News Clips
Colorado Legislators Seek Parity for Mental Health Treatment
April 8, 2019
According to Mental Health Colorado, over one million Colorado citizens live with a mental health issue or substance use disorder, though only half are estimated to receive the care they need with many going without care entirely, even if they have health insurance.Mental Health Colorado is one of the organizations supporting a bill that will ensure mental health care is treated equally to physical health care by insurance companies.
House Bill 19-1269, which will hold insurers accountable to current state and federal parity laws that require ...
Solutions to our youth mental health crisis within reach this year
By: Jena Hausmann
April 8, 2019
Colorado is first in the nation on many fronts, most of which we are rightly proud of. But Colorado also has one of the highest rates of teen suicide in the nation. Pueblo County, along with El Paso, La Plata, and Mesa counties, have the highest rates of youth suicide in the state, according to a report released by the attorney general last year. Fortunately, we also have a chance this year to make our beautiful state a leader when it comes to youth mental health.
Since 2015, suicide has taken the lives of more than 24 young people ...
A Father’s Story: How Shoplifting Led to My Son Spending 7 Months in Solitary
By: Michael Roberts
April 3, 2019
Later today in Colorado Springs, a young man will appear at a hearing that could lead to him spending the next five years in prison. He previously lingered for seven months in solitary confinement after allegedly assaulting a guard — a crime that likely took place because he was in the throes of a mental illness crisis for which he received no treatment following his arrest on a minor shoplifting charge.
His mental condition went untreated while in solitary, too.
Like his son, the young man's father, to whom we're referring ...
The healing power of nature | Studies show being outdoors reduces stress, depression and anxiety
By: Shanna Fortier
April 10, 2019
After graduating college, Travis Wild soon found that spending time in the mountains and on trails in Colorado gave him a place to reconnect with himself and restore his mind.
“For me, the outdoors are how everything is supposed to be without influence of problems,” Wild said, adding that nature has been the steady support in his life through rough times.
When he was diagnosed with testicular cancer almost five years ago, at age 26, Wild turned to nature to de-stress and cope with the difficult situation. The diagnosis came when ...
Insurers have ignored mental health care despite a law prioritizing it. State Dems want to change that.
By: Faith Miller
April 03, 2019
Coloradans aren’t getting proper mental health care.
That’s not just an opinion — according to the law, it’s a fact. The federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was supposed to ensure that insurance carriers prioritized behavioral health (which encompasses mental health and substance use treatment) on the same level as physical health. But in Colorado, as in most other states, that’s not happening.
In 2015, people here were seven times more likely to go out-of-network for behavioral health treatm...
Mental Health Colorado endorses bill to help those at risk of institutionalization
By: Kara Rowland
March 30, 2019
Mental Health Colorado today endorsed legislation that would alleviate the strain on jails and other institutions by ensuring the state’s community behavioral health safety net system adequately serves the needs of all Coloradans. SB19-222 would establish safeguards so that those with serious mental health and substance use disorders, including co-occurring conditions, cannot be refused care.
The bill represents a critical step in addressing Colorado’s longstanding competency restoration crisis, which may cost state taxpayers ...
Legislation Would Help Address Colorado’s Mental Health Crisis
By Kara Rowland
April 2, 2019
Mental Health Colorado has endorsed legislation that would alleviate the strain on jails and other institutions by ensuring the state’s community behavioral health safety net system adequately serves the needs of all Coloradans. SB19-222 would establish safeguards so that those with serious mental health and substance use disorders, including co-occurring conditions, cannot be refused care.
The bill represents a critical step in addressing Colorado’s longstanding competency restoration crisis, which may cost state taxpayers ...
Can Poor Mental Health Reduce Life Expectancy As Much As Diabetes, Smoking?
By: Beth Leipholtz
April 1, 2019
Experts were surprised with the findings of a new report on healthy communities.
A new report says that poor mental health can have as strong an impact on life expectancy as diabetes, smoking and even a lack of physical activity.
These new findings are part of the Healthiest Communities rankings by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation.
The rankings examined almost 3,000 different communities across 81 different health-related spectrums, like nutrition, housing and educati...
Bill prioritizes mental treatment instead of jail cell
By: Charles Ashby
March 30, 2019
DENVER — The state's main leader in mental health matters is hailing a new bill introduced into the Colorado Legislature on Friday designed to get immediate treatment for people and keep them out of the criminal justice system.
The measure, SB222, calls on the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to work with managed care entities to create incentives to get mental health care providers to accept Medicaid recipients with severe behavioral health disorders.
The bill also creates a community ...
Poor mental health reduces life expectancy, says study
By: Kumasi Aaron
March 26, 2019
Douglas County in Colorado is ranked the healthiest county in the country.
The news doesn’t surprise Colorado natives Amber Jaworsky and Kristin Gibowicz, who are both yoga instructors.
They say physical activity is contagious in Douglas County.
“If you're sitting at your kitchen table looking out the window and there’s 15 people riding their bikes by and everybody is walking their dogs, you're [kind of] like, ‘Dang, I got to get my butt moving!’” says Jaworsky.
The pair says say their mental health is just ...
