Author

Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News

Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health News

Rae Ellen Bichell is a Colorado Correspondent for KFF Health News, based in Longmont.

A nanoengineer teamed up with Rihanna’s tattoo artist to make smarter ink

By: - August 28, 2023

This story originally appeared in KFF Health News. BOULDER, Colo. — Mad-scientist kind of moments happen fairly often for nanoengineer Carson Bruns. A few months ago in his lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, he tested his latest invention on his own arm and asked a colleague for help. “We were like, ‘OK, we’re […]

Grassroots groups lead way on closing Colorado’s infant mortality gap

By: - June 13, 2022

This story originally appeared in KHN. AURORA, Colo. — As Britney Taylor toured the Mama Bird Maternity Wellness Spa during its grand opening this spring, she reflected on the birth of her first child: a confusing and lonely experience that resulted in an unplanned cesarean section and an extended period of postpartum depression. But here […]

How billing turns a routine birth into a high-cost emergency

By: - October 28, 2021

This story was originally published at khn.org. Caitlin Wells Salerno knew that some mammals — like the golden-mantled ground squirrels she studies in the Rocky Mountains — invest an insane amount of resources in their young. That didn’t prepare her for the resources the conservation biologist would owe after the birth of her second son. […]

Delta variant surges in Colorado as the bands play on

By: - July 10, 2021

“Delta variant surges in Colorado as the bands play on” was originally published at khn.org. GRAND JUNCTION — Dr. Rachel LaCount grasped a metal hoop at a playground and spun in circles with her 7-year-old son, turning the distant mesas of the Colorado National Monument into a red-tinged blur. LaCount has lived in this western […]

Durango’s COVID ‘cowboy’ rounds up spring break scofflaws, lines ’em up for shots

By: - April 3, 2021

“Durango’s Covid ‘Cowboy’ Rounds Up Spring Break Scofflaws, Lines ’Em Up for Shots” originally appeared at khn.org. Bartenders were pouring Old-Fashioneds at a bar with a bullet hole straight through the wood. Servers in corsets and fishnet stockings roamed the room, passing an old piano that, twice a week, fills the building with ragtime tunes. […]

COVID-19 vaccine

What childhood vaccine rates can, and can’t, teach us about COVID vaccines

By: - March 10, 2021

“What Childhood Vaccine Rates Can, and Can’t, Teach Us About Covid Vaccines” originally appeared at khn.org. Polls show Americans are increasingly interested in getting vaccinated against COVID-19, but such surveys are largely national, leaving a big question: When the vaccines become available to the general public, will enough people get it in your county, city […]

At Colorado’s rural edges, vaccines help assisted living homes crack open the doors

By: - January 28, 2021

“At Colorado’s rural edges, vaccines help assisted living homes crack open the doors” originally appeared at khn.org. Bingo is back in the dining room. In-person visits have returned, too, though with masks and plexiglass. The Haven Assisted Living Facility’s residents are even planning a field trip for a private movie screening once they’ve all gotten […]

This health care magnate wants to fix democracy, starting in Colorado

By: - December 14, 2020

In the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election, supporters of a down-in-the-weeds effort to overturn a tax law in Colorado received a cascade of big checks, for a grand total of more than $2 million. All came from Kent Thiry, the former CEO of DaVita, one of the largest kidney care companies in the […]