In case you missed this morning’s KGNU broadcast – “A Public Affair,” hosted by the Community Foundation’s Civic Forum Director Morgan McMillan – click here to download or stream our discussion about access to specialty care for Boulder County’s medically underserved.
Boulder County is home to nearly 44,000 Medicaid/CHP+ enrollees – with another 33,000 people remaining uninsured even after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which greatly expanded insurance coverage. That means at least 1 in 4 Boulder County residents is currently challenged in accessing specialty care beyond the primary care setting.
Dr. Valerie Lipetz, Chief Medical Officer of Ambulatory Services at Boulder Community Health and Simon Smith, President and CEO of Clinica Family Health, help us understand the current barriers to specialty care referrals for underinsured patients…and how the Boulder County Health Improvement Collaborative (BCHIC), a program of the Community Foundation, hopes to move the needle for specialty care access.
What does success look like? According to Dr. Lipetz, “We would like to see a community-wide effort [whereby] specialists are willing to accept at least a number of these patients…and that we do everything we can to ensure that the referral [is] successful for the patient and the specialist.”
Click here for a recent update about BCHIC, and to get involved.
