The Colorado Commission on Aging informs and advises decision-makers and advocates for seniors. It reviews existing programs for the aging and makes recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly for improvements. The commission is composed of 17 volunteer members who are appointed by the governor with the consent of the state Senate.

The Minority Health Advisory Commission provides a formal mechanism for community members to provide input on health programming. The commission works closely with the Office of Health Disparities to identify and address specific needs in the minority communities. One key responsibility of the commission is to work in concert with the Board of Health to make funding recommendations for the Health Disparities Grant Program.

The Division of Insurance regulates the insurance industry and assists consumers and other stakeholders with insurance issues.

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing works to improve access to cost-effective, quality health care services for Coloradans. The department administers the Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus programs as well as a variety of other programs for Colorado's low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment protects and preserves the health and environment of the citizens of Colorado.

The Division of Aging and Adult Services educates and supports elderly residents in Colorado.

The Colorado Gerontological Society is a nonprofit organization that gives support, guidance, education and information to seniors, families and elder-care practitioners.

Seniors! Inc. is a nonprofit that helps the elderly population with a coordinated delivery system of health care, including helping seniors understand Medicare and the system.

The AARP Elderwatch Project is a program run by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and AARP. The project fights the financial exploitation of older Americans in the state of Colorado through collection of data, outreach and education, and technical assistance. It provides information to and coordinates efforts by the state’s law enforcement offices, adult protection and mental health agencies| and organizations assisting older Americans – as well as efforts undertaken by older Americans themselves. The project: provides a hotline for seniors to call for information; disseminates information about consumer alerts; collects data; and develops public service announcements and commercials, as well as training materials and curricula for use by law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, adult protection and other agencies, family members, individuals, and the media.

The Citizens' Advocate is part of the Governor's Advocate Corps. It helps the citizens of Colorado obtain information and solve specific problems, and it consists of representatives from each state agency.

The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) was established in 2002 as a nonprofit corporation to serve as a comprehensive source of health data resources and policy analysis for policymakers, health planners, the business and nonprofit communities, advocacy and consumer groups, health care providers, foundations and the media. CHI was created through a Memorandum of Understanding between three conversion foundations: Caring for Colorado, the Colorado Trust, and Rose Community Foundation.

The Legal Center works with the Colorado Long-Term Care Ombudsman. The Legal Center protects and promotes the rights of people with disabilities and older people in Colorado through direct legal representation, advocacy, education and legislative analysis.

AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that advocates for people ages 50 and older. Since 1958, AARP has lobbied for senior issues, including the passage of Medicare in 1965. AARP offers support from staffed offices in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Colorado Health Care Association believes that the health care system has a responsibility to meet the physical and psychological needs of the long-term care patient in a cost-effective manner. Its purpose is to work with members in meeting such challenges while continually striving to achieve a higher quality of care.

Health Care for All Colorado (HCAC) is a nonprofit social welfare organization begun in 2001 in response to the increasing numbers of Coloradans who are not able to secure basic health care in our current health care system. HCAC views health care reform as both a human rights issue and an economic necessity, advocating for the adoption of a single-payer system that ensures that all Coloradans have access to affordable and comprehensive health care services. The Colorado Advisory Council is a standing committee that discusses HCAC policy and direction and offers suggestions to define and accomplish the overarching goals of HCAC.

The Colorado Health Foundation invests in grants to and initiatives of health-related nonprofits that encourage healthy living and increase the number of Coloradans with health insurance. It also works to help Coloradans gain access to coordinated primary care, and operates medical-education programs to increase the health care work force.

The Colorado Coalition for Elder Rights & Abuse Prevention (CCERAP) focuses on the identification, prevention and treatment of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation (including financial exploitation). CCERAP provides education, training opportunities for professionals in the aging services network, and resources and referrals for all citizens of Colorado.

Medicare Colorado helps Medicare recipients find insurance agents and learn about Medicare-related meetings, shares information on Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap), Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D), and more. Medicare Colorado is operated by Colorado Benefits & Financial Services LLC, a licensed Colorado health insurance agency certified to sell Medicare products.

The Rose Community Foundation’s Aging Program promotes change in how communities organize care and support for both seniors and caregivers, with particular attention to the needs of low- and moderate-income seniors. In addition to funding community-based programs, the foundation plays a leadership role in strengthening the existing network of aging resources, including initiatives that bring together community and government partners to address key issues in aging.

The Colorado Foundation for Medical Care is a nonprofit organization working under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It helps people choose a home health agency, hospital or nursing home, gives Medicare information, helps with complaints about quality of care, and offers general health information. It has resources for Medicare consumers and Medicare providers.

The Colorado Health Lobbyists and Associates LLC (CHL & Associates) is a political consulting and lobbying firm that offers a full range of political and public relations services in all aspects of the policy-making process, including lobbying, bill tracking, grassroots advocacy, issue and campaign management, and more. They are experts in health care-related issues. CHL & Associates is a private, bipartisan firm.

Formerly known as the Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, LeadingAge Colorado is the state's largest and oldest nonprofit organization representing providers of senior housing and aging services to Colorado's elderly. It is also a source of information for media personnel who have questions regarding senior housing, health care and community-based services.

The Colorado Foundation for Medical Care is the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for the state of Colorado. QIOs are private, mostly not-for-profit organizations, staffed by doctors and other health care professionals, who are trained to review medical care, to help beneficiaries with complaints about the quality of care and to implement improvements in the quality of care available throughout the spectrum of care. QIOs are required under Sections 1152-1154 of the Social Security Act.

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is a national program that offers counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and to their families. Coordinators provide counseling on Medicare benefits, Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D), Social Security, Medicaid and veterans' benefits. SHIP, formerly the Information, Counseling and Assistance (ICA) grants program, was created under section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. This act authorized the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make grants to states for health advisory services programs for people with Medicare.

The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) were established under the Older Americans Act (OAA) Comprehensive Services Amendments in 1973 to respond to the needs of Americans 60 and older in every local community. The amendments added a new Title V, which authorized grants to local community agencies in every state. The AAAs provide a range of options that allow older adults to choose the home- and community-based services and living arrangements that suit them best.

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program helps Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect and prevent health care fraud. The goal is to protect older people and to preserve the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The federal program was created in 1996 by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and amended in 2006 by Titles II and IV of the Older Americans Act.

The long-term care ombudsman advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The office resolves complaints and educates seniors and long-term care providers about their rights and good care practices. The ombudsman also provides information to the public on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services, residents' rights, and legislative and policy issues. In 1978, an amendment to the federal Older Americans Act required every state to have an ombudsman program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system. The ombudsman program is administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA).

Cary Blanchette, a native of Connecticut, became the executive director of the Memorial Health System in March 2010. Blanchette spent 24 years in San Diego, Calif.; for most of that time, he was a fund raiser for the University of San Diego and Scripps Health. He spent the 10 years prior to joining Memorial running his own consulting business, providing fundraising advice to small nonprofits.

In 2007, John G. Hill, a native of Arizona, became the president and CEO of The Medical Center of Aurora (TCMA), one of seven HealthONE hospitals in Denver. He previously helmed the 704-bed Medical City Dallas Hospital as chief operating officer and spent eight years as the executive administrator for a physician surgical group in Arizona. Hill is board certified in health care administration and is a recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives North Texas Regent’s Award for Early Careerist of the Year. Hill is very involved in youth activities and has served in leadership roles within the Circle Ten Council for the Boy Scouts of America in Texas.

Bain J. Farris, president and CEO of Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in Catholic health care. Previously, Bain was on the senior leadership team at the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System (SCLHS), managing operational initiatives in SCLHS hospitals, and was the interim CEO for St. James Healthcare in Butte, Mont., as well as the site administrator for Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth, Kan. Before that, Bain was president and CEO at Daughter of Charity Health System, a $1 billion group of medical centers that spans the California coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. He also served as executive vice president for Anthem, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan that became WellPoint, and the president and CEO of the 650-bed St. Vincent Hospital and Health Center in Indianapolis, Ind., Daughters of Charity Health System’s largest hospital.

Michael Salem, president and CEO of National Jewish Health, started his medical career at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He taught general surgery and critical care and was a surgeon and critical care physician at the university’s hospital. He has conducted research in neuroendocrine responses in acute illness and published articles on the subject in the “Journal of the American Medical Association.” In 1999, as a member of the team that launched GMP Companies Inc., a Florida-based health care company focused on developing and commercializing biotechnology and medical technology products, Salem helped develop the EyePass, a microsurgical implant for patients with glaucoma, and the LifeSync Wireless Medicine System, an electrocardiographic monitoring systems, among other products. Salem took part in an international medical mission to Vietnam and Israel in 2005.

Bruce Schroffel, raised in Berkeley, Calif., is the CEO of University of Colorado Hospital. He started his health care career at Montefiore Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His first administrative job was for a community-based center in the South Bronx, where he soon became senior associate director for hospital relations. He later moved to the UCSF Medical Center, first as the director of operations, and was eventually promoted to senior vice president for the Center and Mount Zion Hospital. In 2001, he became director and CEO of Stony Brook University Hospital, a 504-bed academic medical center on Long Island in New York, where he oversaw a $300 million renovation. In 2010, the “Denver Post” named him Business Person of the Year.

Thomas E. Balazy, board certified in physician medicine and rehabilitation, is medical director of Craig Hospital, where he started in 1987. He spent 17 years as Craig’s medical director at the Multitrauma Unit at Swedish Medical Center. Balazy completed a fellowship in spinal cord and brain injury at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and authored a widely read text on chronic pain in spinal cord injury.

This Senate committee considers matters that pertain to the health of Colorado citizens.

This House committee considers matters that pertain to the health of Colorado citizens.