Please take good care of yourselves and practice these guidelines. More information will be posted here as it comes in.

If passed, this single payer health insurance program will go into effect over an 18 month period. It's goal? To eliminate insurance premiums (about $8,000 to $12,000 per family annually), "un-affordable deductibles" (as much as $7,000 per family), and any out of pocket expenses like co-pays.

Understand, the only way to move away from the Affordable Care Act is for states to make a better and more affordable but fiscally solvent plan on their own. So again, Colorado spearheads a change in the law of the land, thumbing their noses at the Federal Government's inadequacies, and taking on the task themselves to protect Colorado's citizens.

It will start with a thirty-eight billion dollar budget through a state income tax increase of ten percent, and provide universal health coverage, choking off the profit seeking behaviors of national private insurers, and will save Colorado six billion dollars a year.

If passed, the first year of the plan will be directed by a 15 member interim Board of Trustees chosen by state legislative leadership and the Governor. This will be followed by an election of professionals and community members to the Board of Trustees to over-see and manage all "ColoradoCare" operations, with elections held annually thereafter. Amendment 69 outlines the length of the terms of the elected trustees, term limits, and procedures for filling vacancies. ColoradoCare Trustees are not subject to recall elections, but may be removed by a majority vote of the board.

Essentially, the State of Colorado will be carved into seven districts, with each district electing three board members each (total of 21). in the last year, It has been well known in professional medical and academic circles that VENTURE XVII supports this amendment. The B.E.A.M. Foundation will be funding the campaigns of two of it's members to run for ColoradoCare Board of Trustees positions. Yes, VENTURE XVII is actively involved, as three of the B.E.A.M. Foundation's positions are to alleviate poverty, create economic empowerment, and promote accessible healthcare to all. In addition, the B.E.A.M. Foundation supports Senator Bernie Sander's initiatives to make healthcare "a right of our citizens".

Unfortunately, the United States is the only first world economy where you can still be bankrupted by a medical condition. This is considered unconscionable by many, and Colorado feels compelled to act instead of talk (which has been going on now for over thirty years). Did you know that over sixty percent of bankruptcies are induced by medical expenses? Did you know that over forty percent of foreclosures are induced by medical problems?

The insurance companies keep getting richer, and our premiums and out of pocket costs keep going up and are crushing our citizens. When I see a patient for 15 minutes, I spend an hour on paperwork and coding or the insurance company will not compensate me for the visit, even if it's only for a Medicaid copay. Enough is enough! Colorado is fed up. Colorado not only has the resources, but the means to carry this through, and maintain it indefinitely.

Isn't it interesting that all of the media advertising opposing the amendment is backed by Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Health Care, Kaiser Permanente, The Travelers, other small cap insurance entities and those invested in the insurance industry. Why, you ask? Because if this passes, they will no longer write insurance in Colorado, and will lose market share of almost nine million insured lives. Do the math. 

Gaining health insurance is an important step in ensuring access to healthcare. Without insurance coverage, many patients would not be able to pay for the medical services they receive. But so far, no policy attempted in the United States, not even the Affordable Care Act, has been able to bring coverage to everyone or reign in costs. ColoradoCare attempts to solve that situation.

ColoradoCare would automatically cover everyone whose primary residence is in Colorado. The system would include people who currently can’t afford insurance, don’t want it, or don’t qualify for existing programs because they are immigrants who lack documentation.

Supporters say universal, publicly financed coverage would save money and time that is currently spent on insurance bureaucracy and paperwork, and allow patients to see any provider who agrees to contract with ColoradoCare.

Opponents (the insurance companies) argue the opposite, saying the proposed system would limit Coloradans’ choices about their health plans, restrain market competition and leave too many important details to be decided in the future. Typical corporate rhetoric.

The issue here is typical of all politics. There will be a tax increase. Everybody gets itchy when we talk about tax increases. But this initiative has a silver lining of beneficence: State of the Art Healthcare, but at no cost to the citizens of Colorado.

Here's an example of its impact on a family of four paying $1000 in state income tax per year. Now their income tax is $1100, but they didn't have to pay $12,000 in premiums in addition to if a family member was hospitalized, the $7,000 deductible they would most likely have to borrow.

Keep your eyes on Colorado. If this works well over the next three years, you will see other states take notice and use our system as a template for their own.

I understand when you read this, you can see that it is slanted to the "Yes Vote". But it's also about doing the right thing. We have the resources (remember all that money we're making from Weed?), We have some of the best medical and business minds in the nation right here. We can make a difference.

For an independent analysis, please go to: http://colorado69.org/

Keep reading, and Stay healthy.

Dr. Counce

The staff of VENTURE XVII, based in Calgary, is currently volunteering with evacuation of Northern Alberta, Canada. This is getting out of control. In 2012 We were fighting the Waldo Canyon and Lake George Fires in Colorado. A year later, We were fighting the Black Forest Fire North of Colorado Springs.

The infamous Hayman Fire, rolled on us fourteen years ago, virtually killing some of the most beautiful and pristine wilderness on the backside of The Rampart Range of Colorado. Yeah, 140,000 acres of it. Then the Montana Fires of 2007. Half a million acres wiped out in two months!

But this thing. He's a killer! in just 3 days, he's already consumed over 350 square miles. Been really hard to reign him in. Fires are always our worst fear up here in the Rockies. Whether in the Yukon up North or the San Juans in the South, it's all Alpine Forest with interlacing meadows and tributaries of grasslands.

When I worked with my friends, The Chippewa Cree in Montana, they would tell me that the elders would always point out that the fires were "A Cleansing", and to respect them. They consider fires a natural part of the wilderness and as natural as the Sun rising every morning. I can't help but agree with this, but times have changed, and as Man moves deeper into our forests, more of us depend on our forests and grasslands for our survival.

The teachings of our Native American Fathers should be respected at every turn, but we are no longer nomadic people, and can't just pick up and move when a cleansing comes calling. Whole cities, transportation infrastructure, farmland, livestock, and our sources of water and food can go up in smoke overnight, turning our world upside down.

This one's going to rock our world for a while. The best professional fire fighters in the world are on it! "Film at eleven"!

It’s been many long years since I graduated from my medical residency. I made Chief Resident so spent an extra year learning how to teach and manage doctors who are full of themselves.

I've seen it all. From the totally clueless senior medical student, to Hospital Chief of Staff. A long time to glean some perspective, and time for introspection. My generation of doctors, was the last to go to college, medical school, and train without computers or smartphones. We didn't even have the internet.

We didn't carry pocket ultrasounds, smartphones, or ophthalmoscopes. All we brought to the bedside was our own brains, a stethoscope, and a compassionate bedside manner. Times have changed. And although we are armed with all kinds of technology, doctors are still doctors, and there aren't very many of us. Moreover, it is predicted that by 2020, the United States will lose half of its physician workforce as doctors make there exodus from an industry that has forgotten about how important we are. Not just anyone can do this. If they could, we would just toss you a human "cookbook" and say "here you go! Fix it yourself!"

I get calls from colleagues everyday, asking how I was able to move into the Education Industry, they want out so badly. The three decades of training in a profession obligated to bring the tip of the sword in science, is a tough enough burden, let alone Corporate America and Ad Hoc Committees telling us how to practice (and they don't even have a License to practice). Throw in "CLIA, OSHA, Semiannual Blood-borne pathogens training, The internet, HIPAA, Managed Care, The doctor crushing Affordable Care Act, and "the straw", ICD-10 ( All of which were thrust upon us in a twenty year span), and you have an already hugely stressful occupation filled with PTSD ready to throw in the towel and say, "Try doing it without us!"

It is still a bold, proud, and academic profession, however, and continues to call to those men and women who can bring not only scientific knowledge, but an understanding ear that listens, holistic care, intelligence, integrity, and a steadfast compassion for mankind.

I continue to train young doctors. These students, interns, and residents are smart, they already know what hard work is, they are all "A" students, hugely ambitious and talented. Many of my conversations with them turn into advice. So this is what they hear.

1. People die; it’s not a personal failure on your part. Our weapons against disease cannot outlast the inevitable. Our interventions and therapies can make disease more manageable and prolong life, but death will always be the ultimate and natural conclusion of our efforts.

2. Your choice of specialty will not determine your ultimate life happiness. You are not doomed to misery should you chose not to sub-specialize nor are you guaranteed happiness if you do. Choose something you enjoy, Choose a specialty that provides a lifestyle congruent with your values. But don’t confuse intellectual intrigue with life happiness; there is so much more to the latter that has nothing to do with medicine.

3. Remember what it means to be a normal person. To retain a sense of awe in what you now get to do on a regular basis. To be able to explain things in non-medical terms the way you learned them before being indoctrinated. To feel sadness, joy, grief, loss, elation. To remember the viewpoint of suffering.

4. Keep friends outside of medicine. You’ll be more human. And more interesting.

5. Guidelines are helpful, but they are not strict rules. Don’t try to meet every guideline while losing site of the big picture. You wouldn’t want your 95-year-old grandma on a high dose statin to prevent a heart attack, metformin for the elevated fasting glucose only apparent within the past year and three blood pressure pills that make her feel dizzy all the time to achieve some magic number that no one agrees on anyway. Don’t subject someone else’s grandma to that either.

6. Retain your humility. When family members say, “Something’s not right with Grandpa,” listen to them. They are usually right. Ask questions when you don’t know the answer. It can be especially humbling to do so in front of your colleagues, but your pride is no longer your priority. Your priority is your patient, without exception.

7. Be kind in your comments about the “outside community doctor.” There is a high likelihood you will be that person at some point in your career. They usually aren’t as dense as you might think; they are just struggling to provide the same perfect care you are in a very imperfect system.

8. Burnout is inevitable. Plan for it. Write down what drew you to medicine in the first place. Use it to keep yourself motivated. Learn to unplug. Turn that thing you call "a phone" off. Don't overlook your own health. Mental or physical.

9. Other services are not your enemy. Be kind when someone calls you with a “dumb consult”; you have likely called one yourself.

10. Avoid perpetuating the cycle of abuse. The profession of Medicine has been built on a "train by intimidation" approach since Osler. We are well known to "pimp" each other in an effort to show academic prowess. Just because you were demeaned and humiliated as a student or resident does not mean you are entitled to do the same to your younger colleagues. They are no more “unmotivated,” “lazy,” or “arrogant” then you were. We are all a bunch of prima donnas. Turn it down a notch!

11. Think about how your orders affect your patients Holistically. How the orders may actually contribute to their suffering and discomfort. Nurses have been asking for us to do this for years.

12. Be mindful of the habits you cultivate. How you speak to patients, families, nurses. How you treat your family when you are stressed. Your eating habits, your spending habits, your sleep habits. These will follow you past residency, for better or for worse. Make sure they have been chosen with intention.

13. Medical training is expensive. Most of us have debt. Just because you have a big salary out of residency, doesn’t mean that you are wealthy. Do the math and avoid the temptation to increase your debt further immediately on graduation with a huge new house, car or other toys. A few years of frugal living will pay dividends later on.

14. It doesn’t automatically get better after residency. Hate to break it to you, but it’s the truth. But it can be great if you prioritize what’s really important. Just pick those priorities carefully.

Lastly, the advice I give to every young doctor I mentor: You must remember that the medical profession is like a jealous lover. It requires all of your time, and all of your energy. It will tolerate nothing less. The people who seek us, need us, and need to trust us. This trust can never be betrayed.

Always stand with a smile, never be impatient, and always give your patient hope. Be as passionate in your craft as you are gentle in friendship, and make everyone who crosses your path, glad they met with you today."

 

 

Dr. Counce