Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts
States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund meant to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.
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States are rolling out plans for their share of a $50 billion fund meant to improve rural health care. In some states, the money may provoke rural hospitals to cut services.
Iowa patient advocates say that in the face of federal Medicaid cuts, the state is quietly reducing in-home services that help people avoid being institutionalized. National groups are bracing for similar cuts elsewhere.
Some Republican state lawmakers and state health associations are pushing back against spending plans under the Trump administration鈥檚 $50 billion federal rural health fund. Federal administrators already approved states鈥� plans, but in many cases, state lawmakers must greenlight spending.
A revolt is afoot in both red and blue states against the use of artificial intelligence in health insurance determinations 鈥� and against efforts led by President Donald Trump to tie states鈥� hands.
More than a quarter of the agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the individual marketplace, a much larger share than the overall percentage of U.S. adults. After a tough year for farmers, the loss of enhanced ACA subsidies is putting health insurance out of reach for many.
Every state will receive at least $100 million annually from the federal Rural Health Transformation fund, but some scored millions more based on how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services judged the 鈥渜uality鈥� of their plans and willingness to pass policies embracing "Make America Healthy Again" initiatives.
States facing yawning budget shortfalls have begun cutting Medicaid reimbursements for a wide variety of services. In some states, dramatic cuts are targeting therapies that many families of autistic people say are essential to caring for their loved ones.
Dozens of health care organizations have asked the Trump administration to shield the doctors, nurses, and techs they need to fill shortages from the president鈥檚 new $100,000 visa fee for skilled foreign workers. So far, there鈥檚 no sign of a reprieve.
Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.
People who maintained the nation鈥檚 land-based nuclear missile arsenal are coming down with similar cancers. The Air Force is wrapping up a large study of the health risks they may have faced.
Independent and rural hospitals are collaborating with their neighbors to shore up their finances instead of joining larger health systems to stay afloat.
The Trump administration's cuts of public health funds to state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of where someone lives, a new 51视频 Health News analysis shows.
Native American tribes and health organizations are hosting clinics and calling patients to counteract low measles vaccination rates and limited access to health care as the disease spreads across the country.
The Trump administration has said improving American nutrition is a priority, but deep cuts to federal food assistance could lead people to forgo healthy food in favor of cheaper alternatives.
In 2017, when President Donald Trump tried to repeal Obamacare and roll back Medicaid coverage, Republican governors helped turn Congress against it. Now, as Trump tries again to scale back Medicaid, Republican governors 鈥� whose constituents stand to lose federal funding and health coverage 鈥� have gone quiet on the health consequences.
Food banks nationwide are being pinched by record demand, high food prices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal budget cuts. As the economy plods onto shaky ground, food bank leaders hope Congress patches the holes by passing a new farm bill.
Breakups between health providers and Advantage plans are increasingly common. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has allowed whole groups of patients to leave their plans.
A 51视频 Health News analysis underscores how the terminations have spared no part of the country, politically or geographically. Of the organizations that had grants cut in the first month, about 40% are in states President Donald Trump won in November.
Amid a youth mental health crisis and a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds, residents of a St. Louis suburb opposed a plan to build a 77-bed pediatric mental health hospital. Resistance to such facilities has occurred in other communities as misconceptions about mental health spur fear.
Some rural hospitals have canceled 鈥� or are considering ending 鈥� contracts with insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans, saying the private policies jeopardize their finances and impede patient care.
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