Nearly one-third of Medicaid funding could be on the chopping block as lawmakers look for ways to reduce the national deficit.
A new report found the proposed changes, $2.5 trillion, are more likely to harm rural communities and small towns than metro areas. More than half a million Mountain State residents rely on Medicaid for health coverage.
Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Healthcare, said Medicaid is a lifeline for providers and the state’s senior population.
“Families depend upon it to avoid excessive medical debt to help people who are in skilled nursing homes,” Allen pointed out. “I think it’s 72% of West Virginians living in skilled nursing facilities are paid for through Medicaid.”
Medical debt could also rise in the Mountain State. One National Institutes of Health study found ZIP codes with the lowest incomes in states that did not expand Medicaid had the highest levels of medical debt in the nation.
Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said policymakers need to realize programs such as Medicaid are not government waste because they keep folks healthy enough to work and create better health outcomes for kids.
“In the long term, it’s a much better investment of taxpayer dollars,” Alker contended. “Because it’ll pay dividends to make sure that these families are getting the care they need.”
Allen added many counties already lack a medical facility to deliver birth and argued cutting Medicaid would have a devastating effect on maternal care.
“Well over 20 in West Virginia do not have a hospital with delivery where you can have your child,” Allen observed. “That’s because it’s a high-cost service to provide. You have to have specialists.”
Over the past decade, 120 rural hospitals across the country have either closed or stopped offering inpatient services. According to the report, West Virginia ranks among a handful of states with the highest percentage of working-age adults who rely on Medicaid for health coverage.
Disclosure: The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families contributes to our fund for reporting on Children’s Issues, and Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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This month is National Blood Donor Month, and blood donor groups are making sure people know the importance of giving blood.
Blood can’t be manufactured, so people need to donate blood at their local blood bank. Nearly 400 people a day donate blood to the American Red Cross in the DMV metro area.
Bethany Bray Patterson, communications director of the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region of the American Red Cross, said donor blood is used in a variety of medical situations.
“Donated blood,” said Patterson, “goes to people who are heading into surgery, fighting cancer, newborn babies in the NICU and people who are living with sickle cell disease and other chronic illnesses.”
Patterson added that someone in the U.S. needs a life-saving blood transfusion every two seconds.
However, only 3% of eligible donors donate each year. According to America’s Blood Centers, if just 1% more of Americans donated, blood shortages would be alleviated.
Patterson said the blood supply in the country is stable, but organizations like the Red Cross are also on the look out for universal donors.
“There is an increased need right now for type O blood donation, and platelet donations,” said Patterson. “Type O blood is always in demand. It’s often going out to hospitals faster than it’s coming in through blood donation, because it is the universal blood type. It’s used the most by hospitals.”
You can find blood donation locations and schedule an appointment at RedCrossblood.org.
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Community Health Centers are stepping up to meet a critical need for dental care across Tennessee.
Dental visits at these clinics have increased by 19% and patient numbers have risen by nearly 16%, underscoring the importance of these services.
Libby Thurman, CEO of the Tennessee Primary Care Association, said the demand has grown, especially as more people have gained dental coverage through TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Thurman explains TennCare did not cover dental services for adults until recently, although it did cover children.
“In 2023, the state expanded access to dental services under TennCare for adults,” Thurman noted. “We have had some challenges keeping up with that demand, and that really stems from just making sure we have enough dentists to serve all of those patients.”
In 2023, Community Health Centers in the state provided more than 79,000 dental visits to more than 35,000 patients. Across the state, 24 of the 30 health centers now offer dental health services.
Thurman stressed the importance of having access to dental care, since it is so closely tied to a person’s overall health. She added the clinics integrate dental services into their broader mission of providing whole-person care.
“Dental care, aside from just oral health, actually has a lot of links to systemic health,” Thurman explained. “It’s linked to a lot of chronic disease management – so, if your oral health care is unmanaged, likely your chronic disease could be worsened.”
Thurman emphasized Community Health Centers provide care to all, regardless of a person’s insurance or income status. They also have a sliding-fee scale, so patients are often able to get dental care at a lower cost than they might find elsewhere.
Disclosure: The Tennessee Primary Care Association contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues, Mental Health, and Reproductive Health. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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Groups across the state are working to reduce overdose deaths among minority populations.
According to state data, overdose deaths are on the decline but among Black residents, there were around 68 deaths per 100,000 people last year; more than 51% greater than the overall rate of deaths.
Matt Johnson, board member of the nonprofit CARES Coalition in Franklin County, said the county is struggling with a lack of emergency shelter and medical services for undocumented individuals. The coalition’s Community Connectors Project aims to go door-to-door in neighborhoods to help residents access the services they need.
“People who don’t necessarily have a visa or a green card, or even health insurance,” Johnson outlined. “We need them to be able to go and receive services; for kids to be able to see dentists, especially within our minority population has been a challenge.”
The coalition is one of 10 organizations awarded $50,000 grants from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s Funding for Recovery Equity and Expansion program, a partnership with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Kentucky Overdose Response Effort.
In Western Kentucky, the Four Rivers Foundation has expanded mental health and health care services in underserved schools.
Dr. Alex Wright, CEO of Wright Medical who works with the foundation, said gaps in access often result in students either not receiving or experiencing long delays in care. He noted so far, more than 3,000 students have been served in the classroom.
“In some of our districts, we estimated up to 50% of children were lacking any continuity of health care,” Wright reported. “Many of these children haven’t had a pediatrician or primary care provider, usually since they were an infant or a toddler.”
Research points to increased stigma surrounding substance use disorder and mental health in communities of color. According to the Yale School of Medicine, treatment inequities persist. Nationwide in 2018, the majority of Black and Hispanic people diagnosed with the substance use disorder did not receive treatment.
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