One of the classic moments in any movie western is the runaway stagecoach. In order to save the city-slicker passengers, the hero races behind the galloping team and somehow leaps onto the driver’s seat and coaxes the horses to a stop, usually at the very edge of a cliff. Costs Read more…
A doctoral student at Brown University used CO APCD data to evaluate the effect of policies in the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the stability of coverage among Medicaid beneficiaries in Colorado. They characterized and investigated the impact of policies on coverage stability, which could contribute to reductions in costs Read more…
CIVHC is excited to announce that, via partnership with the Colorado Advance Directive Consortium (CADC), we are the new home for the Medical Order Scope of Treatment (MOST) form. A resource for the seriously ill, the MOST form summarizes and consolidates important information about a patient’s preferences for life-sustaining treatments Read more…
If you have been to a doctor’s office in the last several years, you’ve likely signed a form detailing the provider’s privacy practices, how they protect your information, and how they comply with something called HIPAA. The Healthcare Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, pronounced just like it is spelled: Read more…
On a monthly and quarterly basis, health insurance payers including Medicaid, over 33 commercial payers, and Medicare submit claims to the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). Payers submit claims for everyone they provide coverage to, regardless of whether they accessed health care during the previous period or not, Read more…
By Ana English, CIVHC President and CEO The Dollars and Sense blog series is about sharing perspectives and information that change the conversation around lowering costs in health care. In August, I had the honor to participate in a panel about health care transparency hosted by Colorado Healthcare Strategy and Read more…
Five years ago, my father had a massive heart attack. Thankfully, he was rushed to the emergency room and straight into the intensive care unit (ICU). His condition was so bad that he was on more nitroglycerin than his nurse had ever seen and he had to wait in ICU Read more…
by Cari Frank, CIVHC’s VP of Communication and Marketing My friend’s father just had surgery to release pressure from an accident that caused swelling in his brain. After the bill arrived, he was shocked that the surgeon billed $10,000 for the surgery, yet only received $1,500 from Medicare. That’s when Read more…
Any car owner can tell you that many, many components make up the vehicles we rely on every day to ferry us between work and home or between errands. And accordingly, mechanics have become increasingly specialized – especially now that cars are getting more complicated every year. You have a Read more…
By Rachel Linn, CIVHC’s Marketing Manager For those of us fortunate enough to have health insurance, it is easy to anticipate the costs we will pay for health care services. For example, I have a fixed co-pay plan, and know that if I visit my doctor, regardless of how much Read more…