Rural Dispatch: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
When Hospitals Ditch Medicare Advantage Plans, Thousands of Members Get To Leave, Too
Susan Jaffe
Breakups between health providers and Advantage plans are increasingly common. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has allowed whole groups of patients to leave their plans.
Moms in Crisis, Jobs Lost: The Human Cost of Trump’s Addiction Funding Cuts
Aneri Pattani
In many cases, the money flowed to addiction recovery programs that help rebuild lives by driving people to medical appointments and court hearings, crafting résumés and training them for new jobs, finding them housing, and helping them build social connections unrelated to drugs.
Covid Worsened Shortages of Doctors and Nurses. Five Years On, Rural Hospitals Still Struggle.
Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio
The U.S. faces a crucial shortage of medical providers, especially in rural areas. The problem has been building for a while, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated it by pushing many doctors over the edge into early retirement or other fields.
Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.’s NIH Slashed Science Funding Across States That Backed Trump
Rae Ellen Bichell and Rachana Pradhan
A KFF Health News analysis underscores how the terminations have spared no part of the country, politically or geographically. Of the organizations that had grants cut in the first month, about 40% are in states President Donald Trump won in November.
In Rural Massachusetts, Patients and Physicians Weigh Trade-Offs of Concierge Medicine
Karen Brown, New England Public Media
A stressed primary care system has led many doctors to start practices that charge membership fees in exchange for shorter waits and longer appointments. Observers say the doctor shortage needs a more systemic fix.
States Push Medicaid Work Rules, but Few Programs Help Enrollees Find Jobs
Sam Whitehead and Phil Galewitz and Katheryn Houghton
Republicans are pushing to implement requirements that Medicaid recipients work in order to obtain or retain coverage. Some states try to help enrollees find jobs. But states lack the data to show whether they’re effective.
Deportation Fears Add to Mental Health Problems Confronting Colorado Resort Town Workers
Natalie Skowlund
The Latino communities who make up significant proportions of year-round populations in Colorado’s mountain towns already experience heightened mental health concerns. Now, deportation fears are increasing their stress.
Families of Transgender Youth No Longer View Colorado as a Haven for Gender-Affirming Care
Rae Ellen Bichell and Oona Zenda
Colorado was long considered a haven for gender-affirming care. But under this Trump administration, hospitals in the state have limited the treatments available for people under 19. Some services have been restored, but trans youth and their families say the state isn’t the rock they thought it was.
Some Rural Hospitals Ditch Medicare Advantage
Arielle Zionts
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More Psych Hospital Beds Are Needed for Kids, but Neighbors Say Not Here
Eric Berger
Amid a youth mental health crisis and a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, residents of a St. Louis suburb opposed a plan to build a 77-bed pediatric mental health hospital. Resistance to such facilities has occurred in other communities as misconceptions about mental health spur fear.
Trump’s Immigration Tactics Obstruct Efforts To Avert Bird Flu Pandemic, Researchers Say
Amy Maxmen
Preventing and detecting bird flu infections among farmworkers is a key defense against a potential pandemic. Immigration raids and threats have undermined these efforts, researchers say.
Rural Hospitals and Patients Are Disconnected From Modern Care
Sarah Jane Tribble and Holly K. Hacker and Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV
Technological gaps handicap rural hospitals as billions in federal funding to modernize infrastructure lags. The reliance on outdated technology and piecemeal systems challenge staffs and erode patient care.
This Bill Aims To Help Firefighters With Cancer. Getting It Passed Is Just the Beginning.
Mark Kreidler
Amid the Los Angeles wildfires, California's U.S. senators cosponsored legislation that would provide support to first responders who develop or die from service-related cancers. But those involved with similar efforts say the road to implementation is rough and paved with long waits, restrictive eligibility requirements, and funding issues.
Rural Hospitals Question Whether They Can Afford Medicare Advantage Contracts
Arielle Zionts
Some rural hospitals have canceled — or are considering ending — contracts with insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, saying the private policies jeopardize their finances and impede patient care.
The House Speaker’s Eyeing Big Cuts to Medicaid. In His Louisiana District, It’s a Lifeline.
Phil Galewitz
The GOP-controlled Congress is weighing cuts to Medicaid, the government health program that covers millions of Americans — including nearly 40% of Louisianans represented in the House by Speaker Mike Johnson.
‘If They Cut Too Much, People Will Die’: Health Coalition Pushes GOP on Medicaid Funding
Christine Mai-Duc
As House Republicans mull a massive $880 billion cut from federal programs likely including Medicaid, constituents, disability advocates, and health care providers are joining forces to lobby GOP members in California — including those who represent rural, deeply conservative pockets that stand to lose the most.
Montana’s Small Pharmacies Behind Bill To Corral Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Mike Dennison
A bill designed to force PBMs to pay higher fees to independent drugstores sailed through the state House, but lobbyists are marshaling their forces to kill the measure in the Senate.
With Few Dentists and Fluoride Under Siege, Rural America Risks New Surge of Tooth Decay
Brett Kelman
The anti-fluoride movement has more momentum than ever. In rural counties with few dentists, tooth decay could surge to levels that have not been seen in decades, experts warn.
Montana Examines Ways To Ease Health Care Workforce Shortages
Sue O'Connell
Bills before the legislature would license community health workers and make it easier for some other health professionals licensed in other states to do business in Montana.