Rural Dispatch: March 28, 2023

Health Providers Scramble to Keep Remaining Staff Amid Medicaid Rate Debate
By Keely Larson The ranks of community-based behavioral health providers in Montana have diminished amid rising costs, greater need, and stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates. Now, as state lawmakers debate solutions, providers are hoping just to cover their costs.

Fresh Produce Is an Increasingly Popular Prescription for Chronically Ill Patients
By Carly Graf Fresh produce prescription programs are getting a boost in Montana as a way of helping people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The approach may be a model for other rural states to promote healthy eating in food deserts.

Legal Questions, Inquiries Intensify Around Noble Health’s Rural Missouri Hospital Closures
By Sarah Jane Tribble A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recently confirmed an “ongoing” investigation as former employees continue to go unpaid and cope with unpaid medical claims.

End of Covid Emergency Will Usher in Changes Across the US Health System
By Rachana Pradhan The May 11 expiration of the federal government’s pandemic emergency declaration will affect patient care across a broad range of settings, including telemedicine, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Mental Health Care by Video Fills Gaps in Rural Nursing Homes
By Tony Leys In-person mental health care is hard to arrange in rural nursing homes, so video chats with faraway professionals are filling the gap.

Mobile Clinics Really Got Rolling in the Pandemic. A New Law Will Help Them Cast a Wider Safety Net.
By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez Mobile clinics that provided covid-19 testing and vaccines at the peak of the pandemic are now being used to provide a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. A law passed late last year allows qualified health care centers to use federal grants to expand the fleets.

Black Lung Resurgence Drives Push to Protect Coal Miners Against Silica Dust
By Taylor Sisk Since 2005, central Appalachia has recorded a tenfold increase in cases of severe black lung disease among long-term coal miners. Now, federal regulators are expected to propose a new rule to protect against silica dust, which causes the most severe form of black lung, progressive massive fibrosis.

Covid Aid Papered Over Colorado Hospital’s Financial Shortcomings
By Markian Hawryluk Financial pitfalls at the nation’s highest-elevation hospital serve as a cautionary tale as rural hospitals emerge from the pandemic on shaky ground.

Struggling to Survive, the First Rural Hospitals Line Up for New Federal Lifeline
By Sarah Jane Tribble Hospitals in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma are among the first to apply for a new rural hospital payment model that shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.

Schools Struggle With Lead in Water While Awaiting Federal Relief
By Katheryn Houghton President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that federal funds will pay to replace lead pipes in hundreds of thousands of schools and child care centers. In the meantime, schools are dealing with high lead levels now.

California’s Massive Medicaid Program Works for Some, but Fails Many Others
By Angela Hart and Bernard J. Wolfson Medi-Cal serves more than one-third of the state’s population — offering a dizzying range of care to a diverse population. In the new “Faces of Medi-Cal” series, California Healthline will assess the program’s strengths and weaknesses through the lives and experiences of its enrollees.

After People on Medicaid Die, Some States Aggressively Seek Repayment From Their Estates
By Tony Leys 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.

Hospitales rurales aplican a nuevo programa federal para intentar sobrevivir
By Sarah Jane Tribble Más de 140 hospitales rurales han cerrado en todo el país desde 2010, y observadores de políticas de salud no están seguros de cuántas de las más de 1,700 instalaciones rurales elegibles para la nueva designación aplicarán a un nuevo programa.