All Entries in the "Health" Category
Service Line letters sent to city water customers
New state and federal laws now require the City of Lamar to inventory all water service lines in our service area. A service line is an underground pipe that carries water from the main, likely in the street, into the customer’s home or building. The City must notify consumers annually if their service line material […]
2025 Colorado health Insurance premiums rising at three times the rate of inflation
With open enrollment for health insurance set to begin in two weeks, Colorado’s Division of Insurance has finalized rates for premiums in the individual and small group markets. Premium increases in both markets for 2025 are set to rise at more than three times the rate of inflation forecast for next year. Individual premium increases […]
Domestic violence deaths account for 11% of all homicides despite reduction in numbers in 2023
Domestic violence-related fatalities declined in 2023 and accounted for approximately 11% of all homicides in Colorado, according to a comprehensive report from the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board released today by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. The report revealed that 58 individuals lost their lives in domestic violence incidents last year. While this marked a decrease […]
Colorado leaders announced a new tool Tuesday that will allow people in need of care from a hospital to search and compare prices across hospitals and insurance plans.
The Colorado Hospital Price Finder is a free online tool created by PatientRightsAdvocate.org, a national nonprofit that advocates health care price transparency, where Coloradans can search for procedure pricing by hospital, city or ZIP code. It uses data generated by a 2022 Colorado law that requires hospitals to disclose procedure pricing and prohibits them from pursuing debt collection if the […]
New Laws to Support Rural Health Care, Increase Availability of Telehealth Services recently went into effect
SB24-055, sponsored by Senator Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, and Representative Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, improves access to behavioral health care in rural Colorado by creating a new Agricultural and Rural Community Behavioral Health program that will work to better connect farmers, ranchers, and their families to behavioral health care. The program will partner with the […]
Safe2Tell saw 74% increase in reports for September 2024
Safe2Tell experienced an unprecedented 74% increase in reports for September 2024 compared to the same month in 2023, driven by a surge in school threats and safety concerns. According to the monthly report released today, 4,729 reports were made last month, surpassing the previous record set in February 2024 by 47%. “This past month highlights […]
Colorado leads nation in recent cocaine use among adults
Colorado adults are outpacing the rest of the country in cocaine consumption, according to data released this year by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. According to the agency, in 2021 and 2022, about 3.06% of Colorado adults had used cocaine in the past year compared to 1.95% of adults across the United […]
Medicare Part D participants will have payment options in 2025
CMS released additional guidance regarding Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP) outreach and education, www.medicarerights.org reported July 25, 2024. The MPPP, sometimes referred to as “smoothing,” was established in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and allows Medicare beneficiaries with Part D to opt into an alternative payment structure for their cost-sharing for covered Part D medications. Starting in 2025, […]
Department of Homeland Security adds sniffing device to AI tools to help fight wildfires in Colorado
Debra Deininger, chief revenue officer of N5 Sensors, explains the N5SHIELD artificial intelligence-assisted wildfire detection sensor in Boulder, Sept. 18, 2024. The N5 sensors are currently being deployed in the urban-wildland interface along the Front Range of Colorado. (Scout Edmondson, Special to The Colorado Sun) New technology allowing firefighters to “smell” points of origin […]
VA to expand cancer care in Colorado Springs
A nurse in the infusion clinic at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, CO assists Navy Veteran Rick Smith during his chemotherapy treatment AURORA, Colo. — Through VA’s Close to Me program, VA Eastern Colorado Heath Care System will begin providing infusion cancer care at the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA […]
Campers beware – 51 people were killed by Colorado’s deadliest animal last year
There are plenty of animals that can kill a human in Colorado – black bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, bison, moose, even bighorn sheep, to name a few. Granted, deaths caused by these animals tend to be few and far between, and despite this, encounters involving these species tends to get the most attention. That being said, the […]
How extreme heat in Colorado may have contributed to an extraordinary outbreak of bird flu in people
High temperatures made it harder for workers handling infected chickens to wear PPE. Six later tested positive. The outdoor temperature flirted with 100 degrees and heat advisories blanketed the region earlier this month as workers arrived at a commercial poultry operation in Weld County to start killing chickens. Of the 1.8 million egg-laying hens inside […]
Colorado voter-approved “Healthy Meals for All” facing out-of-control costs
Photo by USDA When Colorado voters approved “Healthy School Meals for All” two years ago, organizers behind the ballot initiative estimated the program would cost $115 million in its first year. The actual costs significantly exceeded that — $166 million — leaving state lawmakers scrambling with the financial fallout. “I don’t know why the costs […]
Demand for Colorado’s paid-family and medical leave less than expected
Christine Levi was forced to resume work the day after coming home after giving birth because her employer offered no paid leave. She is shown here with her daughter, now a toddler, as she drops her off at day care. (photo by Marvin Anani) Six months into the new FAMLI program, more than 62,000 […]
Colorado now has the worst outbreak of bird flu among dairy cattle in the country
Colorado’s outbreak of bird flu among dairy cattle is now the worst in the country, with more cases in the past month than any other state, according to the latest state and federal data. As of Monday evening, Colorado had identified 26 herds with cases of avian influenza. Of those, 22 were identified within the past month […]
