Health on Wheels: Tricked-Out RVs Deliver Addiction Treatment to Rural Communities

KFF Health News Original

Even when COVID-19 forced many addiction treatment clinics to scale back, Colorado continued to serve patients with addiction problems through an innovative program that married low-tech with high-tech. The state brought clinics on wheels to remote, underserved towns and used telehealth to connect patients with doctors.

A Fair to Remember: County Fairs Weigh Risk of Outbreak Against Financial Ruin

KFF Health News Original

The threat of COVID-19 forced many county fairs to cancel this year. But some rural communities that depend on the annual economic and cultural boost decided to go ahead despite a pattern of outbreaks.

HHS Plan to Improve Rural Health Focuses on Better Broadband, Telehealth Services

KFF Health News Original

The proposal details a wide-ranging agenda to remedy the gaps in health care and myriad challenges in rural America. In addition to more telehealth options, it includes shifts in hospital payments and expanded funding for school-based mental health programs.

Long-Fought Nurse Practitioner Independence Bill Heads to Newsom

KFF Health News Original

The measure caps one of the most contentious health policy debates in recent memory, potentially altering how Californians get their medical care. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to sign or veto it.

Prognosis for Rural Hospitals Worsens With Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Rural hospitals were already struggling before the coronavirus emerged. Now, the loss of revenue from patients who are afraid to come to the emergency room, postponing doctor’s appointments and delaying elective surgeries is adding to the pressure.

GOP Senate Ad Misrepresents Montana Governor’s Stance

KFF Health News Original

The race between Steve Bullock and Steve Daines reflects a trend in campaigns nationwide. Republicans often paint Democrats as left of the general public and health care has often been one of the issues the GOP highlights in that effort. In this case, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is leaping to conclusions with its claims.

In Rural Missouri, Latinos Learn to Contain and Cope With the Coronavirus

KFF Health News Original

In a town in the southwestern corner of Missouri, where COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latino immigrants, language barriers and economic pressures among factory workers have stymied efforts to slow the virus that causes the disease.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Still Waiting for That Trump Health Plan

KFF Health News Original

President Donald Trump keeps promising a comprehensive plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. And he keeps not delivering. Meanwhile, members of Congress and White House officials seem unable to agree on a new COVID-19 relief bill. And Missouri becomes the sixth state where voters approved a Medicaid expansion ballot measure. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Hospital Executive Charged In $1.4B Rural Hospital Billing Scheme

KFF Health News Original

In an investigation last year, KHN detailed the rise and fall of Miami businessman Jorge A. Perez’s rural hospital empire, which spanned eight states and encompassed half of the rural hospital bankruptcies in 2019.

Economic Blow Of The Coronavirus Hits America’s Already Stressed Farmers

KFF Health News Original

At the start of the spring planting season, farmers across the U.S. heartland were already trying to recover from last year’s flooding amid worsening economic conditions when the pandemic struck. Farm bankruptcies and suicides continue to climb. A lack of mental health resources in rural America makes finding help more complicated.

‘When It Starts Getting Into Your Local Hospital, It Becomes Real’

KFF Health News Original

Located about 45 minutes from New Orleans in one of the hardest-hit counties nationally, the 25-bed rural St. James Parish Hospital has hunkered down as staffers became infected, patient intake numbers have doubled, and intubations have skyrocketed. This is what it looks like inside a rural hospital when COVID-19 hits.

Coronavirus Threatens The Lives Of Rural Hospitals Already Stretched To Breaking Point

KFF Health News Original

Almost half of the nation’s rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.