Gov. Bill Ritter's  208 Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care, soon issue recommendations for health care reforms on Jan. 31. 

Today at the Penrose Library at noon, the Western Strategies Center will release its study of health care problems. There also will be a panel discussion. Panelists scheduled to participate:

John Suits, Associate Administrator, Business development & governmental affairs, Memorial Healthcare Systems

BJ Scott, President and CEO, Peak Vista;

Sharon Raggio, Chief Operating Officer, Pikes Peak Behavioral Health

Kandi Buckland, Acting Director, El Paso County Department of Health & Environment

About the Organization: Western Strategies Center (WSC), a locally based nonprofit policy center, announces the release of its comprehensive study of the health care infrastructure in Colorado Springs. The 72-page report details the key findings and offers 5 possible courses of action.

For more information about WSC or to receive a copy of the health care study, contact WSC at 719-473-2864 or go to www.westernstrategies.org

Estimates for the number of uninsured Coloradans fall between 750,000 and 790,000.

About 180,000 children in the state have no health insurance. The legislature is expected to chip away at that number during the current session. Doing something about the large number of adults under the age of 65 who have no insurance is a much tougher problem. It's popular to cast doctors, hospitals and insurance companies as the culprits, but Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marcy Morrison said consumers also will have to play a role in any meaningful solution.

Click on  http://www.thebell.org/PUBS/other/2007/208brfg/FAQ&summary.pdf to find out more about the Blue Ribbon Commission, which held public meetings around the state to take comments about reform proposals.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.