What’s Checkup Denver? You’re reading an installment of our bi-weekly health newsletter. .
Hello, Colorado!
It’s Jessica again — a big shoutout and thanks to Tynin Fries, one of our digital strategists, who covered for me in our last newsletter.
I’m back at work and diving in deep on . As part of the project, our team is hosting a series of off-the-record community conversations around the state to talk to teens, parents and teachers. We want to hear from the community about this issue and what we should be covering.
We’re holding our next event in Then we’ll be headed to Durango, Pueblo and Grand Junction. You can find out more
In waning days as governor, Hickenlooper pitched plan to tackle youth vaping. Polis and lawmakers took a different approach.
I teamed up with Alex Burness, who is new to the Post’s political team, to report on what happened with recommendations made by former Gov. John Hickenlooper in a 2018 executive order on vaping.
Last year, Hickenlooper encouraged state legislators to tighten regulations on vaping devices in a bid to curb teen use. But almost a year later, as Colorado is responding to a mysterious vaping-related lung disease, no action has been taken on the most ambitious recommendations: raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21 and banning flavored tobacco and vaping products.
Instead, lawmakers took smaller steps this year.
Read more here.
Health must-reads
- For the first time, the prices people pay for coverage on the state’s health insurance exchange will drop. The state’s new reinsurance program is part of the reason for the 20.2% average decrease.
- A draft proposal of the state’s public health insurance option shows that when the plans hit the individual market in a few years, the coverage will be administered by private insurance companies.
- Denver is considering an Oregon program to improve the treatment of people with severe mental illness by diverting such 911 calls to a medic and mental health professional instead of police. (via Kaiser Health News)
- Aurora City Council has voted to require all detention facilities in the city to notify the fire department if there is a contagious disease outbreak. The ordinance comes after a string of outbreaks, including mumps and chickenpox, at the ICE facility in Aurora in recent months.
- A former Centura Health doctor updated a lawsuit that alleges the provider retaliated against her after she tried to help a terminally ill man obtain medication to end his life. Centura has argued that the First Amendment prohibits the religious system from being forced to continue the doctor’s employment.
Why a New York woman came to Colorado for a 32-week abortion
Anna Staver reports that Dr. Warren Hern in Boulder is one of a handful of doctors in the U.S. who perform abortions later in pregnancy, which are rare, expensive and politically charged.
So far, 43 states have tightened restrictions on when abortions can be performed during a pregnancy. While Colorado isn’t one of them, groups are collecting signatures for an initiative to ban all abortions after 22 weeks except for those to save the life of the mother, Anna reports.
“We have built a grassroots coalition of people with diverse interests and backgrounds who believe that abortion up to the date of birth is too extreme,” wrote Giuliana Day, co-sponsor of the Colorado initiative, to The Denver Post in response to questions.
Read more here.
Here’s what I’m reading
- A hospital kept a vegetative patient on life support because they Since the first story came out, the director of the heart transplant program was — ProPublica
- At a Texas children’s hospital, the staff treated in four separate shootings. — The Dallas Morning News
- Four years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tried to ban flavored vape products, but — Los Angeles Times
- In East Texas, a number of town councils have been passing abortion bans and — The Washington Post
- Sate and federal officials are after the Tampa Bay Times found that it exploits patients held under the state’s mental health law. — Tampa Bay Times
Have a story tip or other feedback? Email me at jseaman@denverpost.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at And don’t forget to become to The Post!
See you in two weeks!
Jessica
