Con cambios en Medicaid, residentes de zonas rurales se sienten abandonados a su suerte

KFF Health News Original

En las zonas rurales, la falta de acceso a navegadores, las personas que ayudan a los beneficiarios de Medicaid a mantener su cobertura o encontrar otro seguro si ya no reúnen los requisitos, podría agravar estas dificultades.

How Will Rural Americans Fare During Medicaid Unwinding? Experts Fear They’re on Their Own

KFF Health News Original

As states review their Medicaid rolls after the expiration of a pandemic-era prohibition against kicking recipients off the government insurance program, experts say the lack of help available to rural Americans in navigating insurance options puts them at greater risk of losing health coverage than people in metropolitan areas.

Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate the Longtime Scourge?

KFF Health News Original

Before covid-19, hepatitis C held the distinction of claiming more American lives each year than any other infectious disease — that’s despite the marketing of several relatively affordable, highly effective treatments.

Despite Successes, Addiction Treatment Programs for Families Struggle to Stay Open

KFF Health News Original

Residential addiction treatment programs that allow parents to bring their children along have been recognized for their success. But a mix of logistical challenges and low reimbursement rates mean they struggle to stay afloat.

Trabajadores sufren mientras el Congreso y empresarios debaten la necesidad de normas contra el calor

KFF Health News Original

No existen normas federales para proteger a los trabajadores cuando los días son excesivamente calurosos. Y sin el apoyo bipartidista del Congreso, incluso con la atención urgente de la administración Biden, es posible que el alivio no llegue en años.

Mississippi’s Cervical Cancer Deaths Indicate Broader Health Care Problems

KFF Health News Original

Mississippi has among the highest cervical cancer mortality rates in the U.S. When low-income women can’t afford regular preventive care, much less gynecological visits, this highly preventable and treatable cancer becomes a killer.

California Offers Lifeline to 17 Troubled Hospitals

KFF Health News Original

California’s new lending program for distressed hospitals will provide Madera Community Hospital with interest-free loans of up to $52 million if it can agree on a viable reopening plan with Adventist Health. The state will offer an additional $240.5 million in interest-free loans to 16 other troubled hospitals.

Life in a Rural ‘Ambulance Desert’ Means Sometimes Help Isn’t on the Way

KFF Health News Original

No local hospital and anemic ambulance services mean residents in rural Pickens County, Alabama, are thrown into perilous situations when they have medical emergencies. It’s a kind of medical care roulette that has become a fact of life for rural Americans who live in ambulance deserts.

Tribal Health Workers Aren’t Paid Like Their Peers. See Why Nevada Changed That.

KFF Health News Original

Community health workers, who often help patients get to their appointments and pick up prescriptions for them, have increasingly been recognized as an integral part of treating chronic illnesses. But state-run Medicaid programs don’t always reimburse them equally, usually excluding those who work on tribal lands.

Community With High Medical Debt Questions Its Hospitals’ Charity Spending

KFF Health News Original

Pueblo, Colorado, residents have higher-than-average medical debt, while the city’s two tax-exempt hospitals provide relatively low levels of charity care.

Repeating History: California County Plugs Budget Gap With Opioid Settlement Cash

KFF Health News Original

State attorneys general vowed that opioid settlement funds — unlike the tobacco settlement of the 1990s — would go toward tackling the underlying crisis. But in Mendocino County, officials have found a way to use some of its share to help fill a budget shortfall — a throwback to what agreement architects hoped to avoid.

In Wisconsin, Women’s Health Care Is Constricted by an 1849 Law. These Doctors Are Aghast.

KFF Health News Original

From the front lines of Wisconsin’s abortion battle, obstetricians describe patients who cannot comprehend having to carry nonviable pregnancies. And only one pharmacist in town can be found who will fill prescriptions for abortion pills.

Giant Health System Almost Saved a Community Hospital. Now, It Wants to ‘Extract Every Dollar.’

KFF Health News Original

A bankruptcy judge will soon decide whether a Central Valley hospital needs to liquidate to repay its creditors. Its largest creditor, St. Agnes Medical Center, is the very entity that backed out of purchasing the Madera Community Hospital last December.