CMS Medical Student Component Newsletter

1. National Lobby Day Follow Up
2. FREE Lunch-CMS Informational Lunch Meeting-4/17
3. Ride for World Health-4/30
4. Interim Meeting in VAIL-May 3-4
5. Legislative Update- Colorado Legislation
6. Volunteer Opportunities
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1. WHAT CMS-MSC HAS BEEN UP TO:
National Lobby Day was held in Washington, D.C. on March 31st. A group of 9 UCD students spent the day informing our Colorado legislators about issues facing medical students. We were able to meet with Senators Salazar and Allard as well as Representatives DeGette and Perlmutter. The top issues discussed were the 20/220 Pathway that allows for loan repayment deferment during residency, potential Medicare and Medicaid funding cuts, and increasing funding to health professional development and/or repayment programs like the National Health Service Corp. If you would like to know about any of these issues or how to contact your legislator to make an impact, email cms.mss@gmail.com. If you are concerned about this, which you probably should be, visit this link for a brief:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/15/20_220_finances.pdf.

Contact your representatives and let them know how important this is to you!


2. FREE LUNCH!
April 17th -We are having a class meeting to inform everyone about what's going on with CMS-MSC and get some input on what we should do. Should be in room 1300, keep your eyes out for more info.


3. RIDE FOR WORLD HEALTH
Save the date- April 30th is Ride For World Health- there will be speakers, food and a ride a long!


4. SPEND A WEEKEND IN VAIL!
May 2-4 is the CMS Spring Conference. If you would like to learn more about Colorado's Health Care system and enjoy a free stay in Vail for the weekend, e-mail CMS. MSS@gmail.com by April 18th.


5. COLORADO LEGISLATURE UPDATE
There are some interesting political maneuvers going on in the legislature this year. Here are some highlights:

SB 217 is a bill to solicit proposals for "Value Benefit Plans" from health insurers, and to suggest mandated health insurance in Colorado with sliding scale subsidies for low income people.

Potential pitfalls of such an approach include moving all of Colorado's health care dollars through private companies with the loss of some of those funds to profit margin. Erosion of mandated benefits is another potential problem. The plans proposed in the bill might reduce overall health care expenditures through an increase in preventive care, but might not protect people with chronic or catastrophic illnesses.

This may be the closest we get to a health care reform proposal we get this year. CMS has many concerns about the bill, but most people feel that we need to participate in the evolution of the bill and the issue.

SB 164, the Trial Lawyers' bill to increase malpractice damage caps by at least 50%, has been stalled in committee by the republicans and a few democratic allies. It will probably die there, but the vote will be next week. Thanks to everyone who lobbied against the bill on Lobby Day and by phone and email. Keep the pressure on until next week.
Several insurance reform bills have been proposed or introduced including revisions to the Prompt Pay act that would short-circuit insurance repeatedly denying claims inappropriately. SB 011 would increase vehicle registration fees to reimburse for auto accident trauma care and require insurance companies to cover emergency medical care.


6. VOLUNTEER INFORMATION - http://www.coloradoschip.org/

"The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has made health coverage affordable for millions of low-income kids; in Colorado, nearly 50,000 kids and more than 1,300 pregnant women receive needed medical care because of Colorado 's SCHIP program, the Child Health Plan Plus ( CHP+).

"Thousands more Colorado kids are eligible for CHP+ but not enrolled in the plan. Without continued federal funding, CHP+ can't reach out to those families and ensure those kids get the coverage they need for shots, regular check-ups and dental care."

Colorado has a bit of a unique situation in that the state has more money than it is spending on SCHIP kids, because enrollment is relatively low. Thousands of parents whose children are eligible for SCHIP don't know about the program, and that's where students can enter the picture. After some very short training, we can inform parents about SCHIP and sign their kids up. If you want to get involved, there will be many opportunities to volunteer at health fairs in the future.

For more information, feel free to email me (kara.leach@uchsc.edu) or check out the website at the top of the page.