DENVER -- Legisladoras y legisladores de Colorado están evaluando una medida que pudiera apuntalar el programa estatal de reaseguro y ampliar el acceso a una cobertura de salud más asequible para miles de Coloradeños que no tienen posibilidad de conseguir asistencia bajo la Ley de Cuidado Asequible, "Affordable Care Act".

Karla González García, directora de políticas en la Organización por la Oportunidad Latina y los Derechos Reproductivos (Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights), COLOR por sus siglas en inglés, dice que la emergencia del COVID-19 dejó en claro cómo la salud de cada persona depende de la capacidad de sus vecinos para tener acceso a los cuidados de la salud que necesitan.

"Todo mundo merece acceso al cuidado de la salud. Cuando hablamos de crear comunidades saludables, debemos tener un marco en el que todos tengan acceso a la atención de la salud accesible y de calidad."

La Iniciativa 215 (Bill 215) mantendría una tarifa federal sobre aseguradoras, las cuales se beneficiaron al ampliar la cobertura bajo la Ley de Cuidado Asequible ("Affordable Care Act", ACA), programada para expirar este año.

Las empresas y agentes seguirían pagando 2.5 por ciento de las primas, y uno por ciento los corredores sin fines de lucro. Algunos miembros de la comunidad empresarial han advertido que la medida podría afectar a las empresas pequeñas si las compañías de seguros transfieren la tarifa junto con el aumento de primas.

Karla González afirma que los negocios pequeños se beneficiarán con la SB 215, porque podrán competir ante grandes empresas si sus trabajadores tienen acceso a una cobertura accesible de salud.

Dice que la propuesta también ayudará a mantener la cobertura de miles de coloradeños que junto con su empleo fijo hayan perdido su cobertura por las consecuencias económicas de la pandemia, y ampliar la cobertura de los trabajadores de primera fila, que son los que corren un riesgo mayor.

"¿Cómo es posible que, en el país más rico del mundo, no tengamos un sistema que garantice que los empleados con poco sueldo tengan cobertura de salud? Y desgraciadamente la mayoría de ellos son de color."

González García dice que unos 250 mil individuos y familias que compran su seguro médico en el mercado individual esperan beneficiarse si la SB 215 se convierte en ley, porque permitirá conservar el programa de reaseguro del estado.

Durante su primer año el programa resultó en una reducción del 20 por ciento en primas del mercado individual, y algunas regiones rurales vieron una reducción hasta del 35 por ciento.


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Sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of about 250 Michigan children and young adults each year. Legislation signed into law over the weekend aims to reduce that number. The new state law will require all public high school coaches to become CPR and AED certified.

Alexander Bowerson, now a freshman at the University of Michigan, is excited about it. During his senior year at Memphis High School, he says he would have died during wrestling practice had it not been for the quick thinking of a cheerleading coach who was also a nurse, and the defibrillator or AED that was available onsite.

"She knew exactly what to do," he said. "She realized it was cardiac right away, got an AED on me, took one shock and within 15 minutes after my first symptoms, was when I remember regaining full consciousness."

House Bills 5527 and 5528 will also require K-through-12 schools to establish a cardiac emergency response team, and do annual reviews of their emergency plan. The cost for CPR and AED certification is between $15 and $100 - and school districts will not be required to pay for the training.

Under the new law, the mandatory AED and CPR certifications must be obtained through the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or an organization approved by the Michigan Department of Education. Bowerson said all it takes is a simple online search to see that there are a few kids in the Detroit area this year, who experienced cardiac emergencies.

"So now that it's required, I hope school boards take it seriously - and there's going to be a kid alive today, or whenever it happens, that wasn't going to be alive before, because of these bills," he said.

The new cardiac emergency response law goes into effect starting in the 2025-2026 school year.


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A new report reveals that investing in rural areas can improve essential resources for the people living there. Despite a significant rural population of 46 million in the United States, these regions receive only a minimal amount of grant funding. Back in 2012, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust launched the Healthy Places North Carolina initiative and allocated $1-hundred million to 10 rural counties. The aim was to improve resource accessibility, and after a decade, their impact report reveals significant progress in areas such as healthy food, recreation and health-care resources.

Adam Linker, vice president for programs with the Reynolds trust, said the key to empowering these communities hinges on close collaboration with the residents themselves.

"The people who know the problems the best are the people who are closest to the issues in the community, and so you have to invest in those leaders, in those organizations so that they can lead the change efforts themselves," he said.

Linker emphasized the power of community-driven solutions for real, lasting change. The report echoes this sentiment, highlighting nearly 600 grants distributed to 61 local organizations across eastern and central North Carolina. Their efforts are making a difference, from setting up addiction recovery centers to improving health-care access.

One community reaping the benefits firsthand is West Marion in McDowell County. Linker pointed to the significance of the West Marion Community Forum, the sole Black-led nonprofit in the county. Historically underserved, Linker notes its pivotal role in creating initiatives such as free public transportation, establishing a thriving community garden and expanding access to vital resources.

"Their community, West Marion, that's predominantly African-American, was at one time they talked about the last that gets snow removal, and through their work of getting to know the city leaders, they're now the first to get snow removal. The city has started paying a lot of attention to what the community has to say," Linker said.

Kristen Burwell Naney, director of learning and impact with the Reynolds trust, believes the last decade has shown that it's not only important for funders to build up community organizations but to also change the way they think about success. She says this work requires a long-term strategy.

"So rather than expecting to see quick changes in population health outcomes, we found that you need to focus on things like detection of changes in networks, relationships, power and problem solving within a community, " she explained.

The report highlights key lessons for funders who want to shift conditions that produce inequality to drive change. Naney explained one important take-away to understand is that differences in organizations' abilities are often due to unequal access to financial and capacity building resources. The report suggests that funders have an opportunity to address these imbalances by offering more targeted support to groups that have historically been underfunded or excluded.

Birth doulas assist new moms with the stress, uncertainty and anxiety of childbirth. Another type of doula offers similar support - to those who are dying. Death doulas, or end-of-life specialists, give spiritual and emotional support to people nearing death in a non-medical setting, and to their families after the transition. The word 'doula' comes from the Greek word doule', meaning 'female helper.'

Joy Kahn Harter, a mental health counselor for Anchored Passages in Bloomington, specializes in grief and loss. She encourages open dialogue about what is often an uneasy subject to discuss.

"It is truly educating, advocating and connecting people to either present or future resources that will serve them, and underscoring the choices that people do, in fact, have - that many people don't realize that they have," she said.

Harter added one request she has received is with planning an advance directive - instructions a person can leave behind about their funeral service or cremation, what to do with a pet, or help writing a loving message to family and friends. In 2021, there were about 1,000 per 100,000 residents, with the average mortality at age 76.

Death, or what is sometimes called 'the other side,' can produce feelings of fear, or a sense of denial - especially if a terminal illness has been diagnosed.

Abby Vincent, a death doula with Joy's House in Indianapolis, said some people really 'lean into' the conversation - and others shy away from it.

"And I think it takes somebody who is comfortable with the topic themselves; takes somebody who's a good listener - that is so much a part of it - and is able to hold compassion and space for some of those hard conversations that need to happen. Because there are some beautiful moments that happen during the dying process," she explained.

Training to become a death doula happens in workshops, with required reading and work-study assignments. Since it is not a federally recognized field, insurance companies don't cover these services. Vincent said she relies on word of mouth and invitations from churches and community groups hosting end-of-life meetings as educational opportunities about the death doula industry.