Keep Me Informed
Sign up for CHI's free bimonthly e-newsletter. Also use our Watch List to be notified when we add items of particular interest to you.

Home Data Hot Issues Publications Events About Us Safety Net Workforce  
Safety Net
Colorado's resource for objective safety net information
MainProvidersPeopleWorkforceFinancing
Print   Email    
SAFETY NET SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE
07/21/2008
Hospitalizations due to weather conditions (206.9 KB pdf)
According to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, patients who were poor, uninsured and elderly were more likely than others to be hospitalized for excessive heat or cold exposure.


07/14/2008
State coverage for mental illness and substance abuse (html)
The National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare examine benefits for mental illness and substance use disorders in state reform plans that cover the uninsured.


07/14/2008
Kaiser sponsors free health fair (html)
Kaiser Permanente is sponsoring its annual Neighbors in Health free community health fair on August 3 to help Coloradans who don't have insurance get access to some needed health care services.


07/07/2008
Foundation working to bring more doctors to underserved and rural areas of Colorado (html)
The Colorado Health Foundation approved grants of more than $2 million to help pay off the physicians' educational loans during the three-year period in which they work in the underserved areas. Read more about this generous program.


06/30/2008
Health coverage chartbook (html)
Kaiser's new online tool provides easy access to data about health coverage in the U.S., how many Americans lack coverage, who the uninsured are and how health insurance coverage is changing.


06/30/2008
Medical cost trends (174 KB pdf)
Cost-shifting from the uninsured, Medicare and Medicaid continues to increase and will account for nearly one in every four dollars spent by private payers in 2009, says a new report about medical cost trends from PricewaterhouseCoopers.


06/23/2008
Insurance costs soar for self-employed (html)
A recent survey conducted by the National Association for the Self-Employed found one in 10 respondents spend 25% or more of their gross revenue on health insurance, compared to 10.1% in 2005, representing a 48.6% increase.


06/23/2008
Kids Count 2008 data (660 KB pdf)
See the new Kids Count 2008 report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that includes a number of indicators about Colorado's children and compares Colorado rates to national averages.


06/16/2008
Ranks of "underinsured" grow (128 KB pdf)
A new study released in the journal Health Affairs reports that 25 million people ages 19-64 were "underinsured" in 2007, a 60% increase since 2003.


06/16/2008
A Kaiser perspective on state health reform (html)
Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman looks at why it's difficult for states to make large health reforms -- money.


06/10/2008
Colorado leads nation in child poverty increase
Child poverty levels in Colorado have jumped 73% since 2000, the Colorado Children's Campaign reports.


06/09/2008
CHI's safety net project (2.71 MB ppt)
This new CHI presentation looks at CHI's Safety Net Indicators and Monitoring Project to date and what's next.


06/09/2008
Why young adults become uninsured and policies that can help (318 KB)
Young adults, ages 19 to 29, are one of the largest segments of the uninsured U.S. population: 13.7 million lacked coverage in 2006. Read about policies designed to help address this problem.


06/02/2008
U.S. variations in child health system performance (5.12 MB)
An additional 4.6 million children would be insured and 11.8 million more would get yearly medical and dental checkups if all states performed as well as the top ones, the Commonwealth Fund reports.


06/02/2008
Faces of the Safety Net: Metro Community Provider Network (html)
Read about the exciting work being done through the Metro Community Provider Network (MCPN) in CHI's recent Faces of the Safety Net.


05/27/2008
Low-income children more likely to visit ED (html)
Data from 23 states show low-income children made nearly twice as many visits to hospital emergency departments as high-income children in 2005, reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.


05/27/2008
Colorado Children's Healthcare Access Program (html)
Learn more about the Colorado Children’s Healthcare Access Program, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping children enrolled in Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus establish a medical home.


05/19/2008
How the age of a small business influences offering of coverage (html)
A new analysis in the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Snapshots: Health Care Costs series focuses on how the age of the business influences whether or not a small establishment offers coverage. Results show the newer a small business is, the less likely it is to offer health benefits.


05/19/2008
Emergency departments helping patients establish medical homes (html)
A new study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change documents the growing number of safety-net hospitals who are helping non-urgent patients in their emergency departments establish “medical homes” for preventive and primary care.


05/12/2008
Rising unemployment's effect on health coverage (732 KB pdf)
A recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.


05/05/2008
Options for covering the uninsured (254.2 KB pdf)
The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation reports that 25% of Americans who lack health insurance are eligible for public insurance programs but do not enroll, including 64% of uninsured children.


05/05/2008
Faces of the Safety Net: SET Family Medical and Homeless Clinic (html)
Learn more about patients being served at SET Family Medical and Homeless Clinic in Colorado Springs and the strong commitment from doctors and volunteers in the region to provide high-quality health care to indigent patients.


04/28/2008
School-based health care in Colorado’s safety net (1.04 MB ppt)
View a recent presentation given by CHI staff at the 2008 CASBHC Annual Banquet that includes information on patients seen at school-based health centers and revenues obtained to support services.


04/28/2008
Impact of federal Medicaid cuts on Colorado (126.7 KB pdf)
Colorado stands to lose about $787 million over five years if proposed changes in Medicaid regulations go into effect, says Families USA. (The U.S. House voted down the changes last week, but the Senate has yet to act.)


04/21/2008
Assets of uninsured and high-deductible health plans (107.4 KB pdf)
Relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to health savings accounts, according to a new study in Health Affairs.


04/21/2008
Racial and ethnic disparities in U.S. health care (html)
View webinar hosted by the Commonwealth Fund where panelists discuss disparities that exist for minorities in accessing care, obtaining coverage and experiencing poorer health outcomes.


04/14/2008
Income gap in Colorado (477.9 KB pdf)
A recent study released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reveals larger gaps between high-income earners and low- and middle-income families now than in previous decades


04/07/2008
Health disparities in health care coverage and access (195.03 KB pdf)
A new report released by Kaiser Family Foundation finds that wide disparities in health care coverage exist among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders compared to other ethnic groups across the nation.


04/07/2008
Rural Health Clinics and the safety net puzzle (4.16 MB ppt)
CHI recently presented at the Rural Health Clinic Forum about the importance of rural health clinics in the safety net. View the presentation for more details.


03/31/2008
Consumer direction and Medicaid (855.7 KB pdf)
Medicaid recipients enrolled in consumer-driven personal assistance long-term care programs from Colorado and three other states expressed high satisfaction in a recent report.


03/31/2008
Dying from uninsurance (html)
Families USA estimates that one working-age Coloradan dies each day due to lack of health insurance, amounting to 2,100 deaths from 2000-06.


03/24/2008
Immigrants and their health care (211.4 KB pdf)
A new brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation addresses common questions about how immigrants use and affect the health care system.


03/24/2008
Faces of the Safety Net (html)
Read our new feature about what the Community Health Services school-based center is doing to help students in Adams County.


03/17/2008
Americans struggling to pay prescription costs (166.3 KB pdf)
Four in 10 Americans say they have trouble paying for drugs or skip prescriptions or cut pills due to cost, a recent survey by Kaiser Family Foundation, USA Today and the Harvard School of Public Health found.


03/10/2008
National Healthcare Disparities Report (6.36 KB pdf)
According to an AHRQ report, many disparities in quality and access for minority groups and poor populations have not been reduced since 2000. The factor most consistently related to better quality is whether a patient is insured.


03/10/2008
Health Disparities (html)
On Wednesday, March 12, the Kaiser Family Foundation's live, interactive webcast series, Today's Topics In Health Disparities, will explore "Immigration and Health Care: What are the Policy Choices?"


03/04/2008
Impact of Medicaid reduction on Colorado's safety net (html)
Colorado's safety net will be severely affected if proposed federal cuts to Medicaid take effect. An estimated $787 million in health care funds for low-income people would be lost during the next five years, the Denver Post reports.


03/03/2008
Reasons for adult ED visits (242 KB pdf)
A new report from AHRQ shows pneumonia was the leading reason adults were admitted to hospitals from emergency departments (ED) in 2005. The poorest communities had nearly twice the rate of ED visits as the wealthiest communities.


02/25/2008
Foundation addresses rural physician shortage (html)
The Colorado Health Foundation has provided $6 million to motivate physicians to work in nonprofit clinics in underserved areas of the state.


02/25/2008
Uninsured patients more likely to present with advanced-stage cancer (html)
Uninsured patients are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage than patients with private insurance, according to a new study by the American Cancer Society.


02/25/2008
Rural Health Professional Shortage Areas (html)
Updated maps showing health professional shortage areas and underserved areas and populations are available on the Rural Assistance Center Web site. Zoom in for Colorado.


02/19/2008
The Health Care Safety Net Puzzle: How your clinic fits in (2.39 MB pdf)
View a presentation given by CHI during the Essential Perspectives on Colorado’s Health Care Safety Net Workshop.


02/19/2008
CICP providers (html)
Nearly one-third of Colorado's counties lack providers who discount health care services to low- income individuals under the Colorado Indigent Care Program.


02/11/2008
How non-group health coverage varies with income (164 KB pdf)
A new analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines how often people at different income levels buy individual coverage when they do not have access to employer coverage or do not obtain public coverage.


02/11/2008
Health characteristics of Asian Americans (476 KB pdf)
Asian Americans are more likely to be uninsured than their white counterparts (18% versus 15%), according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


02/04/2008
Financing the Medicaid program (620 KB pdf)
This paper looks at what prompted federal fiscal relief to the states in 2003 and discusses the implications of this experiment in federal intervention for financing the Medicaid program. 


02/04/2008
Rising unemployment and the uninsured (25 KB pdf)
A policy analysis examining the relationship between the unemployment rate and increases in the uninsured finds that for every percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, 1.2 million people will become uninsured.


01/28/2008
Requiring individuals to purchase health insurance (html)
A Kaiser Web cast on Thursday, Jan. 31, will address such questions as: Is an individual mandate necessary to achieve universal coverage? What would be required to make such a mandate work?


01/22/2008
Faces of the Safety Net (html)
Meet the people who keep the Meadows safety net clinic operating in Idaho Springs.


01/22/2008
Uninsured and dying because of it (85 KB pdf)
A new study released by the Urban Institute estimates 137,000 Americans died from 2000-2006 because they lacked health insurance.


01/14/2008
Health care and low-income adults (532 KB pdf)
This brief highlights findings from a Kaiser survey on the role insurance plays in facilitating access to care for low-income adults and in protecting against financial burdens.


01/07/2008
State coverage initiatives (295 KB pdf)
A new report by Academy Health examines marketing and enrollment strategies in four states that have implemented coverage initiatives to address the lack of affordable health insurance and the growing number of uninsured.


01/02/2008
States that cover adults through SCHIP (1.04 MB pdf)
This GAO report examines how 10 states that cover adults in SCHIP structure their programs, expenditure and enrollment experiences for adults and how they attract eligible individuals.


01/02/2008
Child Health Plan Plus' (CHP+) 2007 Annual Report (538 KB pdf)
According to an annual report submitted by the Medical Services Board, CHP+ served an average of 52,199 children and 1,336 adult prenatal clients per month in Colorado in FY07.


12/26/2007
Community Health Center 2007 fact sheet (78 KB pdf)