DENVER-
Gov. Bill Ritter signed a package of health-care measures on Tuesday, saying they would help reduce soaring costs and make care more accessible.
The new laws are designed to help developmentally disabled children and young people in foster care, provide breakfast for school children who otherwise can’t afford it and address health disparities in minority communities across the state.
“These new laws make good health-care sense and good fiscal sense,” Ritter said.
“When we talk about bills like these, we should always ask a few important questions: Is it good for kids? Will it make a real difference in the lives of children? Is it a good investment? The answer today is yes, yes and yes,” he said.
The new laws are designed to:
— Streamline the funding process for children with developmental disabilities so they and their families have easier access to early-intervention medical care. About 4,000 Colorado infants and toddlers ages 3 and younger have developmental disabilities. (Senate Bill 4.)
— Expand Medicaid eligibility to 1,400 young adults in the foster care system through the age of 21 from the current cutoff age of 18. (Senate Bill 2.)
— Establish the Start Smart Nutrition Program, providing free breakfasts to students who qualify under the free- and reduced-price lunch program. Currently, only 18 percent of qualifying children are receiving a reduced-priced breakfast. (Senate Bill 59.)
— Eliminate racial, ethnic and rural health disparities in Colorado. Ritter said minorities and people living in rural areas suffer higher levels of disabilities and disease, and the costs of care is shifted to people who have insurance. (Senate Bill 242.)
Ritter said eliminating the health disparity just for diabetes would save Colorado taxpayers more than $80 million a year.
Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, said the bills are small but significant steps toward extending health care to an estimated 770,000 uninsured in Colorado, forming the basis for expansion.
“It’s something new and we’ll be able to build on it,” Groff said.
