healthcare access

As Colorado prepares for summer tourism, visitors planning trips to rural communities might assume that if they have a medical emergency, they will receive the same level of emergency care they would at home. However, that's not always the case. Rural communities may lack a hospital or even a fully staffed emergency response team. For example, the rural Hinsdale County Emergency Medical Services recently lost its only paramedic. That's left the county's EMS system in a pinch ahead of its peak tourism season.

Two bills passed in Colorado's special session aim to safeguard safety-net programs. One boosts state funding for SNAP food assistance, the other guarantees Medicaid coverage at Planned Parenthood clinics.

The founder and president of Wyoming's only procedural abortion clinic, Julie Burkhart, spoke with Aspen Public Radio about why she's focused on increasing access to abortion in underserved places.

A Republican-backed Medicaid bill could strip health coverage from millions, including 108,000 Coloradans, by imposing work requirements and cutting enrollment access, critics warn.

A Georgetown University report warns that proposed Medicaid cuts could harm early childhood education in Colorado. Many child care workers rely on Medicaid for health care, and cuts could deepen the child care crisis.

Medicaid cuts loom over House Republicans' budget reconciliation. Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo. says the "right reforms," like work requirements and stopping "improper" spending, could save money.

Senator Hickenlooper and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined a zoom call last week to discuss the legal ins and outs of the current administration. The host of the call was Indivisible, a progressive nation-wide grassroots movement that started as a way to pressure local officials to resist President Trump’s agenda.

West Springs Hospital announced on Monday it’s closing its doors on March 10, 2025 after years of financial trouble. The closure also cut ties between Mind Springs and Larkin Health, which has been managing the nonprofit since November.

Insurers were supposed to start covering recreational prosthetics on Jan. 1, but the state is still deciding how to implement the law.

In Cortez, Southwest Memorial Hospital announced last week it will temporarily close its family birthing center on July 1. In a press release, the hospital said it needed to close the center in order to ensure the financial stability of the organization. Dr. Jessica Kaplan, an obstetrics specialist who works at the birthing center, says that women seeking care in rural areas across the nation face higher risks of pregnancy-related complications, and are more likely to die during pregnancy. And Colorado is offering almost $30 million in grant money to mobile home residents who want to purchase their mobile home parks.