Washington’s Universal Health Care Commission has identified a framework for establishing equity as members consider options for implementing a healthcare coverage system for all residents. The commission was created with the passage of Senate Bill 5399 in 2021 to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for residents. Members voted to implement an equity framework in … Read more
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 1236 into law on May 16th, which applies a series of administrative modifications to the state’s Behavioral Health Administration (BHA). Under the bill, the BHA will continue as the regulatory oversight agency for the behavioral healthcare system, and continue to serve as the central body for … Read more
According to Dulce Diez, director of the Office of Health Equity at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), access to healthcare is the biggest issue in Utah. We caught up with Diez at our recent 2023 Utah State of Reform Health Policy Conference to hear about the main topics she’s focused on … Read more
A measure by Colorado Democrats proposing to conduct a study of a statewide publicly financed or universal healthcare system with direct compensation to providers failed in this year’s legislative session, which ended on May 8th. House Bill 1209 called for the Colorado School of Public Health (CSPH) to administer the policy analysis and … Read more
The 2023 Utah State of Reform Conference in Salt Lake City last month brought together a panel of local health policy experts to discuss how to reestablish trust between Utahns and state and federal public health agencies. A survey published in March in the journal Health Affairs revealed that 63% of Americans said … Read more
On Friday, the Colorado Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) unanimously approved the eligible drug list that will be subject to its review process for establishing upper payment limits (UPL) on prescription drugs. The list contains hundreds of drugs that were chosen based on the approved selection criteria: the total utilization of the drug, … Read more
CMS released a notice of proposed rulemaking on Monday that would expand access to healthcare for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients across all states, if finalized. The notice was a follow-up to the Biden administration’s announcement earlier this month to expand healthcare coverage to DACA recipients under the Medicaid program and … Read more
On the 24th anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School, the Colorado Health Institute (CHI) presented a series of solutions to strengthen the youth mental health ecosystem. Through an analysis of primary barriers to mental health and engagement with youth, parents, community and school-based advocacy groups, and policy thought leaders, CHI … Read more
Tellie Matagi led the Pacific Islander Task Force within the Hawaii State Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which conducted contact tracing among the state’s Pacific Islander population. Like many stakeholders, Matagi is focused on health equity—but for her, equitable health outcomes can’t be reached until the healthcare workforce is representative of the ethnic … Read more
On Wednesday, the Colorado House Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee approved a measure that would restructure the state’s hospital community benefit system. Federal tax law requires nonprofit hospital organizations to spend a portion of their surplus revenue each year on community benefits, which are goods and services that address community needs, in … Read more