by Claire Cleveland   On a bustling street corner one recent afternoon outside the offices of the Harm Reduction Action Center, employees of the education and advocacy nonprofit handed out free naloxone kits to passersby. Distributing the opioid reversal medication is essential to the center’s work to reduce fatal overdoses in the community. But how long the group can continue doing so is in question. The center depends on Colorado’s Opioid Antagonist Bulk Purchase Fund, also known as the Naloxone Bulk Purchase Fund, which now lacks a recurring source of money — despite hundreds of millions of dollars in national opioid lawsuit settlement cash flowing into the state.

by Rae Ellen Bichell, Kaiser Health News Colorado stands out among the 10 states that have disenrolled the highest share of Medicaid beneficiaries since the U.S. government lifted a pandemic-era restriction on removing people from the health insurance program.

By Kate Ruder — On a recent November evening, Angie Phoenix waited at a pharmacy in Colorado Springs to pick up prescription drugs to treat her high blood pressure and arm seizures.

State employees in Colorado are being asked to be better consumers when shopping for health care services. And if they choose lower-cost and higher-quality providers, they could get a check in the mail for a portion of the savings.

As the covid-19 pandemic worsened a mental health crisis among America’s young people, a small group of states quietly withdrew from the nation’s largest public effort to track concerning behaviors in high school students. Colorado, Florida, and Idaho will not participate in a key part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior surveys that reaches more than 80,000 students. Over the past 30 years, the state-level surveys, conducted anonymously during each odd-numbered year, have helped elucidate the mental health stressors and safety risks for high school students.

by Markian Hawryluk For all the images of ski resorts and snow-capped peaks, Colorado is experiencing shorter winters and hotter summers that are increasingly putting people at risk for heat-related illnesses. Yet until this year, the National Weather Service hadn’t issued a heat advisory for the Denver metropolitan area in 13 years.

by Rae Ellen Bichell With the Supreme Court expected to overturn or severely weaken its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, clinics in Colorado are preparing for an increase in the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions, and lawmakers are cementing abortion access protections in state law.