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Budget spotlight: Foxon shelter sees senior surge
Laura Glesby, New Haven Independent, April 13
In the New Haven area, the shelter at Foxon Boulevard has become the main and sometimes only option for people who are aging or disabled without a place to live. It is open 24 hours a day and has a “non-congregate” structure that allows residents to share rooms, making it more accessible for those with medical needs. In Connecticut, and nationwide, homelessness is rising, especially among older adults. “They’re not eating properly, resting properly, being able to store their medication properly,” said city homelessness services coordinator Velma George-James. “We start seeing their health declining really quickly.”
In CT, doctors now sue patients most over medical bills, surpassing hospitals
Noam N. Levy, Katy Golvala, and Jenna Carlesso, KFF Health News and The Connecticut Mirror, April 19
Many hospital systems in Connecticut have stopped suing patients over unpaid bills. However, physicians, dentists, ambulance companies, and other health care providers continue to take patients to court. The shift is moving medical debt collections into a less regulated realm, with fewer federal regulations that limit aggressive collection activities. The lawsuits are typically over bills of less than $3000, but the impact on patients can be devastating. Lawsuits can lead to garnished wages, liens on homes, and hundreds of dollars of added debt, as well as prevent patients from getting needed care.
Trump and New York are in a tug of war over Medicaid coverage
Joseph Goldstein, The New York Times, April 14
Health officials in New York state are racing to come up with strategies to weaken a new federal law that will restrict access to government health insurance programs, including Medicaid. To keep as many New Yorkers covered as possible, officials are looking for ways to prove that patients are experiencing addiction or are medically frail, conditions that would exempt them from the new restrictions. Officials are also considering volunteer opportunities, such as helping others navigate new Medicaid rules, to meet work requirements.
Former ICE detainees find healing, companionship in new support group
Eileen Grench, Documented, April 17
The long-term detention of immigrants nationwide has created an unprecedented mental health crisis in immigrant communities. It has produced a new set of challenging needs among former detainees that are only now starting to be identified and addressed. The most recent studies of immigration detention show incarceration causes deteriorating mental and physical health, which only worsens the longer someone is imprisoned. Envision Freedom Fund, which helps free detainees and supports them after incarceration, created a group therapy program to help former detainees connect with others who have faced similar challenges.
More than half of states now cover doulas under Medicaid
Carly Mallenbaum, Axios, April 21
Doula care has gone from a niche birth option to a Medicaid-covered benefit in more than half of U.S. states. Research has linked doula support to lower cesarean rates and fewer preterm births. Doula care has also become a key tool for addressing the disproportionately high rate of maternal death among Black women. More than two dozen states and Washington D.C. are actively reimbursing for Medicaid coverage of doula care. Several other states have either defined a path toward Medicaid doula coverage or taken related steps involving doula care.