Does Your Insurance Cover Medical, Dental — And Food? Increasingly, Yes
Next year, Medicare will start testing meal program vouchers for patients with malnutrition as part of a broader look at improving care and reducing costs. Private insurers are taking a more nuanced approach, as well, as the pandemic sends millions of Americans seeking help from food banks.
AP:
Insurers Add Food To Coverage Menu As Way To Improve Health
Food has become a bigger focus for health insurers as they look to expand their coverage beyond just the care that happens in a doctor’s office. More plans are paying for temporary meal deliveries and some are teaching people how to cook and eat healthier foods. ... This push is still relatively small and happening mostly with government-funded programs like Medicaid or Medicare Advantage, the privately run versions of the government’s health program for people who are 65 or older or have disabilities. But some employers that offer coverage to their workers also are growing interested. (Murphy, 1/23)
In hospital news —
Modern Healthcare:
Rural Hospital Closures Harm Residents' Health
More than 110 rural hospitals have closed from 2013 through 2020, which means that residents had to travel an additional 39 miles for some services, the Government Accountability Office found. Outpatient utilization rates decreased as hospitals closed and the number of physicians fell, dropping from a median of 71.2 per 100,000 residents in 2012 in counties with closures to 59.7 in 2017. Residents' health declined as a result. Medicare beneficiaries had a higher prevalence of the 10 most common chronic conditions when they lived in communities that lost their hospital. Sixty-two percent of those who lived in areas with hospital closures had high blood pressure in 2017 compared to 56.3% who resided in communities without closures, according to the report. (Kacik, 1/22)
AP:
North Carolina Field Hospital Helps Fight Coronavirus Surge
Chris Rutledge peels an N-95 mask off her tired face, revealing the silhouette it leaves behind. Her name and a tiny heart are drawn on the face covering in black marker so her patients know who she is. “I look terrible when it comes off,” she jokes as she takes a break during her ninth straight day of 12-hour shifts inside a temporary field hospital in Lenoir, North Carolina. Rutledge, a 60-year-old retired nurse from Lisbon, Iowa, is one of dozens of health care workers who have been treating coronavirus patients inside 11 massive white medical tents set up in the parking lot of Caldwell Memorial Hospital. (Morgan, 1/25)
AP:
2 In 5 Americans Live Where COVID-19 Strains Hospital ICUs
Straining to handle record numbers of COVID-19 patients, hundreds of the nation’s intensive care units are running out of space and supplies and competing to hire temporary traveling nurses at soaring rates. Many of the facilities are clustered in the South and West. An Associated Press analysis of federal hospital data shows that since November, the share of U.S. hospitals nearing the breaking point has doubled. More than 40% of Americans now live in areas running out of ICU space, with only 15% of beds still available. (Johnson and Forster, 1/24)
In news about health care workers —
AP:
Shots Fired Into Home Of Ohio Health Official; No Injuries
Shots were fired over the weekend into a home owned by an Ohio health department official, but no one was injured, authorities said. Police in Upper Arlington, a city on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area, said the shots were reported at about 8 p.m. Saturday. Police said no one was hurt and no suspects were present when officers arrived. They said the investigation continues and asked anyone with information to come forward. (1/24)
AP:
In Ambulances, An Unseen, Unwelcome Passenger: COVID-19
It’s crowded in the back of the ambulance. Two emergency medical technicians, the patient, the gurney — and an unseen and unwelcome passenger lurking in the air. For EMTs Thomas Hoang and Joshua Hammond, the coronavirus is constantly close. COVID-19 has become their biggest fear during 24-hour shifts in California’s Orange County, riding with them from 911 call to 911 call, from patient to patient. (Dazio, 1/25)
Modern Healthcare:
COVID-19 Pushes Healthcare Providers To Travel Nurses
As the pandemic nears the one-year mark, healthcare providers still struggle to find travel nurses to handle the surge of COVID-19 patients. And those workers come at a price, with the competition for nurses doubling or even tripling normal pay rates, meaning wealthier hospitals can woo a disproportionate number of nurses. Staffing agencies said the demand they’re seeing is unprecedented in their company histories. “The industry has never seen demand like this,” said April Hansen, executive vice president of the staffing firm Aya Healthcare. “This is new territory for everyone.” (Bannow and Christ, 1/23)
KHN:
Amid Covid Health Worker Shortage, Foreign-Trained Professionals Sit On Sidelines
As hospitals nationwide struggle with the latest covid-19 surge, it’s not so much beds or ventilators in short supply. It’s the people to care for the sick. Yet a large, highly skilled workforce of foreign-educated doctors, nurses and other health practitioners is going largely untapped due to licensing and credentialing barriers. According to the Migration Policy Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., some 165,000 foreign-trained immigrants in the U.S. hold degrees in health-related fields but are unemployed or underemployed in the midst of the health crisis. (Hawryluk, 1/25)
