A new report and infographic from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) present recently collected survey data on community health center experiences with audio-only telehealth during the pandemic. The report examines the lifeline telehealth provided for health centers and patients during the pandemic and stresses that unless lawmakers ensure the emergency flexibilities granted during the public health crisis continue, millions of patients could lose access to care. See the infographic for a summary of the impact of termination of emergency flexibilities.
Out of Reach 2021: The High Cost of Housing Report
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) recently released Out of Reach 2021: The High Cost of Housing. This report highlights the mismatch between the wages people earn and the price of decent rental housing in every state, metropolitan area, and county in the U.S. This robust report and data are extremely valuable in making the case for rental assistance, affordable housing, and livable wages among other important policy priorities. The report also includes housing cost and wage data specific for Pennsylvania and our counties. Explore the full report that includes an interactive website with an easy-to-use search function for data by metropolitan-area ZIP codes.
Young Invincibles Releases State of Enrollment Report
The current enrollment landscape is and has been quite tumultuous. With many trying to return to a regular routine, taking a step back and looking at what we learned about enrollment assistance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is key. With millions losing job-based health insurance, assisters stepped up to the plate, creating new and initiative ways to conduct enrollment, outreach virtually, harnessing the power of social media, and continued to enroll despite lack of internet or Wi-Fi access or the ability to meet in-person with those who needed assistance the most. Young Invincibles, founded by a group of students in 2009, is a network of advocates committed to educating young adults on all aspects of life from finances to the importance of health insurance coverage to making smart economic choices to build a better future. This new report discusses the current enrollment landscape, COVID-19 enrollment, and highlights some federal policy recommendations.
Read the full State of Enrollment Report.
New Report: Oral Health in Patients Experiencing Homelessness
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) developed a publication to bring awareness to the intersection of oral health and behavioral health concerns or cognitive impairment in people experiencing homelessness (PEH). The publication shares the impacts of behavioral health illness on oral health and how behavioral health and dental providers can work together to address this intersection in their practices.
Women’s Health Workforce to Increase
HRSA’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a 32 percent increase in certified nurse midwives and an 89 percent increase in women’s health nurse practitioners by 2030. HRSA has published a new report on the national-level supply and demand projections for women’s health service providers using HRSA’s Health Workforce Simulation Model.
Check out other highlights from the report.
Study Quantifies Impact of Vaccination on Death and Hospitalization
As the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 surges in parts of the United States, a new study from Yale University and the Commonwealth Fund finds that the U.S. vaccination campaign has significantly curbed the virus’s death toll, saving as many as 279,000 lives and averting up to 1.25 million hospitalizations. The study examined the impact of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program on the pandemic’s trajectory through July 1, 2021, considering the emergence of more transmissible variants in recent months. The findings demonstrate that the speed of the U.S. vaccination rollout prevented numerous additional COVID-19 fatalities and hospitalizations. Researchers warn, however, that the Delta variant’s spread among unvaccinated populations could produce a surge in new cases and reverse the downward trend of infections and deaths across the country.
New America’s Health Rankings Report Released
The United Health Foundation launched a new America’s Health Rankings report, which provides a deep dive into health disparities data in the United States. The inaugural report builds on over 30 years of data to provide a comprehensive portrait of the breadth, depth, and persistence of disparities across the nation.
How A Fire Department Funding Model Could Preserve Rural Emergency Departments And Quality Emergency Care
Health Affairs, Commentary, June 14, 2021
Nearly 60 million rural Americans depend on local hospitals and their emergency departments (EDs) when serious (for example, trauma, stroke, heart attack) and potential (for example, chest or abdominal pain) emergencies occur. Yet, since 2010, 136 small and rural hospitals have closed. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, with a record 20 new hospital closures in 2020 and many more at risk. Mortality worsens when hospitals close because of reduced access to the life-saving skills of emergency physicians and the hospitals where they work.
Recent policy initiatives have attempted to address rural hospital closures. Some Pennsylvania rural hospitals and all Maryland hospitals are funded through global budgets. Starting in January 2023, a new rural emergency hospital (REH) designation will allow rural critical access hospitals to convert to an REH and receive fixed payments to support infrastructure and a 5 percent increase in fee-for-service payments in return for maintaining an ED and specified outpatient services. A weakness of these models is that they focus on supporting the hospital facility alone. None ensure sufficient resources to pay for the 24/7/365 on-site emergency physician, plus some level of surge capacity, needed to provide ED patient care.
To understand why rural and small hospitals struggle to maintain high-quality emergency physicians in their EDs, it is important to describe the economics of ED staffing and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed those economics for the worse. Pre-pandemic, a delicate balance of volume, complexity, and payer-mix supported ED staffing with fee-for-service payments. Some visits reimbursed well and required few resources (for example, privately insured, low acuity). For other visits (for example, Medicare, Medicaid, high acuity, and uninsured), reimbursement did not cover costs. Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act reduced uninsured visits but has been no panacea. Medicaid expansion replaces unreimbursed visits by uninsured patients but only with well-below-cost Medicaid rates. Expansion also generates payer crowd-out: Some visits, previously well-reimbursed by commercial insurance, become low-paying Medicaid visits.
Researchers Calculate More than 46,000 Kids Lost a Parent to COVID-19
COVID-19 has claimed more than 600,000 lives in the U.S., and researchers writing in the journal JAMA Pediatrics calculated that for every 13 deaths caused by the virus, one child under 18 has lost a parent. According to the researchers, that means that as of June 15:
- More than 46,000 kids in the U.S. have lost a parent to COVID-19.
- Three-quarters of the children are adolescents; the others are under age 10.
- About 20 percent of the children who’ve lost parents are Black, though they make up 14 percent of the population.
These deaths have led to a shadow pandemic of bereavement that could have long-lasting effects. The loss of a parent in childhood has been linked to higher risk of substance use, mental health issues, poor performance in school, lower college attendance, lower employment and early death. Read more.
Vaccination Decisions Have Consequences
A new analysis from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics finds that more than 46,000 children under 18 in the U.S. lost a parent to COVID-19. Although overall cases are down because of the many individuals who have been vaccinated, the pandemic is not over. The Delta variant that has devastated India and caused a significant rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.K. is on the rise in the U.S. Delta variant cases have doubled in the U.S. in the past two weeks, are surging in states with low vaccination rates, and now represent 20.6 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases. Studies are showing that those of us who are vaccinated are protected from this more aggressive, highly contagious variant. If you’re not vaccinated, please know that the risk to you and those you love remains. The choice is yours, as are the consequences of not taking action to prevent what is now truly a preventable illness. If you don’t get vaccinated for you, please consider doing so for those you love and who love you.