Affordable housing plan in Boulder laughable
Re: “Boulder City Council approves efficiency apartments on Pearl St.,” Sept. 10 article
I had to chuckle at the article that summarized the decision by the Boulder City Council to approve the building of “affordable” housing on Pearl Street in Boulder. What does “affordable” housing look like in Boulder?” How about 300 square feet on a major city artery with limited parking at a cost of $2,500 per month? Come on, Boulder, get serious.
Why is this “transient” and “entitled” population so guilt-ridden that they must pretend that Boulder is some diverse community that welcomes one and all. Diversity in Boulder is distinguished by how diverse your portfolio is in comparison to the other “trust fund” inhabitants of Boulder. The city should just become a gated community and not try to pretend you are interested or need to design and build affordable housing. Your city slogan should read, “You can’t afford to live here, so quit whining.”
Greg Wells, Fort Collins
Cancer screenings need to be accessible
You may have seen artificial intelligence (AI) dominating the headlines recently – and for good reason. AI has the potential to transform not just how we live and work but also how we receive health care. Today, AI-enabled medical devices are helping health care professionals swiftly analyze data, aid in detecting abnormalities, and interpret this information to make informed diagnoses.
As a colon cancer survivor, I understand the importance of cutting-edge health care tools to identify and treat diseases at early stages. I had two avoidable medical failures when first on my own difficult cancer journey: an incomplete colonoscopy and a mislabel of a follow-up X-ray scan. These failures delayed and made more advanced my actual cancer staging and prognosis. I am very lucky to have survived.
Patients like me deserve access to innovative medical technologies, but that will only happen if Medicare reimburses health care providers for their use. That’s why I recently joined other advocates to travel to Washington D.C. to share my story with Sen. Michael Bennet, Sen. John Hickenlooper, and Rep. Diana DeGette to ensure Medicare payment for providers’ use of AI-enabled medical technologies, allowing them to use these technologies to detect cancers at earlier, more treatable stages.
I look forward to continuing this advocacy and urge Bennet, Hickenlooper and DeGette to improve access to AI tools in cancer care for patients like me who need them most.
Erika Hanson Brown
Editor’s note: Hanson Brown is the founder of two cancer patient advocacy networks: Colontown and One Cancer Place.
In 2024, more than 2 million Americans are expected to be diagnosed with cancer and over 1 million of those cases are expected to be diagnosed in individuals over the age of 65. Currently, Medicare covers cancer screening for just five of the hundreds of types of cancer: breast, cervical, prostate, colorectal and lung. The potential of multi-cancer early detection technologies to test for multiple cancers with a single blood test can unlock a new era in detecting and treating cancer.
The Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act would ensure that Medicare enrollees have access to these innovative multi-cancer screening tests once approved by the Food and Drug Administration and clinical benefits have been shown.
This bipartisan legislation has the support of more than 300 members of the House of Representatives from across the political spectrum. As a volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, I urge Rep. Diana DeGette to help us move closer to enacting this legislation by pushing for a full markup by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. With their support, we can take a step forward in our mission to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
Valerie Curtis, Denver
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