Health Care Issues
How can we make high-quality health care available and affordable to more Coloradans? As a member of the Health Environment Welfare and Institutions Committee and the Health Care Task Force, I have worked hard to find good answers to that question.
While the legislature continues to wrestle with prescription drug discounts, insurance reform, and other proposals, there are several steps we can take now to save health care dollars - and human lives. Here are three of my priorities:
- Expand enrollment in the Children's Basic Health Plan. CHP not only draws a two-to-one match from the federal government but also produces a tremendous return on our investment. Children with regular access to medical services are less likely to require emergency care and more likely to succeed in school. I am working with other state officials and child health advocates to raise the CHP eligibility cap and to strengthen outreach efforts.
- Help senior citizens get the care they need at home. I sponsored two bills in the 2002 legislative session to provide alternatives to costly nursing home care. HB 02-1029, which was signed into law in May 2002, builds on the success of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly by authorizing more PACE sites around the state. HB 02-1027 would have made the reimbursement formula for home- and community-based services more rational, by tying payments to clients' needs; the bill passed the House and the Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
- Improve access to mental health services. Shortchanging mental health care produces higher rates of crime, suicide, and medical emergencies. I carried two bills in the 2002 session to address this problem. HB 02-1025 directs counties to screen recipients of public assistance for signs of mental illness or substance abuse and refer those in need of further assessment. HB 02-1295 expedites the process by which offenders already diagnosed with severe mental illness receive treatment. Both bills were signed into law in May 2002.
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