Health
Senate panel advances former Wisconsin health leader for top HHS post, but Medicaid waiver dispute deadlocks CMS nominee
WASHINGTON — Wisconsin’s Andrea Palm moved a step closer Thursday to becoming deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, after the Senate Finance Committee advanced her nomination to the full chamber. The panel approved Palm’s nomination on a 20-8 vote, with all Democrats and six Republicans in support. But the Finance Committee […]
Culture of death avoidance no longer an option in the wake of COVID-19
We have a practice of death avoidance in this country. We don’t like to talk about, plan for, or even meaningfully acknowledge death. Westernized culture treats death and bereavement as private topics to stay within the family of the decedent, or to not be spoken about at all. Often, people find it inappropriate or are […]
Reps. Boebert, Taylor Greene oppose National Marrow Donor Program reauthorization in 415-2 vote
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert was one of only two members of the House of Representatives to vote against legislation reauthorizing the National Marrow Donor Program, which operates a registry that helps facilitate bone marrow and cord blood transplants to patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other diseases. The House on Thursday passed H.R. 941, known as […]
I am a doctor. I see the harm high-potency THC does to children.
I am an emergency medicine physician in southern Colorado. I see the harms of high-potency THC on a daily basis, and I wish you could see what I see. We cannot put more drugs into the community and then expect that no harm will occur. Since legalization, the medical community has published hundreds, if not […]
Former Wisconsin health leader pledges ‘common ground’ agenda if confirmed for HHS post
WASHINGTON — When Andrea Palm worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration, she says there was a theme to the policy issues that ended up on her plate: ones that required bipartisan cooperation. The agency’s secretary at the time, Sylvia Burwell, had a nickname for Palm’s portfolio: the “common-ground […]
Ball Arena’s no-bags policy is about greed, not safety
As COVID restrictions begin to lift and people are once again allowed to attend sports and other events, venues like Denver’s Ball Arena (home to the Nuggets and the Avalanche) and the Staples Center (home to the Lakers and other teams) are announcing new policies prohibiting purses or bags of any kind. A bag prohibition […]
I was a teenage rifle owner, then an ER doctor. Assault weapons shouldn’t count as ‘guns.’
This story was originally published at khn.org. Many who know me might be shocked by this: I shot my first pistol when I was 8 or 9, taught by my father, a physician, aiming at targets in our basement. At summer camp, I loved riflery the way some kids loved art. Staring through the sight, […]
Black women are 3 times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related complications. Proposed laws promise improvements.
As a Black woman, Kyla Armstrong-Romero had to fight for adequate medical care at every step of her pregnancy. After being diagnosed at 23 weeks with preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure, she was in and out of the hospital until she gave birth to her twin boys a month early […]
After 10 hours of testimony on public option bill, committee vote delayed till Tuesday
In a Friday hearing, state lawmakers on the House Health and Insurance Committee heard nearly 10 hours of passionate testimony on perhaps the most controversial bill of the legislative session: a public option for health insurance. House Bill 21-1232 — sponsored by Reps. Dylan Roberts of Avon and Iman Jodeh of Aurora, along with Sen. […]
Black maternal health is a crisis and we must take action
The COVID-19 pandemic has tragically demonstrated the lethality of race-based health and health care disparities in the United States. Maternal mortality is another area that highlights a gaping disparity in outcomes in the U.S. April 11-17 marks Black Maternal Health Week, founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. It’s a week of awareness […]
State lawmakers seek to restrict solitary confinement in Colorado’s largest jails for mentally ill inmates
Meghan Baker, a staff attorney for the advocacy organization Disability Law Colorado, asked state lawmakers during a bill hearing on Tuesday to imagine what it would be like to spend 23 hours a day alone in a jail cell. “You can’t see a TV or a clock, you have very little property in your cell […]
Colorado lawmakers propose ambitious plan for behavioral health recovery
When COVID-19 arrived in Colorado last spring, lawmakers scrambled to address what they expected would be a $3.3 billion shortfall in the state budget. The triaging at the Capitol included cutting more than $20 million for behavioral health programs, including some that were developed over years of work by a committee on opioid and other […]