State Highlights: Colorado To Vote On Single-Payer In ’16; Demise Of Co-Op Floods New York Marketplace
News outlets report on health care developments in Colorado, New York and New Hampshire.
Kaiser Health News:
Single-Payer Health Care On Colorado Ballot In 2016
The group ColoradoCareYES has gathered enough signatures — more than 100,000 — to put a single-payer health system on the ballot next fall. Under the plan, Coloradans would still pick their own providers, but the new system would pick up all the bills. There would be no deductibles, and fewer and smaller copays. (Daley, 12/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Enrollment Heats Up For New York State Health-Insurance Exchange
New York state health officials say it has been a busy few weeks for the state health-insurance exchange’s open-enrollment period as it adjusts to the collapse of the system’s only co-op and incorporates a new low-cost coverage plan. The exchange’s customer-service center answered more than 170,000 calls from Dec. 7 to 11, averaging 34,000 a day. Normally, outside of open enrollment, calls average 11,700 a day, according to the New York State Department of Health. (Ramey, 12/20)
The Concord Monitor:
N.H. Plans To Start Tracking New Cases Of Hepatitis C
First, there’s a heroin epidemic. Then, there’s a surge in hepatitis C cases. That’s the scenario that worries New Hampshire health officials, who fear the infectious disease will spread quickly among drug users who share needles. But right now, no one knows the size the problem, or how many people in the state are even infected with the liver-destroying disease. (Morris, 12/20)
The Concord Monitor:
Lawmakers Consider Raising Medicaid Co-Payments
Lawmakers are poised to decide today whether to raise the cost of health care co-payments for a portion of the state’s Medicaid population. The change would affect people covered by the health care program who make more than 100 percent of the federal poverty limit, roughly $11,700 for a single person, or $24,250 for a family of four. The proposal calls for most co-payment costs to rise just slightly, but the co-pay for mental health and substance abuse inpatient services would more than double, from $50 to $125. (Morris, 12/19)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
After Lawsuit, AG Advises DHHS To Issue Medical Marijuana ID Cards
The New Hampshire Attorney General is advising the Department of Health and Human Services to start issuing medical marijuana ID cards to eligible patients. In theory, patients could soon access medical marijuana, even though they can't yet buy it legally in the state. The decision stems from the case of Linda Horan, an Alstead woman with late-stage terminal lung cancer. Three weeks ago, a judge ordered the state to issue a medical marijuana ID card to Horan. The AG had wanted to hold off on issuing the cards until four dispensaries were open across the state, but those dispensaries are more than a year behind schedule. Horan's case asserted the state had an obligation to issue her a card under the law, whether the dispensaries were open or not. Horan plans to head to Maine Friday to access medical marijuana there. (Rodolico, 12/18)
