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Medicaid work rule leaves homeless people in the cold
Katheryn Houghton, KFF Health News, Aug. 6
Tywon Pugh has seizures that make it hard to find and keep a job. When he lost work in the past, his wife would cover their rent. When she died last year, Pugh became homeless. Medicaid pays for the prescriptions he needs to keep his seizures at bay and would pay for the addiction treatment program he’s on a waitlist for. His goal has been to get healthy enough to work again, but he is worried upcoming Medicaid work requirements will make it so he can’t keep his coverage long enough to get to that point. At least four states have proposed policies that would make homelessness an exception to the work requirements, but federal officials have said that’s not allowed.
The U.S. relies on family caregivers. Millions of them are kids.
Helen Ouyang, The New York Times, Aug. 5
An estimated four million children in the U.S. care for an adult family member who is sick, disabled, or old. There are several factors that will likely push that number even higher, including increased housing costs that pack more families into multigenerational homes, financial incentives that shorten hospital stays and send patients home with few resources, and cuts to Medicaid. Students who are caregivers are less likely to be enrolled in school, and those who do remain in school tend to be less engaged and get worse grades.
A midwife crosses ‘maternity deserts’ to make a difference for Black moms and babies
Kristin Wright, NPR, Aug. 11
Nadia Gramby spends her days and many nights as a midwife caring for moms and babies across Alabama. The kind of care she offers is important because more than half of the counties in the U.S. do not have hospital-based labor and delivery services, according to a new report. It found that one in three counties are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians whatsoever. Gramby sees the impacts of that firsthand, sometimes needing to drive hundreds of miles to provide care. The report states that midwives like Gramby play a critical role in expanding access to maternity care.
Many states cover doula care, but access to a ‘birthing bestie’ is often out of reach
Rachel Spears, KFF Health News, Aug. 10
Doula support has been associated with better maternal outcomes. One of the widest gaps in care is the lack of access to doula care for parents covered by Medicaid. While more than half of U.S. states’ Medicaid programs cover doula services, some doulas say there are several barriers that still place access out of reach for many. In Virginia, doulas say a large amount of paperwork and low reimbursement rates mean that fewer doulas participate in the Medicaid program. During the first two years of implementation, fewer than 1% of Medicaid births in Virginia used doula services.
Northwell, state partnership aims to ease health care staffing crisis
Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, CT Insider, Aug. 12
A rising demand for care, mass employee burnout, increased workplace violence, and an aging workforce are driving a growing shortage of health care staff in Connecticut. The state will need around 5,700 more healthcare providers by 2028 in at least five healthcare fields, according to a national study. A new partnership between Northwell Health and Connecticut State Community College aims to help address that need by strengthening the career pipeline for graduating students. That will happen through several efforts including in-facility mentor shadowing and expanding the placement of students and graduates into roles across Northwell.