$2.00
Week of March 9, 2023
ADAMS & JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
WestminsterWindow.com
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 20
Check out
SUMMER CAMP LISTINGS In this week’s paper!
Lawmakers are targeting hospital facility fees HB1215 would ban fees BY JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN
mended fare structure, policies and programs and draft fare equity analysis to the public. Throughout the month of May, members of the public will be able to attend fare study information sessions and provide comments on the proposal,” Figliolino wrote in an email. It may be one way to get more riders. RTD saw an increase in ridership during its Zero Fare for Better Air period in August 2022, when services were free. According to a final report on the program, overall
Last year, Diane Kruse and her husband, Kevin, went to visit the doctor. Kevin needed to get some things checked out with his heart, nothing urgent or out of the ordinary. After looking through their insurance network, they settled on a cardiologist working at a satellite clinic on the National Jewish Health campus in Denver. The visit felt routine — the only piece of equipment the doctor needed to use was a stethoscope. But it was the bills that came as a surprise. They had been prepared to pay a $150 copay to cover the office visit. But they also received a second bill for another $150 for “facility and nursing services,” the billing statement read. Confused, Diane called the National Jewish billing department, thinking she had been mistakenly double-billed. “The person checked it out and said, ‘That’s the hospital,’” Diane recalled. “And I said, ‘We didn’t go to a hospital.’ And they said, ‘Well, that’s the facility fee.’” What exactly was going on in Diane and Kevin Kruse’s medical bills — what they were charged and why — is now the subject of the biggest
SEE FARES, P2
SEE LEGISLATURE, P20
Riverdale Ridge’s Gabby Herr spots up for a jump shot at the Denver Coliseum March 3. Story on page 22.
PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH
RTD looking to lower fares, attract more riders BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
RTD is in the process of lowering and simplifying costs, with new, lower fares a possibility by the first quarter of 2024 and if approved by the board. It came out of their Fare Study and Equity Analysis the RTD Board reviewed and released to the public on Feb. 14 “...customers expressed a strong preference for simplifying the existing fare structure. The design was also modified to include lower
Local fares in response to customer feedback and to align with equity goals,” a news release from RTD reads. According to Brandon Figliolino, a spokesperson for RTD, the Board of Directors is looking at a plan to combine local and regional fares, and keep the airport fare the same. A three-hour pass would cost $3, a day pass $6, a monthly pass $96 while the airport fare would remain at $10, under a modified version of that plan, called “Alternate B.” “In April, RTD staff will ask the Board to release the draft recom-
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | OBITUARIES: PAGE 13 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
T S E B F THE O T S E B
2023
VOTE NOW through APRIL 15th WestminsterWindow.com