Uninsured

Gov. John Hickenlooper signs the bill creating the Hospital Payment
Assistance Program. At left is Sen. Irene Aguilar, the Senate sponsor,
and Rep. Cindy Acree, the House sponsor, is at right.

Posted on DemocraticUnderground.com by Denver Dave

Colorado: 829,000 no insurance; 674,686 underinsured. One-third, more than 1.5 million people, lack health insurance or are underinsured. Jonathan Gruber's 2011 study projects that 350,000 will remain uninsured two years after full implementation of ACA.

http://bellpolicy.org/content/straight-talk-health-care-reform-colorados...

(Also published as guest commentary in the Summit Daily News and posted by  healthinsuranceheadlines.com, topix.com, health

By Gena Akers
Valley Voices (San Luis Valley Health.org)

The math is simple. Our country has a budget deficit because we spend more than we have. The same applies personally: you can't spend your problems away with credit cards. You have to be accountable to yourself.

Now, we need to be accountable to our nation so our nation doesn't fail us.

Looking for the Quick Fix

If you live in Colorado, there's a good chance you don't have health insurance, or enough insurance to cover a serious accident or illness.

Lack of health insurance is a problem for many Americans, but for thousands every year it can lead to an avoidable and premature death.

For this and other reasons, the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, puts new reforms in place to reduce the number of uninsured Americans and improve their access to care.

By Bob Semro

A few years ago, many Colorado hospitals faced a common problem: how to cover the cost of patients without insurance.

Hospitals can't turn away the sick, and if uninsured patients couldn't pay for their care, or public programs did not cover the hospital's cost, the bill for that "uncompensated care" was passed on, or shifted, to individuals and businesses with health care coverage.

Articles: 2005 CSAP results, New Bell reports: Understanding Colorado's Achievement Gap 2005 Education White Papers, Bell tracks six interim committees, Immunization rates rebound, Number of uninsured kids falls, Latinos receive less student financial aid, Business group supports better access to higher education, Increased cost sharing pushes people off Medicaid, EITC boosts employment, Housing costs rise faster than wages, Latinos lack sufficient retirement savings

Articles: State of teaching in Colorado and widening ???teacher gap,??? Report cards size up Colorado public schools, JBC higher ed hearing weighs increased spending, Hank Brown describes CU???s fiscal challenges, Gov.-elect Ritter announces expansion of Health Care Reform Commission, Health insurance costs rise five times as fast as wages, Colorado Health Institute releases new reports, Changes at the Bell: Adrian Miller joins Ritter administration

In 2003-04, the national uninsured rate averaged 15.7 percent. During the same time period, 17.1 percent of Coloradans (nearly 770,000 people) reported having no private or public health coverage.