Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study Links Medical Debt To Threats To Health And Housing
Axios: Study: Medical Debt Threatens People's Health, Housing
Soaring medical debt is setting U.S. adults up for higher risks of eviction, food insecurity and bad health outcomes regardless of insurance or income, a new study found. (Moreno, 9/19)
NBC News: 1 In 5 Households Has Medical Debt. That Includes People With Private Insurance
"The kinds of things we saw in our study are virtually nonexistent in most other wealthy nations," said the study’s lead author David Himmelstein, a professor at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City. The U.S. needs a "real big change." (Lovelace Jr., 9/16)
In related news about rising health care costs —
Axios: Rising Health Care Costs Likely To Crunch Employers Facing Tight Labor Market
All signs are pointing toward significantly higher health costs in the employer market next year, which will translate into larger-than-normal premium increases. (Owens, 9/19)
As financial troubles grow, so do staff shortages —
Axios: Travel Nursing Pay Drops 7% From Last Year
The national average for travel nurse pay in August was $3,045 a week, down 7.4% from the same month a year ago, according to health care staffing company Vivian Health. (Reed, 9/18)
Oklahoman: Dozens Of Oklahoma Families Fight Cuts To Private-Duty Nursing Hours
About 450 SoonerCare members receive private-duty nursing — just a fraction of the more than 1 million Oklahomans on SoonerCare. Since April, about 150 private-duty nursing recipients have gotten notifications that their hours would be scaled back or cut completely. Kevin Corbett, CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and the state’s secretary for health and mental health, said the reevaluations for private-duty nursing are solely based on the medical necessity of the services and the patients' clinical needs. (Branham, 9/17)
Anchorage Daily News: Many Alaska Pharmacies Are Understaffed, Leading To Sporadic Hours And Patients Turned Away
Signs of a worsening pharmacist shortage in Alaska are everywhere: reduced hours at Anchorage pharmacies. Significant signing bonuses and multiple job offers for newly graduated pharmacy students. Patients being told to come back the next day to pick up prescriptions due to short staffing. (Berman, 9/18)
Missouri Independent: Missouri's Hospitals Face Staff Shortages At Mental Health Facilities
Hospitals across Missouri are facing a “crisis” caring for patients in acute care settings who can’t find long-term care through the Department of Mental Health due to the agency’s chronic shortage of workers, according to hospital officials. (Weinberg, 9/16)
Bloomberg: Nurse Claims Forced Arbitration Was Used To Trap Him In Job Juggling 40 Patients
A staffing agency that serves health-care facilities in New York state was accused in a lawsuit of using hardball legal tactics to stop workers from quitting low-paid jobs. The complaint, filed Friday by a nurse who immigrated to the US from the Philippines, is the latest to allege that employers are resorting to illegal means to trap foreign workers in assignments that burnt-out American caregivers no longer want. (Eidelson, 9/16)
On the shift to private equity firms —
KHN: Private Equity Sees The Billions In Eye Care As Firms Target High-Profit Procedures
Christina Green hoped cataract surgery would clear up her cloudy vision, which had worsened after she took a drug to fight her breast cancer. But the former English professor said her 2019 surgery with Ophthalmology Consultants didn’t get her to 20/20 vision or fix her astigmatism — despite a $3,000 out-of-pocket charge for the astigmatism surgical upgrade. Green, 69, said she ended up feeling more like a dollar sign to the practice than a patient. “You’re a cow among a herd as you just move from this station to this station to this station,” she said. (Weber, 9/19)
Modern Healthcare: Humana To Spend $550M On CenterWell Clinics
Humana will spend up to $550 million to acquire the first set of clinics it built with a private equity firm, Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond said during a meeting with investors Thursday. (Tepper, 9/16)
