Staying Updated on Health Policy News

The legislative session has begun, which means CHI is busy tracking health care bills, conducting research about proposed policy and making sure that lawmakers know we’re here to support them with data, analysis and context.

And we’re so excited to launch a new event: “Health Matters: A Day of Health Policy at the Capitol.” CHI and 22 other organizations engaged in health policy in Colorado will gather on the first floor of the Capitol on Wednesday, February 8, to meet with lawmakers and other policymakers, share resources and answer questions.

The event, scheduled from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., will be a great opportunity to highlight the importance of making sound health policy decisions. Here are the participants:

  • Caring for Colorado Foundation
  • Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC)
  • Colorado Association of Health Plans (CAHP)
  • Colorado Business Group on Health (CBGH)
  • Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP)
  • Colorado Children’s Campaign
  • Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved (CCMU)
  • Colorado Commission on Affordable Health Care
  • Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI)
  • Colorado Hospital Association (CHA)
  • Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO)
  • Connect for Health Colorado
  • Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF)
  • HealthTeamWorks
  • Mental Health Colorado
  • NextFifty Initiative
  • Office of Health Equity, Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
  • Rose Community Foundation
  • The Bell Policy Center
  • The Center for African American Health
  • The Colorado Health Foundation

Mark your calendars and stop by to see us next week!

CHI’s annual Legislative Opportunities and Trends report, titled “Huge Questions for Health: Policy Trends for Colorado Under a Trump Administration,” written by Legislative Director Allie Morgan and Senior Communications Expert Joe Hanel, forecasts the health policy debates that will take place over the next five months. It promises to be plenty of interesting health policy debates. Read the report here.

Joe has been a busy bee in his corner of the office, staying up to date on both state and federal health policy news. He blogged on Governor John Hickenlooper’s State of the State address last week, President Trump’s inaugural address just 30 minutes after it was over and introduced the legislative report.

Continue to watch our website for timely updates and analyses as we watch the movement around potentially repealing the Affordable Care Act.

CHI welcomes two new staff members.

Kate Bennett, Assistant to the President, joins CHI with a background in account management with a local conferencing company. Most recently, she held an administrative and office management role with an engineering firm. She is Colorado native and she and her husband are parents to a 16-month-old son.

Teresa Manocchio joins us from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington D.C. where she served as an advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for HHS-wide policies and initiatives related to public health. Before D.C., Teresa’s home was in Denver and she worked for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

Welcome, Kate and Teresa!

CHI’s series of blogs and interactive dashboards on Colorado’s high schoolers continues with new analyses on data from the 2015 Health Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS). New installments analyze data covering physical activity and marijuana usage among Colorado teens — which has stayed about the same despite legalization since the 2013 HKCS. Coming up, we have an analysis of substance use. You can catch up on our previous analyses — including mental health, smoking and sexual activity — here.

Did you miss Hot Issues in Health Care 2016? Or merely want to revisit presentations that kept you thinking? Slides from December’s conference are up and running on CHI’s website. Our three keynote speaker presentations are also available. Catch up, or review, presentations from Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Dr. Patricia Gabow, Lt. Governor Donna Lynne and CHI’s experts.

It's a new year and CHI is getting a new look. We are preparing to unveil a new logo and a revamped website this spring and have been working with the talented team at the Denver-based Open Media Foundation. We can’t wait to start 2017 in style.