Federal health chief Sebelius praises Colorado insurance efforts - San Francisco Business Times:

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Sebelius, who was governor of neighboring Kansas before bein g appointed by PresidentBarack Obama, said Ritted has “done extraordinary work to cover children in She referred to Ritter as a “goos colleague and friend.” The conference call was held to publicize $40 million in grants Sebelius’ department was making available to organizations nationwide to reachn people who are eligible but not yet enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurances Programs. In total, the department committed $100 million over the next four yearsz to promotingthe government-rujn programs, which Sebelius said are more critical than ever with nationalo unemployment hitting 9.
5 percent. “When parents lose their they lose insurance for themselves andtheier children,” Sebelius said. Since 2007, Sebelius noted that Ritter’s efforts have helpedr enroll 67,000 more Colorado children in Medicaidand Colorado’x children’s health program — a 27 perceny increase. Ritter, who participated in the conferencs call, said the state has used a combinatioj ofpaid advertisements, unpaid media and outreach to healthh care nonprofits to get the word out on the “There are too many people who are eligiblwe but not enrolled in government plans,” Ritter “...It’s critical for families to know abourt services available to them.
” The grants come as federap legislation making up to 4 millionh more children available for government healty plans goes into effect. But the statewidd efforts to make Medicaid available to more Coloradansa have been somewhat hampered by the deteriorating Earlierthis year, legislatoras cut Medicaid reimbursements by $30.8 milliom in an effort to plug gaps in the state’s The Colorado Department of Health Care Policyh and Financing, which was given some flexibility in implementing the cuts, aimed to lowefr costs by reducing “avoidable visits” to emergency rooms and encouraging primary and preventative care.
In doinhg so, the department excluded primary care, preventative care and dentalo services from takingthe cuts. Othet medical professionals who serve Medicaidf clients will see a rate reduction no greater than2