| |
| |
| |
| Presented By AHCA/NCAL |
| |
| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed · Jan 17, 2023 |
| Happy Tuesday, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 937 words or a 3½-minute read. Situational awareness: Any U.S. military veteran in "acute suicidal crisis" will be able to access emergency health care at any facility for free starting today, Axios' Shawna Chen reports. - The change is part of the Biden administration's larger efforts to reduce military and veteran suicides.
|
| |
| |
| 1 big thing: Hospital obstetrics on the chopping block |
 |
|
| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
| |
| Hospitals trying to shed unprofitable business lines are increasingly scaling back or halting maternity services, adding new stresses to the reproductive care landscape, Axios' Arielle Dreher writes. Why it matters: Obstetric unit closures predate the pandemic but are drawing more concern with pregnancy-related deaths on the rise and an increased need for obstetrics care as more states restrict abortion. The big picture: Hospital administrators say closures are driven by low Medicaid reimbursement rates, staffing shortages and, in some cases, declining birth rates in areas the hospitals serve. Medicaid pays for about 40% of U.S. births. Zoom in: Rural hospitals saw the biggest dropoff of such services from 2014 to 2018, and COVID-19 actually slowed the pace of cutbacks because of a surge of pandemic relief funding. - That lifeline is all used up at this point, however, forcing some facilities to slash costs and close units.
Between the lines: Providers and advocacy groups have sounded alarms about "maternal care deserts" in states with strict abortion restrictions — a problem that's manifested itself in longer drive times to facilities that still have OB-GYN services, less access to pre- and post-natal care and poorer birth outcomes in many regions. - "You can't have it all the ways: you can't make abortion illegal, not have access to maternity care and also by the way, restrict and make it harder for people to access contraception," Anne Banfield, an obstetrician and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology member, told Axios.
What we're watching: The trend could continue this year as hospitals continue to consolidate and the weakest pare costs. - There are low odds of raising Medicaid reimbursements or expanding Medicaid in the 10 states that haven't already done so, meaning more cost-cutting and less patient choice.
- "There's no one policy that can really solve this," said Peiyin Hung, a professor and researcher at the University of South Carolina.
Go deeper. |
    |
| |
| |
| 2. The symbolic end of Operation Warp Speed |
 |
|
| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
| |
| The departure of COVID chief science officer David Kessler, announced Friday by the White House, marks the unofficial end of the "Operation Warp Speed" era and the extraordinary all-of-government response to the pandemic, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes. Why it matters: The cross-agency effort the Trump and Biden administrations ran to speed up production and distribution of COVID therapeutics is widely viewed as one of the few legitimate successes in the federal pandemic response. - But some experts say the government took its foot off the gas too early, beginning last year with the end of new federal funding.
State of play: Kessler was a key player in decision-making around vaccine boosters and the challenges presented by ever-evolving virus variants. There are no plans to replace him, according to a Biden administration official. - Former NIAID director Anthony Fauci retired at the end of last year and has not been replaced. Nor has former NIH director Francis Collins, who left at the end of 2021 but returned as an acting science adviser to Biden.
- Jeff Zients, Biden's first COVID response coordinator, left last year and was replaced with Ashish Jha. Zients was largely known for his operational chops, while Jha, a former dean of the Brown School of Public Health, is known for his subject matter expertise.
Read the rest. |
| |
| |
| |
| 3. Some patients see medical debt wiped away |
 |
|
| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
| |
| Some cities are turning to infrastructure funding from the American Rescue Plan to relieve the economic burden of medical debt on their regions, the New York Times reports. Driving the news: Pittsburgh and New Orleans, as well as Toledo, Ohio, and Cook County, Illinois, are partnering with the non-profit organization RIP Medical Debt to buy and wipe out millions of dollars of medical debt of local residents. - "It puts some of this economic strength back in the hands of those who are having debt exonerated and really helps them plan for their stability," Wendy Pestrue, CEO of the United Way of Greater Toledo, told The Times.
Between the lines: RIP Medical Debt buys up people's medical debts, then immediately forgives that debt. - As Axios' Felix Salmon recently explained, if a patient owes $10,000 but can't pay that bill, often the hospital will be willing to sell that debt for just $100 — or one cent on the dollar.
Be smart: Despite the harm that can be caused by medical debt, hundreds of U.S. hospitals maintain policies to aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills including lawsuits or reporting patients with outstanding bills to credit rating agencies and putting their scores at risk, Kaiser Health News reported. Have you been hit with a large or unexpected medical bill? Maybe the overall medical billing experience left you feeling puzzled or upset? Email tina.reed@axois.com so we can dig into what's happening as part of Axios' series Billed and Confused. |
| |
| |
| |
| A message from AHCA/NCAL |
| The domino effect of failing to support long term caregivers |
| |
 |
| |
| The long term care labor shortage has created bottlenecks in hospitals as patients wait for beds in nursing homes. What you need to know: A federal staffing mandate will worsen the strain by forcing nursing homes to limit their number of residents. We need solutions now. |
| |
| |
| 4. Pic du jour |
 |
|
| First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photo: Lesley Martin - Pool/Getty Images |
| |
| The NHS in Scotland is coming under "intense" pressure, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said during a press conference Monday on winter pressures on the health system. Driving the news: Health boards there were ordered to review discharge plans to see if hospital patients can be sent home sooner, The National reported. - In recent days, officials in England similarly reported the NHS was under more "extreme pressure" than it was at the height of the pandemic, the Guardian reported.
- The U.K. has seen some of its worst strikes in decades in the last several months, particularly in the health care and transportation sectors, per CBS News.
|
| |
| |
| |
| 5. While you were weekending |
 |
|
| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
| |
| 👀 "Nobody prepares you": Photos reveal sandwich generation struggle. (CNN) 💊 Drug shortages are an urgent national danger. Here's how we fix them. (Washington Post) 👉 Why now is an especially bad time to have a heart attack. (Economist) 🩸 A liquid biopsy study suggests a better way to decide which colorectal cancer patients need chemo. (STAT) |
| |
| |
| |
| A message from AHCA/NCAL |
| Long term care needs hiring help, not impossible mandates |
| |
 |
| |
| Nursing homes are working hard to recruit caregivers, but they can't find workers. The solution: We need investments in our long term care workforce — not unfunded staffing mandates — to offer better wages, build a pipeline of nurses and bolster staff retention. Learn more. |
| |
| Did someone forward this email to you? Here's how to sign up. Thanks for reading, and thanks to senior editor Adriel Bettelheim and senior copy editor Bryan McBournie for the edits. |
 | | Your personal policy analyst is here. | | |
No comments