Tony Leys

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tleys@kff.org
@tonyleys

People With Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, but the Health System Still Treats Many as Kids

KFF Health News Original

The median life expectancy for a U.S. baby born with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s. That’s largely because they no longer can be denied lifesaving care, including surgeries for heart defects. But now, aging adults with Down syndrome face a health system unprepared to care for them.

After People on Medicaid Die, Some States Aggressively Seek Repayment From Their Estates

KFF Health News Original

States take drastically different approaches to recovering Medicaid money from deceased participants’ estates. Demands for repayment of Medicaid spending can drain the assets a person leaves behind, depending on where they lived.

Wave of Rural Nursing Home Closures Grows Amid Staffing Crunch

KFF Health News Original

Many small-town care facilities that remain open are limiting admissions, citing a lack of staff, while a wave of others shutter. That means more patients are marooned in hospitals or placed far away from their families.

Mental Health Crisis Teams Aren’t Just for Cities Anymore

KFF Health News Original

In many cities, social workers and counselors are responding to mental health emergencies that used to be solely handled by police. That approach is spreading to rural areas even though mental health professionals are scarcer and travel distances are longer.

As State Institutions Close, Families of Longtime Residents Face Agonizing Choices

KFF Health News Original

Iowa, under federal pressure to improve care for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, is set to join 45 other states that have closed most or all of their state institutions for such residents.

Nurse Midwives Step Up to Provide Prenatal Care After Two Rural Hospitals Shutter Birthing Centers

KFF Health News Original

Dozens of Iowa hospitals have closed their birthing units. A team of University of Iowa nurse midwives can’t reopen them, but they’ve found a way to provide prenatal checkups and other crucial services in two towns.

Montana Hires a Medicaid Director With a Managed-Care Past

KFF Health News Original

Montana, one of about a dozen states still managing its own Medicaid programs, has a new Medicaid director who championed handing the management of the program to private companies in Iowa and Kansas.