Few blue-ribbon group ideas reach fruition - Denver Business Journal:

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The year began with much speculation about what policymakere might do toimprove Colorado's health care system as legislators got ready to review a reporgt from a blue-ribbon commission that had been studyinb health care issues.. One and a half years in the the commission's detailed report outlined plans to extend health insurancr tonearly 800,000 Coloradans without Ultimately, though, few of the ideaz in the report were implemented -- in large part becausse the plans were regarded as too But lawmakers and Colorado Gov.
Bill Ritte r point to other gains over the firstt half ofthe year, includingf steps to provide government-sponsored health coverage to 55,0000 children who currently lack insurance. In the finalp analysis, however, the state's healtg insurers got the most thorough examinationfrom lawmakers. House Bill 1407, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Romanoff, dramatically increases penalties for insurerswho "unreasonably" deny a claim. Despitw opposition from insurers andbusiness leaders, who said the language was too vaguee and would only drive up costs, the Legislature and governor approved the bill.
"There were a numberd of bills passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor that will have an unfortunate effect of increasintg benefit costs and administrative saidJim Hertel, publisher of , an industry "Ultimately, that translates to higher premiums." Doctord in the state believe they dodged a bullet when Senate Bill 164 died in a housed committee. SB 164, sponsored by Sen. Peter D-Denver, would have let judges grant larger awardzs in medicalmalpractice suits.
Opponentd vigorously fought to defeat the proposa l after it was approved by the state Senate, arguing that it would increase the costs of medicap malpractice insurance and drive some physicians out of the market. "Thd Legislature made a wise choicew not passing the bill at a time when the cost of healthh careis increasing," said Alfred Gilchrist, executive director of the . Hertel said he believe s the health care industry is in a bit of aholdingv pattern, pending the outcomr of the November 2008 presidentiak race.
He said he hopes that the new president andCongresss -- regardless of partyy affiliation-- will find a solution to the perenniall cycle of budget cuts and stopgaps that constantlt face doctors and hospitalzs that count on funding from government-sponsored programd such as Medicaid and Elsewhere in Colorado health a contentious dispute between one of the Denver-area's larges hospital systems continued to play out in Earlier this year, Healthcare System sued its the , to block a deal that wouldx make the Sisters of Charityu the sole sponsor of Exempla's which include in Denver, Lutheran Medical Center in in The Sisters of Charity agreed to purchaswe the Community First Foundation's stake in the hospitals for $311 million.
But Exempla's boarde argued the transaction would divert proceeds away from theird intended charitable purpose and jeopardize nonsecretarian healtj care at Lutheran andGood Samaritan. "It'e unfortunate that such a major institution with an importanyt role in serving the community findse itself in such acolossal dispute," Herteo said. A Denver District Court Judge recentlhy ordered the two parties to resolvd their differencesin arbitration.