Colorado Health Institute at the Capitol: 2014 Edition

Today, our Capitol Hill neighbors a couple blocks to the south get back to work. That’s a signal for the legislative services part of our mission to kick into high gear as well.

The Colorado Health Institute is proud to be able to provide evidence-based data and analysis for state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

As a homegrown non-profit and non-partisan health policy institute, we are in a unique position to arm Colorado legislators with information that can help them understand which policy levers have the best chance to give all Coloradans the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. And to get the best value for taxpayer dollars in the process.

We do this in any number of ways, including reports, presentations, blogs, tweets and other outlets. This month, we’ll kick off our annual series of learning lunches that delve into the most pressing health policy issues that have surfaced. And later this year, we will host our “Hot Issues in Health Care” conference for newly-elected and veteran lawmakers.

At the same time, our experts are standing by to answer questions and conduct research for any lawmaker who asks. (By the way, this is a service the Colorado Health Institute also provides for the general public.)

We have a great team in place for this legislative session: Director of Legislative Services Megan Lane, who will be back from maternity leave soon, and senior analysts Tasia Sinn and Rebecca Alderfer. The rest of our health policy experts will jump in when needed.

Meanwhile, we are lucky enough to receive regular updates from two legislative experts – Mike Beasley, president of 5280 Strategies, and Jennifer Miles, president of Miles Consulting. “Mike and Miles,” as CEO Michele Lueck calls the duo, help us to see the big health policy picture from both the Republican and Democratic perspectives.

Funding from the Rose Community Foundation, along with The Colorado Health Foundation, The Colorado Trust and the Caring for Colorado Foundation, allows us to do this important work.

Tasia and Rebecca presented a webinar last month that outlined our expectations for health policy action during this session. Today, we are posting a four-page brief that summarizes their presentation. Check back regularly for updates during the session. And feel free to give us a call. We love talking health policy.