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Rural communities of color across the US find new ways to get the health care they need
Kenya Hunter, The Associated Press, Aug. 19
Hospitals throughout rural America have closed over the last decade, leaving some of the 46 million people who live in these areas with fewer options to get the care they need. People in rural areas are more likely to die earlier than urban residents from things like heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Advocates, hospitals, and residents said change needs to start at a local level, especially in communities of color that may lack trust in the medical field. It is happening in places like North Carolina where mobile clinics treat undocumented farm laborers and in California where community health workers go door to door to treat Punjabi Sikh immigrants.
More than 100K seniors in CT could see lower drug prices as part of Medicare negotiations
Sujata Srinivasan, Connecticut Public Radio, Aug. 15
More than 100,000 seniors insured by Medicare in Connecticut could see savings of up to nearly 80 percent for some popular drugs. This comes after the prices of the ten most expensive, commonly prescribed drugs to Medicare beneficiaries were negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act. More than 120,000 Connecticut residents take those drugs, said Nora Duncan, state director with AARP Connecticut. “To these folks we’ve been hearing from, it may mean the difference between them not having to choose between cutting a pill in half or not having a meal.”
A new Alzheimer’s study suggests where you live can affect the odds of a diagnosis
Juliana Kim, NPR, Aug. 19
It is estimated that about 7 million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. However, the number of people with a formal diagnosis is far less than that. A new study suggests that the likelihood of receiving a formal diagnosis may depend on where a person lives. Researchers found that diagnosis rates vastly differ across the country but the reasons behind the disparity are not clear. “We tell anecdotes about how hard it is to get a diagnosis and maybe it is harder in some places. It’s not just your imagination. It actually is different from place to place,” said Julie Bynum, the study’s lead author.
Weight-loss drugs are a hot commodity. But not in low-income neighborhoods
Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post, Aug. 19
Black and Hispanic patients and those with lower incomes are more likely to suffer from obesity and are at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes. However, a number of recent analyses found that these populations are less likely to be prescribed weight-loss shots. The drugs aren’t covered for weight loss by Medicaid, and while many families have heard of the medications, few have doctors who can help them access the drugs. One study found that diabetes patients who are Black, in regions seeing a boom in use of the GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, are half as likely to have access as their white counterparts despite having a higher prevalence of diabetes.
More pregnant women are going without prenatal care, CDC finds
Erika Edwards, NBC News, Aug. 20
The number of women going through pregnancy without prenatal care in the United States is growing according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the increase is small, experts said it can still be detrimental to the health of both the mother and baby. “There’s a lot of baby monitoring that goes on during pregnancy to help us identify any potential health problems,” such as birth defects or unusually high blood pressure, said Dr. Kathryn Lindley, a cardio-obstetrician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Researchers also found that the overall number of babies born is falling.