Federal health chief Sebelius praises Colorado insurance efforts - Denver Business Journal:

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Sebelius, who was governor of neighborinv Kansas before being appointexd by PresidentBarack Obama, said Ritter has “dond extraordinary work to cover children in Colorado.” She referred to Ritter as a “goor colleague and friend.” The conference call was held to publicize $40 milliobn in grants Sebelius’ department was makinvg available to organizations nationwide to reach people who are eligibl e but not yet enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Healtyh Insurance Programs.
In total, the department committec $100 million over the next four years to promotinbthe government-run programs, which Sebelius said are more criticap than ever with national unemployment hitting 9.5 “When parents lose their jobs, they lose insurance for themselvesw and their children,” Sebelius Since 2007, Sebelius noted that Ritter’s effortsx have helped enroll 67,000 more Colorado childre n in Medicaid and Colorado’sw children’s health program — a 27 perceng increase. Ritter, who participated in the conferencew call, said the state has used a combination of paid unpaid media and outreach to healtj care nonprofits to get the word out onthe programs.
“There are too many people who are eligible but not enrolled in government plans,” Ritter said. “...It’s criticalo for families to know about servicesa availableto them.” The grants come as federaol legislation making up to 4 millioh more children available for government healtuh plans goes into effect. But the statewided efforts to make Medicaid available to more Coloradane have been somewhat hampered by the deteriorating Earlierthis year, legislators cut Medicaid reimbursementzs by $30.8 million in an effort to plug gaps in the state’se budget.
The Colorado Department of Health Care Policygand Financing, which was given some flexibility in implementing the aimed to lower costs by reducing “avoidabl visits” to emergency rooms and encouraginh primary and preventative In doing so, the departmenft excluded primary care, preventative care and dental services from takintg the cuts. Other medical professionals who serve Medicaid clients will see a rate reductiom no greater than2 percent.