The following summarizes recent newspaper coverage of health care developments in Arizona, Colorado and Illinois.
Arizona: Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) said she is preparing a proposal for the 2008 legislative session that would expand health insurance coverage to more uninsured children and adults in the state, Capitol Media/Arizona Daily Star reports. Lawmakers this year rejected a lower-cost proposal by Napolitano that would have expanded health care this year. Napolitano said the Legislature's rejection of that proposal has prompted her to seek more funding for next year (Fischer, Capitol Media/Arizona Daily Star, 5/31).
Colorado: Gov. Bill Ritter (D) on Wednesday signed into law several bills aimed at expanding services for people with mental illnesses and the elderly, the AP/Denver Post reports. One bill requires health insurers to expand coverage of mental illnesses to include conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol disorders, and anorexia. Other laws will coordinate mental health services for children and provide more tax rebates to the elderly and disabled (AP/Denver Post, 5/30).
Illinois: State House lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a health care expansion plan included in a limited-growth state budget plan by Speaker Michael Madigan (D), the Chicago Tribune reports. Madigan's plan, which Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) "has made the centerpiece" of his second term, sought billions of dollars in funding to go toward expanding the state subsidized health care program and public schools, the Tribune reports. The bill was approved without the health care provisions (Long/Garcia, Chicago Tribune, 5/31).
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