6/24/2007--Boulder County Commissioner Tom Mayer, crusader for better health care, succumbs to cancer..."I'm getting some of the best health care around — I have no complaints, and I will be able to afford it," Mayer said earlier this year. "But there are a lot of people out there who can't afford it."
6/15/2007--New Cancer Treatment Center Opens in Boulder...
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jun/15/tebo-gives-up-his-hair-10k-to-fight-cancer/
Our letter to Governor Ritter:
Governor Ritter,
Just passing on a link to the article in today's Boulder Camera about the
Tebo Family Medical Pavilion; Mr. Tebo's contributions, and his daughter's breast cancer recurrence.
I am also including a copy of our response to the article, which includes congratulations to you and members of the House and Senate:
"Mr. Tebo has done a wonderful thing for all cancer patients & survivors, not just his daughter, who will I'm sure receive excellent treatment back in the Midwest. Whether it is her, Elizabeth Edwards, or thousands of other cancer survivors, one is reminded that breast and other forms of cancer are in many cases not really "cured", just held at bay.
Survivors must live with the fear of recurrence, and both their families, friends and employers share that anxiety. That is why our hat is off not only to Stephen Tebo, but also to Governor Ritter and the members of the State House & Senate who worked to sign the new insurance law that prohibits insurers from dramatically increasing the group health premium rates of small business employers with employees who are cancer patients or survivors.
Often, dishonorable employers fired those employees or harassed them into quitting, rather than worry about either having to pay higher premiums or re-accomodating their cancer recurrence while on the job. This represents illegal disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Now small employers no longer have an insurance-driven economic incentive to violate this law."
PAUL HILL, Director
Fair Employment for Cancer Patients & Survivors (FECAPS)
6/1/2007--Governor signs HB 1355 into law...
Governor Ritter has signed into law the bill that outlaws group health insurance underwriting by individual medical history or health status!
4/26/2007--RESULTS OF SENATE VOTE:
Dear Mr. Hill,
Thank you for contacting me about HB 1355 concerning
Small Employer Carrier Premiums.
The measure successfully removes two rating factors
which are barriers to employee health insurance
coverage in the small employer market. The bill
eliminates claims experience and health status as
characteristics that may be used for determining
health insurance rates for small employers.
The bill passed the Senate on April 24th by a 19 to 16
vote. I was a yes vote in favor of its passage.
HB 1355 now moves to the Governor's office for his
consideration.
Thank you for keeping me informed about the issues
that matter to you at the legislature.
Sincerely,
Senator Moe Keller
4/23/2007--LEGISLATIVE ALERT!! HB 1355...
A bipartisan bill to prohibit small group health insurance underwriting by health status and claims history was passed in Committee by the Colorado Senate late last week, and now goes to the full Senate for vote. Read our letter to the legislators in support; email your own support to your representatives (send your email to us [Contact Us ]; we'll forward it to each member of the Senate).
An Analysis of Illegal Cancer Discrimination in the Workplace
in Colorado & the U.S. at Large
...how Colorado health insurance companies became able to underwrite cancer survivors out of employee groups right along with their jobs...
Related Links:
Colorado bill would prohibit insurers from underwriting small business groups by health status--Denver Post recommends its defeat--Denver Post; 4/3/2007
Our response to the Denver Post: Your statement that the bill which would prohibit insurers from underwriting small group members by health status is "premature" is seriously off the mark. Workers with claims histories while employed are being systematically fired from their jobs so their employers health premiums won't skyrocket at the next renewal. That is not the penalty to be paid for getting sick in this country. The insurers are providing an economic incentive for employers to illegaly fire those with sicknesses and disabilities. The litigation to remedy these illegal terminations under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is just beginning. For more information, visit http://www.fecaps.com PAUL HILL, Director, Fair Employment for Cancer Patients & Survivors (FECAPS)
"Ever-increasing health insurance premiums put small businesses in a bind. They often face the impossible choice of providing jobs or health insurance." [more] --Rocky Mountain News; 3/24/2007
The way the insurance industry in Colorado saw the problem in 2002, before they changed the rules--Denver Business Journal, 8/2/2002
"Universal health care is becoming universally popular in the medical field, but Idaho lawmakers don't seem in a hurry to make sweeping changes." What's the real reason?
--Coeur d'Alene Press, 3/20/2007
Inventing a New Health Insurance System-- Boulder Camera; 3/11/2007
"...Lopes said private for-profit insurance companies are behind the bill because they consider Healthcare Group a threat to their business."--Tucson Citizen; 3/2/2007