Why fixing Colorado’s health care system is becoming more about housing and less about insurance

Colorado Sun reporter John Ingold interviewed President and CEO Michele Lueck for a June 27 article about her accomplishments at the Colorado Health Institute, why she's leaving, and what's next for health policy in the state.

"We’re after the really, really acute part of all the clinical challenges and the high mortality rates of the pandemic. But what’s being revealed is sort of cascading and rippling other pandemics, and I would put youth mental health as one of those subsequent pandemics, that was there before, but was revealed by the pandemic. We’re just at the advent of understanding the particular consequences of a pandemic," she told the Sun.

When asked about health and health care in Colorado, Lueck said, "We’ve had this radical decline in our uninsured rate. We’ve gone from 17% a decade ago to somewhere around 6, 6-and-a-half percent of Coloradans not having access to insurance. We think we’re pretty close to having maxed out the number of people who have insurance. We have to be vigilant about it. But we have the levers; we have the opportunities for people to gain health insurance."

"So I think with the implementation of that, we’ve been able to focus some of our energy on these more structural and systemic issues. You know, we see a lot of focus on health equity and racial justice within our health systems. We’re thinking very upstream about prevention. And I think it’s appropriate."

When asked about her future work, Lueck replied, "I’m excited about tackling one of the most urgent and emergent issues that we have as a state and that is to help to build and strengthen a behavioral health system that our kids deserve. We believe that there’s an optimal mix of programs and policies and services that allow everyone in Colorado to thrive. And working towards that goal, I can’t imagine anything more important at this point in my career."

Lueck is leaving July 15 to lead Partners for Children's Mental Health, an organization that works with Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry to improve the youth mental health system.