1. Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion.

2. Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow—the body’s natural defense system.

3. Lessen depression and anxiety.

4. Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation.

5. Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays.

Source:     Massagetherapy.com

For more massage benefits see the article “The Benefits of Massage“

By Patrick Malone, The Pueblo Chieftain

LAKEWOOD — The road was bumpy and at times detoured through precarious spots that led to its placement on life support, but a bill that establishes heath insurance exchanges in Colorado arrived safely at its destination on Wednesday, when Gov. John Hickenlooper signed it into law at St. Anthony Hospital.

The law, SB200, establishes an online insurance marketplace that allows small businesses and individuals to congregate as consumers and negotiate health coverage and premium prices in an expanded risk pool, much like larger businesses traditionally have enjoyed.

“It gives Coloradans more control, more options, more choices and allows us to make better decisions — all of us — when we’re making health care decisions,” Hickenlooper said.

Expanding access to health care and maintaining or reducing its price are the key benefits that Hickenlooper expects will result from the new law.

Federal health care reforms passed last year, which were endorsed by President Barack Obama, require each state to establish a health insurance exchange by 2014. Otherwise, the federal government will craft the plans.

“It was a choice whether Colorado should take the bull by the horns, take the lead and establish our own health benefit exchange unique to Colorado and our needs, and not rely on a one-size-fits-all federal program,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which represents 7,500 small businesses in Colorado and more than 300,000 nationally.

Chambers of commerce and other business organizations throughout the state overwhelmingly supported SB200, but Tea Party activists balked at its link to the changes in federal health care and its bipartisan sponsorship in the Colorado General Assembly.

Critics targeted House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, for carrying the legislation. They labeled the health insurance exchange proposal “Amycare” and nearly compelled her to cave.

Stephens briefly supported an amendment to SB200 that instead of merely creating the exchanges would have directed Hickenlooper to opt out of the federal health care reforms. Ultimately, Stephens stayed the course with SB200 and its original intent.

“I had some concerns. There were some tenuous moments,” said Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Westminster, who teamed with Stephens to carry SB200 in the Senate. “The only ones to testify against it were Tea Party members. Their strategy was to get to my House sponsor and try to rattle her.

“She pulled through it. I think she ultimately saw through it. At that point, we stuck to our agreement. When we kind of signed in blood and said, ‘Yes, we’re going to sponsor this together,’ we agreed that we would not support any amendments that we had not both agreed to, and ultimately that is what happened.’’

Stephens was absent from the bill signing ceremony on Wednesday. She was in Hong Kong tending to one of her parents who has been ill, according to Hickenlooper.

Expanding access to health care while keeping its price reasonable have been the foremost concerns of small businesses and their employees for about two decades, according to Gagliardi.

Those same issues top the list of worries for Colorado’s 750,000 uninsured residents as well, according to Gretchen Hammer, executive director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved.

“The exchange, once up and running, will create a more accessible and affordable health insurance marketplace for those Coloradans who work as our ranch hands, child-care providers, hairdressers, home health aides — in places where insurance is not always available in the workplace,”  Hammer said.

The governor and leaders from both parties in the General Assembly are expected to seat a nine-member board by July 1 to begin work establishing the exchange.

Boyd said federal grants are crucial to seamlessly implementing the exchange, and the application deadline for the next round of federal awards is in September.

As one of only seven states that have passed laws authorizing exchanges — and the only state to do it with a Legislature where Democrats and Republicans share control — Colorado is well-positioned to tap into federal grants.

Colorado has until 2013 to establish health insurance exchanges under the law the governor signed Wednesday.

“This is the beginning,” Hickenlooper said. “This is sort of like putting your toe into the water to see how cold it is, and I think we’re going to find out that the water’s not so cold.”

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By Patrick Malone, The Pueblo Chieftain

DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have required low-income families to pay premiums for their children’s health coverage through the state’s Child Health Plan Plus program.

In a letter to the General Assembly explaining why he spiked SB213, Hickenlooper acknowledged that it is reasonable to expect low-income families to contribute to their children’s health care. That expectation was outweighed in the governor’s mind by the possibility that demanding premiums would cause some families to leave their children without health care.

“What is troubling about this legislation, however, is not the policy intent, but the practical and negative impact it will have on children in low-income families,” Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper emphasized in his letter that the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing estimated 2,500 children — about 20 percent of all children covered by CHP+ — would have dropped out of the program because of the cost increase.

Under the plan Hickenlooper vetoed, families with four or more children and annual household incomes of between $47,000 and $56,000 would have been required to pay up to $600 a year for CHP+ coverage.

Organizations representing the interests of children lined up to urge the governor to veto SB213. The chief of one of them rejoiced at the news that Hickenlooper had listened.

“These premiums would have made it harder for families who are already struggling economically to access basic health care for their children,” said Chris Watney, president and CEO of The Colorado Children’s Campaign.

Republican leaders who until Tuesday have been generally effusive in their praise of Hickenlooper criticized his decision and said it constitutes reneging on a bipartisan deal by unraveling a step toward accountability in entitlement programs.

In budget negotiations for fiscal year 2011-12 during the recently concluded legislative session, Republicans sought the premium bump as part of a compromise they reached with Democrats on the budget package.

“I am extremely disappointed that Governor Hickenlooper broke from the budget framework that we agreed to by vetoing Senate Bill 213,” said House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. “Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate took an important step on welfare reform and the governor took a step back. That said, welfare reform is now in his court. We must ease the burden on working families and small businesses who are paying for these government programs.”

When SB213 passed through the House, Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, tried unsuccessfully to reduce the proposed premiums. House Democrats also railed against it. Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, characterized the premium proposal as “immoral.”

Nonetheless, Massey and 17 Democrats joined every House Republican in voting for the overall budget package that included instituting CHP+ premiums.

“This bill was a fair way to ensure that we continue to offer these programs while asking those who participate to do so in a responsible way and make a modest contribution to the system,” said Rep. Jon Becker, R-Fort Morgan, who serves on the Joint Budget Committee. “I look forward to working with the governor to look for opportunities to make government programs more accountable and to continue to introduce more personal responsibility into our critical safety-net programs.”

Hickenlooper said he remains committed to finding a reasonable way for families on state health care to shoulder some of the load without discouraging them from keeping their children insured.

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will increase the annual enrollment fee through its rule-making process and conduct a comprehensive analysis of cost-sharing in the program. The department will evaluate changes in the program during the months ahead and deliver recommendations to the JBC no later than Nov. 1.

“The focus will be to implement a change that is minimally disruptive, administratively efficient, effective and elegant, and supports the goal of ensuring that kids have access to coverage,” Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper’s veto of HB213 was his first since taking office in January.

Read the original article on the Pueblo Chieftain website.

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THE FOURTH ANNUAL Pueblo Step-Up “Wine and Small Plates” fundraiser at the River’s Edge in early March raised $13,000 to help support health care programs and wellness services for Pueblo’s low-income children and seniors. Bechtel, The Gay and Lesbian Fund of Colorado, Centura Health/St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Parkview Medical Center, Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel and 10 other sponsors partially underwrote the evening for 130 supporters.

Volunteers from St. Mary-Corwin provided fresh roses and bouquets to bedeck the black-clothed tables. Terrie Sajbel, Holly Smith, Pam Parks, Paula Dunn and Jill Swerdfeger were among those who purchased slumped-glass wine bottle centerpieces filled with candies, nuts, etc.

Violinist Anthony Vigil Martinez entertained partyers Yolanda and Larry Atencio, Rose Ahlers, Tracy and Tim Thatcher and others as they enjoyed lamb quesadillas with apple mint salsa, chicken won-ton cups, shrimp cocktails, bruschetta and assorted Italian cookies. John Myers and Pat Enderud poured wine for Michelle and Leroy Garcia, Susan and Larry Velasco, Angela Giron and Steve Nawrocki, etc.

Silent-auction items of gourmet baskets and dinners, a pilates party, original artwork, planters, get-away condos and more were won by high bidders Juli Millea, Cleo Zarr, Kristil Padula, Ray Swerdfeger, Corinne Koehler and more. Donald Moore, Mattie Brown, Erin Beatty, Mary and Dan Lere, Kelly and Pete McCarthy and Debbie Rose were others who stepped up to the “plates” for the cause.

Read the original article on the Pueblo Chieftain website

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Two years after the reauthorization and expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a new Commonwealth Fund state-by-state scorecard evaluating how the health care system is working for children finds that federal and state action on behalf of children has helped preserve, and even expand, health coverage for this group, despite the severe recession.

Yet across the states, wide differences persist in coverage rates, the affordability of health care, children’s receipt of preventive care and treatment, and their opportunity to lead healthy lives. According to the scorecard’s findings, children living in the five top-ranked states—Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire—are more likely to be insured and to receive recommended medical and dental check-ups than children living in poorer-performing states like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Mississippi, or Nevada.

In all, the new report analyzes 20 indicators of how the health system is performing for children in each state. An interactive map, meanwhile, enables comparisons among states on individual scorecard indicators, with results downloadable into either PowerPoint or Excel. It also shows the number of lives and dollars each state could save by achieving benchmark levels of performance on select indicators. Also available is a podcast that explores what states can learn from each other, and how health reform will help improve child health systerm performance.

The value of federal and state policies to improve rates of health coverage is evident in the scorecard findings. While coverage rates for parents have declined in 41 states over the past decade, children have fared dramatically better, with rates increasing in 35 states over the same period, thanks to earlier Medicaid expansions, the economic stimulus bill’s Medicaid stabilization funds, and the CHIP expansion and reauthorization.

“The study demonstrates how policies designed to maintain children’s health insurance and access to health care have helped children get the health care they need, especially in tough economic times,” said Cathy Schoen, a senior vice president at The Commonwealth Fund and a coauthor of Securing a Healthy Future: The Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard of Child Health System Performance, 2011. “Yet, because so many parents are uninsured, children and their families will remain at high risk until 2014, when access to health insurance will be expanded to include nearly everyone in the U.S.”

View the scorecard report.

View the Colorado Health Report card.

So here are four quick and easy things you can do to reduce stress:

1. Give your partner a hug every day before work. Studies show this simple act can help you remain calm when chaos ensues during your day.

2. Have a good cry. It can boost your immune system, reduce levels of stress hormones, eliminate depression, and help you think more clearly.

3. Breathe deeply for three to five minutes, two times a day.

4. Take a walk. Get outside, breathe in fresh air, notice the leaves and flowers and birds around you, and you’ll often feel much better.

Source:  Medicinenet.com

2. Every time you stop at a traffic light (or the bus does), tighten your thighs and butt muscles and release as many times as you can. (Don’t worry, no one will see it!) This will firm leg and buttock muscles, improve blood flow — and keep you mildly amused!

3. Whenever you’re standing on a line, lift one foot a half-inch off the ground. The extra stress on your opposite foot, ankle, calf and thigh, plus your buttocks, will help firm and tone muscles. Switch feet every few minutes.

Source:  Medicinenet.com

For more great healthy living tips see the article “Stealth Health: Get Healthy Without Really Trying“

1. Buy whole foods. Whether canned, frozen, or fresh from the farm, buy whole foods and use them in place of processed foods whenever possible. By whole foods we mean fruit, vegetables, beans, potatoes, and other things that come straight from mother nature.  By processed foods we mean crackers, cookies, soda, pasta, and other things made with many ingredients.

2. Eliminate corn syrup.  Reject foods and drinks made with corn syrup, which is a calorie-dense, nutritionally empty sweetener that many believe is worse for the body than sugar.

3. Start each dinner with a mixed green salad. Not only will eating a salad first help reduce your appetite for more caloric foods, but it also will automatically add veggies to your meal.

Source:  Medicinenet.com

For more great healthy living tips see the article “Stealth Health: Get Healthy Without Really Trying“

In April of 2010, we became an official Colorado State Medical Assistance (MA) site. As an MA site our staff can determine an individual’s eligibility for Medicaid or Colorado Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) benefits via the Colorado Benefits Management System.  This process allows for medical benefits to begin immediately, medical care can be sought right away, and health care providers can be assured of payment. And as an MA site we can serve residents of any Colorado county, which is especially helpful for patients from surrounding counties who are receiving medical care at a Pueblo facility.

Pueblo StepUp added EnhanceWellness® to our menu of senior services in 2010. EnhanceWellness is a personalized mentoring program that helps individuals who have a chronic condition determine an individual strategy for learning about and engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors. EnhanceWellness is an evidence-based program that has proven effective in giving clients measurable techniques for bettering their lives.

Below are statistics for number of visits per program recorded in FY 2010 (ended 6/30/10), the last date from which complete statistics are available:

• EPSDT – 5105
• CHP+ / Medicaid / PE – 850
• Wellness Clinics – 1,854
• Tai Chi & Exercise – 1,543
• Healthier Living - 22
• Rent Rebate – 184

Pueblo StepUp manages a Healthy Communities program.

Healthy Communities is run by the State of Colorado and its purpose is to assist people who are eligible for Medicaid or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) and those who are already enrolled with questions about their benefits.

Healthy Communities is charged with a variety of responsibilities that address the “life cycle of a client” such as:

• Generate awareness of the existence of the Medicaid and CHP+ programs through community outreach activities
• Offer information on how to apply for Medicaid and CHP+ and provide application assistance as needed
• Obtain a Presumptive Eligibility card so families can access Medicaid and CHP+ benefits if they are found eligible
• Educate families on program benefits and the value of preventive health care services and how to access their benefits
• Link clients to providers within the community
• Provide clients with information and referrals to other community programs and resources, and
• Explain the re-enrollment process to families that continue to be eligible for Medicaid and CHP+

In human terms, our jobs may see us talking to new moms about baby bottle tooth decay or childhood growth and development; advising pregnant teens and pregnant women about where to go for proper nutrition assistance during their pregnancy; helping families find a medical home; and working with clients who have been sent to collections due to improper billing or issues with Medicaid.

The families we help are grateful for the advice we give and connections we help them make, and that’s what makes our work rewarding.