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Colorado is placing a big bet on the expected benefits of integrating primary care and behavioral health care.

Integration is a focus of Colorado’s $65 million State Innovation Model (SIM) award. And many practices across the state are already innovating around integration.

The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) studied six practices that are testing an array of approaches to integration, tailoring models to their locations, their client populations, their workplace cultures and their available resources, among other considerations.

Colorado is fortunate to be home to a growing number of school-based health centers (SBHCs). These health centers are an important part of the health care safety net, providing care to more than 34,000 children across the state.

Support from Colorado lawmakers, the federal government and the state’s health foundations has helped SBHCs expand and multiply. And with a recent infusion of funds from the legislature, school-based health is poised for more growth.

Still, some places that need SBHCs don’t have them, according to a new Colorado Health Institute analysis.

Behavioral health is making headlines in Colorado.

The state recently received $65 million from the federal government to help increase the  integration of physical and behavioral health. Foundations are increasingly funding organizations working to improve access to mental health services. And advocacy groups are turning up the volume about the importance of good behavioral health in maintaining the well-being of the whole person.

But what do we know about the behavioral health of Coloradans at the state and regional levels?

A new survey by the Colorado Health Institute (CHI) finds that the state’s oral health safety net is struggling to meet higher patient demand with current funding sources.

The findings are examined in a new report, “Without a Net: Understanding the Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Colorado’s Oral Health Safety Net.”

Colorado Public Radio spoke with Allie Morgan, a Colorado Health Institute Policy Analyst, about this year’s health care discussions in the Colorado legislature. Listen to the story here.

The Colorado Health Institute released a study today on the public policy successes and setbacks of legalized marijuana sales in Colorado, which became the first state to legalize retail marijuana on January 1, 2014.

While predictions centered on crime waves, an epidemic of overdoses, skyrocketing drug use among kids and a tax windfall for schools, none of this has happened.

The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) conducted the research and analysis of the state’s health care landscape that provided direction for the new Colorado Health Access Fund at The Denver Foundation, which just released its first Request for Proposals.

The fund will award approximately $5 million a year between 2015 and 2022 to increase access to behavioral health care and improve health outcomes for those with high health care needs across Colorado. 

Health News Colorado published this update on the 2015 legislative session from Joe Hanel, a senior communications expert at the Colorado Health Institute, and Allie Morgan, a Colorado Health Institute policy analyst. Read the story here.