News Clips
Bipartisan bill introduced to support Colorado’s mental health care, recovery providers
January 17, 2020
By: Ernest Luning
Originally appeared in Colorado Politics
Lawmakers on Thursday introduced bipartisan legislation to boost the role of peer support professionals in Colorado, potentially easing a shortage of specialists who can help treat patients with mental health and addiction issues.
House Bill 20-1139, sponsored by state Reps. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, and Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, would authorize Medicaid to pay for additional services provided by peers — caregivers who have experienced various mental health and substance-use ...
Telehealth is a good option – if your internet connection is fast enough
By: Anusha Roy
Date: January 16, 2020
Originally appeared on 9News
The idea of telehealth has been gaining popularity in Colorado but there's an issue of access to strong enough internet
DENVER — The idea of telehealth has been gaining popularity in Colorado, especially for people who live in rural areas where doctors and behavioral health specialists may be too far away.
However, there's a hurdle to telehealth working properly: Internet speed.
The Colorado Governor's Office of Information Technology shared a map of the state. The areas in green have ...
Big Ideas Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado lawmakers pitched for 2020
January 15, 2020
By: Erica Breunlin, Jennifer Brown, Moe Clark, John Ingold and Jesse Paul
Originally appeared in The Durango Herald
Teen vaping, mental health parity, a public option and teacher bonuses make list
From mental health to teacher pay, Colorado’s leaders are exploring innovative ideas to tackle the state’s biggest challenges.
Gov. Jared Polis and four state lawmakers pitched their ideas Tuesday at the Big Ideas Forum hosted by The Colorado Sun, CBS4 and the University of Denver.
Here’s a look at their ideas and the challenges they face ...
The cost of establishing 988, a national mental health crisis line
By: Anusha Roy
Originally appeared on 9News.
Dialing 988 would simplify the process of getting mental health help by phone, but how will the costs be covered?
DENVER — Calling 911 works because someone on the other line answers the phone.
Calling 988, a national mental health crisis line, would only work if there are enough people to keep up with those calls.
At the Rocky Mountain Crisis Services center, where the phone rings more than 180,000 times a year, Chief Executive Officer Bev Marquez said having quality time to spend on those calls is very ...
Colorado’s new parity law for mental health hits a Medicaid snag
By: Evan Wyloge
A new Colorado law that requires insurers to reimburse behavioral health care providers for mental conditions on par with compensation for physical conditions left a gap that advocates fear will make it harder for the state’s poorest and most complicated patients on Medicaid to get optimal care.
The sweeping overhaul, signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis last year, was meant to create parity in care for the mentally ill, and supporters say it significantly strengthened coverage.
Read the full article in The Gazette
SPECIAL REPORT: A look at Miami-Dade’s vaunted quest to decriminalize mental illness
December 29, 2019
By: Jakob Rodgers
MIAMI — Justin Volpe could hardly believe his eyes.
Strung out and delusional, gripped by a crippling psychosis, Volpe questioned if what he was seeing was real — was a fellow inmate in a Miami-area jail being bludgeoned by jail guards to within a whisper of his life?
But he had a hunch.
Read the full article in The Gazette
Legislative Preview | Mental health advocates assess gains, see ‘a long way to go’
December. 27, 2019
By: Ernest Luning
After steering numerous pieces of landmark legislation into law in the 2019 session, Colorado’s mental health care advocates are looking to close gaps in coverage and addr...........
Read the full article in Colorado Politics
Coloradans concerned over impact of Obamacare ruling
December 19, 2019
By: Joey Bunch
Holding a sign saying "We Love ObamaCare" supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, as the court continued hearing arguments on the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Go ahead, call it Obamacare. Obamaís re-election campaign has lifted an unofficial ban on using the oppositionís derisive term for his health care law. Democratic activists have been chanting, "We love Obamacare," in front of the Supreme Court. And the campaign is selling T-shirts ...
As the teen mental health epidemic escalates, emergency rooms get innovative and a for-profit hospital sees an opening
December 17, 2019
By: Jennifer Brown
Originally appeared in The Colorado Sun
A statewide review is attempting to pinpoint the gaps in care as one study finds kids go out of network up to 7 times more often for mental health care.
Colorado for decades has struggled with a shortage of mental health treatment options, but care for one age group in particular is most dire: teenagers.
The adolescent mental health epidemic is escalating — suicide is now the leading cause of death for Colorado teens — and the state’s emergency departments are ...
Lawmakers to debate if Coloradans in a mental health crisis should be charged with a felony if they hit police
December 17, 2019
By: Joe St. George
Originally appeared in Fox31
DENVER -- Colorado lawmakers will debate whether to defelonize a longstanding law that allows a person to be charged with a felony if they strike a police officer, correctional officer, EMT, firefighter, nurse or doctor during a mental health crisis.
Mental Health Colorado is pushing for a change in the statute believing someone shouldn't be put in jail for simply seeking health.
"Those enhanced charges have poor outcomes," Vincent Atchity with Mental Health Colorado said.
"People can ...
