BRIEFLY LOCAL

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 7, 2006

Routon will lead Independent

Ralph Routon, whose sports columns during 24 years at The Gazette made him one of the area's more recognizable media figures, was named Wednesday as editor of the Colorado Springs Independent weekly newspaper.

Routon, 54, was chosen from a field of more than 80 local and national candidates, said Independent publisher John Weiss. Routon will start Jan. 2.

"What made Ralph stand out was his love of this community," Weiss said. "This is his home. He knows people and has contacts and is a great journalist."

Routon said he's looking forward to working with the Independent staff. "Also, it's a chance to come back there and live," said Routon, who has children and grandchildren in Colorado. "We've been gone for 5 1/2 years, but we never really lost touch."

From 1977 to 2001 at The Gazette, Routon held several positions in sports, but mostly was known for years of sports columns.

Routon left The Gazette to become editor of the Northwest Florida Daily News, and later served as editor of the Amarillo Globe-News in Texas. Since April 2005, he's been sports editor of Florida Today in Melbourne, Fla.

CIGNA focuses on Centura care

CIGNA HealthCare of Colorado on Wednesday became the second health care insurer within a month to offer a new insurance plan for Colorado Springs employers that exclusively uses Centura Health System facilities. Those include Penrose Hospital, Penrose Community Hospital and St. Francis Health Center, and 900 primary care physicians and specialists.

CIGNA's new plan reduces health care costs by 15 percent for employers with 50 or more employees, the company said.

In November, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced a deal with Centura Health targeted at employers with fewer than 50 employees, offering 20 percent savings on premiums.

HMO membership keeps falling

HMO, or health maintenance organization, membership in Colorado continues to decline, dropping to 990,287 people as of Sept. 30, according to the latest HMO quarterly filings with the Colorado Division of Insurance.

Membership has steadily decreased since its peak in 2001, when HMOs covered 1.5 million lives, said Jim Hertel, publisher of Colorado Managed Care newsletter.

The trend is primarily attributed to employers switching to other health insurance plans after premiums skyrocketed in the early 2000s.