Healthcare

Interested in the work of the 208 Commission on Health Care Reform?  Click http://www.colorado.gov/208commission for their web site.

The Colorado Health Institute has prepared a very helpful glossary of key health care terms you will hear used throughout the health debate.  Click here to download a copy of the health glossary.

Did you know...

• Premiums rose 82% in CO from 2000 - 2004?
• Premiums for Small Employers have increased by more than 140% from 2000 - 2005.
  
• CO ranks 17th in nation on Relative Health (but our premiums do not appear to reflect that)?
• Delivery of Healthcare in CO is now owned primarily (75%) by 3 major corporations?
• These for-profit hospital corporations are earning 4.5 times as much as the national average?
  
• Denver hospitals are spending $2.25 billion in buildings.  Who pays for that?
  
• CO has 770,000 uninsured people, 179,560 of which are children?
• CO has no rate review system for price of insurance premiums?
• Almost 20% of healthcare costs stem from slow payment or non payment of medical care claims by the insurance industry?
• Approximately 31%  of healthcare costs does NOT go to healthcare (i.e. admin, profits)?
• High deductibles in health insurance policies can be a deterrent to seeking and obtaining preventative care?
• There are over 98,000 preventable deaths due to medical errors that occur each year?
• United Health CEO accumulated $1.6 billion in stock options, cased out $124 million, and has an annual compensation package of $125 million (enough to cover premiums for 34,000 uninsured people)?
  
• Insurance contracts are not public record and contain key provisions on pricing and treatment (or non-treatment) guidelines?
• Healthcare in Colorado has transitioned from largely non-profit to for-profit corporations?
• Many patient rights and remedies were eliminated in the name of "Tort Reform" and premiums never went down; in fact they have skyrocketed.
• Medical emergencies are driving record bankruptcies and foreclosures in Colorado?
• 592 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in Arapahoe County in 2008; 12.5% fi wineb ages 18 - 64 were uninsured in 2008; and only 20.5% of eligible women were screened for breast cancer  through the Women's Wellness Connection in Colorado? This year 2,850 women in CO will be diagnosed with breast cancer, 500 will die from it; 1 in 7 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point during their lifetime. [Susan. G. Koman for the Cured]
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