Arielle Zionts

Cash Shortages and Complex Rules Impede Native American Health-Care Access

KFF Health News Original

Each year, the Indian Health Service rejects tens of thousands of requests to fund outside care that it doesn’t provide, forcing patients to go without treatment or pay big medical bills themselves. The IHS is supposed to provide free care to Native Americans, but it does so only at scattered clinics and hospitals the agency funds and then manages […]

What a Bison Goring Can Teach Us About Rural Emergency Care

KFF Health News Original

Millions of Americans live in “ambulance deserts” — areas that are more than a 25-minute drive to the nearest emergency medical services (EMS) station. The most rural areas can be more than an hour away from help.   These sparsely populated communities can have trouble sustaining ambulance services, if small patient volumes and low reimbursements […]