have lapsed, jeopardizing access to care for rural Medicare beneficiaries, while health reform lingered.
As you well know, rural health care providers operate on a very thin margin and these payments allow them to remain in business and providing care to patients in their communities. Email your Senators today and urge them to, retroactively to the date of their expiration, extend these important provisions as part of any current legislation, along with preventing the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments expected at the beginning of March.
Please click on the title of this posting to contact Senator Udall and Senator Bennet to urge their support of these rural provisions.....
Extend Rural Medicare Add-on Payments
On December 31, 2009, a number of rural Medicare add-on payments expired. Although extenders of these provisions were included in both the Senate and House versions of health reform legislation, these payments have lapsed, jeopardizing access to care for rural Medicare beneficiaries, while health reform lingered.
As you well know, rural health care providers operate on a very thin margin and these payments allow them to remain in business and providing care to patients in their communities. Email your Senators today and urge them to, retroactively to the date of their expiration, extend these important provisions as part of any current legislation, along with preventing the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments expected at the beginning of March.
Please click on the title of this posting to contact Senator Udall and Senator Bennet to urge their support of these rural provisions.....
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bill Tracking Tool 2.9.10
The madness continues at the Capitol! The Senate continues to work on the revenue enhancement measures proposed by the Governor's office and we can expect next week to focus on the FY10-11 budget. In the House, the first Committee deadline is approaching this Thursday, which means all Committees (except Appropriations) must report out bills that were introduced in the beginning of the session.
As always, stay tuned for more fun in the upcoming weeks!
Hospice Bills
The 2010 Legislative session is zooming along! CRHC has officially taken positions on three bills that seem to be moving through the legislative process fairly easily. That being said, there are two bills that will directly impact the scope of Advance Practice Nurses (APNs), in particular, those that work in hospice and palliative care. While CRHC has not taken an official position on either of these bills, these bills will directly impact the ability of APNs to provide healthcare in rural Colorado.
HB10-1024: Declaring Patients Terminally Ill, explicitly removes the ability of an APN to declare a patient terminally ill in order to begin end-of-life care. APNs have had the ability to declare a patient terminally ill since January 1, 2009. If HB10-1024 passes, APNs would still have the ability to enter declarations of medical treatment into a patient's record and participate in end-of-life care, but would lose the ability to declare a patient as terminally ill.
HB10-1025: Colorado Medical Treatment Act Updates, is written in a way that would remove the ability of an APN to declare a patient as terminally ill to begin end-of-life care. This bill reenacts the Colorado Medical Treatment Decision Act, which affirms the right of each patient to accept or reject medical treatment and creates a procedure to make such decisions in advance through a written declaration. While HB10-1025 has many good provisions in it, if it passes it will accomplish the goal of HB10-1024.
Both of these bills are to be heard by the House Committee of the Whole tomorrow.
If you would like contact information for your Representative, please click HERE.
If you do not know who your Representative is and would like to learn, click HERE.
HB10-1024: Declaring Patients Terminally Ill, explicitly removes the ability of an APN to declare a patient terminally ill in order to begin end-of-life care. APNs have had the ability to declare a patient terminally ill since January 1, 2009. If HB10-1024 passes, APNs would still have the ability to enter declarations of medical treatment into a patient's record and participate in end-of-life care, but would lose the ability to declare a patient as terminally ill.
HB10-1025: Colorado Medical Treatment Act Updates, is written in a way that would remove the ability of an APN to declare a patient as terminally ill to begin end-of-life care. This bill reenacts the Colorado Medical Treatment Decision Act, which affirms the right of each patient to accept or reject medical treatment and creates a procedure to make such decisions in advance through a written declaration. While HB10-1025 has many good provisions in it, if it passes it will accomplish the goal of HB10-1024.
Both of these bills are to be heard by the House Committee of the Whole tomorrow.
If you would like contact information for your Representative, please click HERE.
If you do not know who your Representative is and would like to learn, click HERE.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Health Reform?????
Since federal healthcare reform is stalled for the moment, I thought I'd post another picture from the NRHA Policy Institute. This is a picture of the group of Coloradans who took over the Hill last week along with Senator Udall and his healthcare staffer, Jake Swanton.
Wish I had more to tell you about what's going on with healthcare reform, but it sounds like the Democrats are still trying to figure out what to do. The clock is ticking though. I think that if something doesn't occur in the next few weeks, we can add another failed attempt at healthcare reform to our history books. Ugh......
Thursday, January 28, 2010
1.28.10: Bill Tracking Tool
There are a handful of new bills added since last week. You'll see the Nurse Educator Loan Repayment bill passed the Education Committee, but was amended slightly. There are also a couple of bills that have been introduced that deal with donating prescription medications to healthcare facilities. We also see the repeat introduction of allowing the state to purchase insurance across state lines (3rd year in a row). As always, everything in this document is subject to change and those bills without a CRHC position mean that the Policy & Legislative Council have not formally discussed them.
More fun to come......
More fun to come......
National Rural Health Association Policy Institute Recap
Welcome back to Colorado!
I spent the past 4 days in Washington D.C., participating in the National Rural Health Association's (NRHA) Policy Institute. It was an amazing experience! Monday was spent learning about key rural health provisions that have lapsed for rural providers (bonus Medicare payments), in addition to learning about other important issues impacting rural healthcare entities. One issue in particular that CRHC will be providing comment on involves the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) ruling on "meaningful use" in regards to HIT funds. The comment period will close on March 1st and we may be asking some of you for your input and feedback to submit to CMS. Stay tuned for more information about this proposed rule.....
Tuesday consisted of Hill visits with a delegation of Coloradans who educated healthcare staffers and some of our congressional leaders on rural healthcare concerns. I tell you what folks, we have some amazing champions on our side in Washington. Senator Udall and his healthcare staffer were extremely savvy and aware of the needs and issues surrounding rural Coloradans having the ability to access healthcare services. Big thanks to the Senator and his office for drafting the Rural Physcian Pipeline Act, which would provide grants for Rural Training Track programs in medical schools in efforts to improve the healthcare workforce practicing in rural areas. Senator Bennet and his healthcare staffer were also very knowledgable about rural healthcare needs and have also drafted a bill with some extrememly important rural provisions that will hopefully be passed regardless of healthcare reform.
Our group also met with Congressman Lamborn's staff, Congresswoman Markey's staff, and Congressman Salazar's office (see pic above). Our message focused on the importance of Rural Health Clinics to our healthcare safety net and providing equity in reimbursement rates for rural providers.
Now that I'm back home (thank goodness! loved lobbying on Capitol Hill, but D.C. is an odd, odd city) I'm catching up on all the fun that is happening at our state capitol and will be updating the CRHC bill tracker as soon as I can. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
1.21.10 Bill Tracking Tool Update
I'm leaving for Washington D.C. this weekend, so thought I'd update the bill tracking tool one more time before I leave. Next update will occur next Thursday. Keep in mind, the hearing dates/times are subject to change and you can always listen to the hearings online by visiting the audio/video section of the Colorado General Assembly website.
You may access the bill tracking tool by clicking on the title of this post.
You may access the bill tracking tool by clicking on the title of this post.
1.21.10 - Federal Healthcare Reform Update
Politics has always been a bit exhausting to watch, but the next few weeks are going to challenge even the most ardent political fans. With Scott Brown winning the Senate seat this week in Massachusetts, the future of federal healthcare reform is up in the air and the stories of what is to come change from minute to minute. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, came out today and said the House would not pass the Senate's healthcare reform proposal as is, which would be the easiest and fastest way for Congress to get health reform passed. Since the Senate proposal has already passed the Senate, it would not need to be re-voted on in that chamber, but it would have to pass a vote in the House. With the Speaker of the House saying that is not an option, at least right now, stay tuned for more political madness in the upcoming weeks.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
CRHC Bill Tracking Tool
We are already a week into the 2010 Legislative Session! CRHC is currently following 10 bills; nine of which will impact access to healthcare in rural Colorado (one of the bills will impact non-profit organizations). I will be updating this bill tracking list at least on a weekly basis and will post updates here. My goal is to keep the Tool as current as possible. Also, you'll see CRHC has taken positions on certain bills, while others are blank. This means that we are currently considering taking a position on that piece of legislation or are remaining neutral on the bill. A position of monior merely means that we are tracking the progress of the bill and will decide to take a more active role if it appears necessary.
To access the Bill Tracking Tool, click on the title of this blog or this link.
CRHC will also be doing calls to action once bills that we are actively involved with are up for hearing. I will be posting that information here. We also now have a service that should allow you to easily send an email to your elected officials.
Stay tuned as we move forward during the 2010 Legislative Session and work to improve access to healthcare services for rural Coloradans!
To access the Bill Tracking Tool, click on the title of this blog or this link.
CRHC will also be doing calls to action once bills that we are actively involved with are up for hearing. I will be posting that information here. We also now have a service that should allow you to easily send an email to your elected officials.
Stay tuned as we move forward during the 2010 Legislative Session and work to improve access to healthcare services for rural Coloradans!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Federal Health Reform Update
All eyes are on Massachusettes today as the state is holding a special election to fill Senator Ted Kennedy's seat. Early polls were showing that the Republican candidate, Scott Brown, was ahead of the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley. The significance of this election comes down to if the Senate will continue to have a supermajority of 60 votes. If Brown wins, the Republicans would have enough members in the Senate to successfully filibuster future legislation, including the healthcare reform bill. This does not mean that healthcare reform is dead, but it would put a big wrinkle in Democrats plans.
It is important to note that it is still possible to pass healthcare reform. The most viable way is to utilize the Senate bill as the base bill. The House would be required to pass the Senate bill without any amendments. The Senate, since it already passed this bill, would not need to act again and would therefore not need to overcome a likely future filibuster. If the identical Senate bill is passed in the House, it could then be sent to the President’s desk for signature. Would the House accept the Senate bill as-is? Still uncertain, but with pressure from the White House, and the “it’s this or nothing” ultimatum - - it’s a likely scenario.
If the House rejects the Senate bill as-is, Democratic leaders will likely try to woo a moderate Republican such a Olympia Snowe to be the 60th vote. (This may prove to be a little tough.) Additionally, there is a possibility that the MA Democratic Governor may wait several weeks to certify the election results if Brown wins, that is, not certify the election results until after health care reform is signed into law. (This avenue would subject the Democrats to significant criticism and is likely not the path many want to take).
The fun continues! Stay tuned........
It is important to note that it is still possible to pass healthcare reform. The most viable way is to utilize the Senate bill as the base bill. The House would be required to pass the Senate bill without any amendments. The Senate, since it already passed this bill, would not need to act again and would therefore not need to overcome a likely future filibuster. If the identical Senate bill is passed in the House, it could then be sent to the President’s desk for signature. Would the House accept the Senate bill as-is? Still uncertain, but with pressure from the White House, and the “it’s this or nothing” ultimatum - - it’s a likely scenario.
If the House rejects the Senate bill as-is, Democratic leaders will likely try to woo a moderate Republican such a Olympia Snowe to be the 60th vote. (This may prove to be a little tough.) Additionally, there is a possibility that the MA Democratic Governor may wait several weeks to certify the election results if Brown wins, that is, not certify the election results until after health care reform is signed into law. (This avenue would subject the Democrats to significant criticism and is likely not the path many want to take).
The fun continues! Stay tuned........
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Democrats Hope to Have Health Care Deal by Friday
CQ TODAY MIDDAY UPDATE – HEALTH
Jan. 14, 2010 – 2:04 p.m.
Democrats Hope To Have Health Care Deal by Friday
Congressional leaders hope to reach a deal on the broad outlines of a final health care bill by Friday, and they are looking to President Obama to sell it — not only to their members but also to the public.
Democratic leaders and committee chairmen from both chambers planned to return to the White House at mid-afternoon Thursday for more negotiations on the major sticking points between the House and Senate bills.
Click HERE to read this article in its entirety.
Jan. 14, 2010 – 2:04 p.m.
Democrats Hope To Have Health Care Deal by Friday
Congressional leaders hope to reach a deal on the broad outlines of a final health care bill by Friday, and they are looking to President Obama to sell it — not only to their members but also to the public.
Democratic leaders and committee chairmen from both chambers planned to return to the White House at mid-afternoon Thursday for more negotiations on the major sticking points between the House and Senate bills.
Click HERE to read this article in its entirety.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The 2010 Colorado State Legislature Begins!
Today kicks off the 67th Colorado General Assembly. Our state is facing a budget shortfall of over $1 billion, which is sure to make the next few months an extremely challenging yet interesting session. The fun begins this morning at 10am and you can watch the opening comments & speeches online at The Colorado Channel.
The Colorado Rural Health Center will be tracking and following healthcare bills throughout the session and are working on providing you with an easy way to contact your elected officials to let them know how potential legislation will impact you. A legislative bill tracking matrix will be posted here and on our website.
CRHC's priorities for the upcoming session will focus on educating policy makers about the importance of Rural Health Clinics and Critical Access Hospitals as part of the healthcare safety net, working to protect clinics and providers from experiencing further provider rate cuts, and advocating on behalf of rural Coloradans to ensure everyone in the state of Colorado has access to healthcare services.
The Colorado Rural Health Center will be tracking and following healthcare bills throughout the session and are working on providing you with an easy way to contact your elected officials to let them know how potential legislation will impact you. A legislative bill tracking matrix will be posted here and on our website.
CRHC's priorities for the upcoming session will focus on educating policy makers about the importance of Rural Health Clinics and Critical Access Hospitals as part of the healthcare safety net, working to protect clinics and providers from experiencing further provider rate cuts, and advocating on behalf of rural Coloradans to ensure everyone in the state of Colorado has access to healthcare services.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Rural Detoxification Services - Policy Brief & Full Report
The Rural Health Research & Policy Centers has published a policy brief and full report describing the lack of detoxification services in rural areas. Conducted by the Maine Rural Health Research Center, the data collected shows that few detox providers (n=235) serve rural America and that 82% of rural residents live in a county without a detox provider.
To read the policy brief and full report in its entirety, please click HERE.
To read the policy brief and full report in its entirety, please click HERE.
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