A decision by Medicaid and Medicare means mostly the rich and those on the Front Range will be able to afford and access clinical trials for FDA-approved Lecanemab.
Medicare
Posted inOpinion Columns
Nicolais: Colorado Public Option puts its stake in the ground
Reporting 35,000 new registrants, the controversial government-guided health insurance plan marks a ground shift in the health care industry
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Littwin: Hickenlooper never gave up on Manchin. Could that really be why Manchin never gave up on the climate bill?
In the biggest congressional news of late and very possibly the most important since Joe Biden took office, Sen. Joe Manchin has changed his position — yes, one more time — on Biden’s much-reduced, yet-still-all-important climate-change package. In a city where secrets are rarely held for long, Manchin’s announcement of yet another change of heart […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: A device, not just drugs, is helping my husband beat cancer
The night in July 2020 when my husband, Ira, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he told me he was confident he was going to do his best to beat this disease. The doctor had told him that he had a year, maybe 18 months, to live. But Ira reminded me that he had just […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Drugs don’t work if we can’t afford them
I was troubled by the false choice presented in a recent opinion column from Sabrina Walker. Patients do not need to choose between lowering drug prices and protecting pharmaceutical innovation. The drug pricing reforms that are under consideration by the U.S. Senate will maintain the innovation we need at prices we can afford. Like Sabrina, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: I’m not supposed to be alive. One pill changed that
When I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 4, taking a pill to treat my disease was unimaginable, almost as unimaginable as me still being alive today. I’m eternally grateful for the medical innovation that has made both those things possible. Today, kids diagnosed with CF are growing up in a different world than […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: My insulin hasn’t changed, but the price has risen more than 600%
I was fortunate to be invited to the White House to share my story with President Biden ahead of his recent speech on drug pricing reform in which he called on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. That day in the Oval Office, we discussed that if Medicare were able to negotiate […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News
Colorado will pay hospitals to close expensive free-standing ERs
By Phil Galewitz, KHN Colorado health officials so abhor the high costs associated with free-standing emergency rooms they’re offering to pay hospitals to shut the facilities down. The state wants hospitals to convert them to other purposes, such as providing primary care or mental health services. At least 500 free-standing ERs have set up in more […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Montana’s health policy MVP takes her playbook on the road to Colorado
By Dan Gorenstein and Leslie Walker, The Tradeoff Marilyn Bartlett might be the closest thing health policy has to a folk hero. A certified public accountant who barely tops 5 feet, Bartlett bears zero resemblance to Paul Bunyan. But she did take an ax to Montana’s hospital prices in 2016, stopping the state’s employee health […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Hickenlooper: Our plan to fight for a healthier future for all Coloradans
Nothing reinforces the need for quality, affordable and accessible health care like our current public health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how far we have to go to reach universal coverage that ensures equity and provides health care providers the resources they need. It is ridiculous that people are charged hundreds of dollars […]