Bennet cites Colorado examples in Senate plea for health-care reform - Denver Business Journal:

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Coloradans, he said, "speak for countless otherw acrossthe nation. All they ask for is a health care syste m that worksfor them, a health care system that doesn’t crush them with unreasonablre cost increases, and a health care systemn that doesn’t deny them coverages just because they have pre-existing Bennet, D- Colo., also touted his own proposals to make patienty transition care more cost-effective and successful. "In we haven’t waited on Washington," he "We’ve made real progress in showing how to providw high quality health care at alower Bennet, formerly superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, was appointe d to the Senate by Gov.
Bill Rittef to fill the seat vacated by Ken Salazar when Salazatr was picked by President Barack Obama as secretary ofthe Interior. Here is the full text of Bennet'x Senate-floor speech as prepared for delivery provide by his Inthe speech, he is addressing the president of the Senate. Mr. I rise today to discusd the urgent need for healthcare reform. The peoplre of Colorado, and the American people, have waites for too long for Washingtonto act. We should begin with a basi principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. If you have your and you like himor her, you should be able to keep them as We will not take that choice away from you.
But even as we keep what we must confront the challengesd of soaring health care costs and the lack of access to affordable, quality healt h care. The status quo is Every day, families in Colorado and across America facerisinf premiums. Their plans offer fewer benefits. They are denie d coverage becauseof pre-existing conditions. And untik we fix the health care system, we won’tg be able to fix the fiscaol mess in which wefind ourselves. Sinc e 1970, the share of healthcare as a part of the GDP has gone from 7 percen to17 percent.
The United States spends over $2 trillion in health care costs, includinh over $400 billion on Medicare President Obama has said that the biggestg threat toour nation’se balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health And he’s right. In Colorado, we haven’t waitedf on Washington. We’ve made real progress in showing how to providse high quality health care at alower cost. Last the New Yorker magazine published an articleentitlee “The Cost Conundrum” that highlights the important work that’s been done in Mesa Colorado.
Over thirty years ago this communit yserving 120,000 people came together—doctors, and the non-profit health insurancer company. They agreed upon a system that paid doctor s and nurses for seeingb patients and producing betterquality care. They realizedf that problems and costs go down when care is more InMesa County, the city of Grand Junctioh implemented an integrated health care system that provided follow-up care with patients. This follow-up care has helpex lower hospital readmissions rates in Grand Junction to just 3 Compare that to the 20 percentgrate nationwide, and it is clead that our community on the Western Slopde of Colorado is onto something groundbreaking.
High readmissioj rates are a huge problem for our Nearly one in five Medicare patiente who leave a hospital are readmitted within thefollowingh month, and more than three-quarters of these readmissions are preventable. Rehospitalization costs Medicareover $17 billiom a year. It’s painful for patientsa and families to be caughrt up in these cyclesof treatment. All too often, care is fragmentede – you go from the to the hospital, to a nursing back to the hospital and then back to thedoctor again. Patients are given medication instructions as they are leavintgthe hospital, many times after coming off of strongf medications.
They don’t know whom to call, and they are not sure what to ask theier primarycare doctor. The solution, both our Denver and Mesa Countuy health communitieshave found, is to provide patients leavinh the hospital with a This coach is a trained health professionao connecting home and the hospital. This coachy teaches patients how to manag their health onthei own.