Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
Fewer than half of rural U.S. hospitals offer labor and delivery services. In some areas, births have dropped by three-quarters since the baby boom鈥檚 peak.
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Fewer than half of rural U.S. hospitals offer labor and delivery services. In some areas, births have dropped by three-quarters since the baby boom鈥檚 peak.
Increasingly, Americans pay for the privilege of seeing a doctor. Research shows concierge medicine can further hamper access to care for those who can鈥檛 afford the upgrade.
Dozens of small cities and towns across the United States struggle not just with health care access and the loss of jobs, but also with the burden of what to do with big, empty buildings.
Suffering stomach pain, a Dallas man visited his local urgent care clinic 鈥� or so he thought, until he got a bill 10 times what he鈥檇 expected.
Clinicians working for Ascension hospitals in multiple states described harrowing lapses, including delayed or lost lab results, medication errors, and an absence of routine safety checks to prevent potentially fatal mistakes.
If Indiana officials approve a proposed hospital merger in western Indiana in the coming months, the state will have its first hospital monopoly created by a 鈥淐ertificate of Public Advantage.鈥� Other such deals have resulted in government reports documenting diminished care in Tennessee and North Carolina.
The nursing home industry 鈥� as well as a healthy number of Congress members 鈥� are all pushing back on the Biden administration鈥檚 new rules on nursing home staffing. Industry officials say that there are not enough workers to meet the requirements and that the costs would be prohibitive. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to force Republicans to explain their exact positions on assuring access to contraceptives and in vitro fertilization. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 吃瓜不打烊鈥� Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥� Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest 吃瓜不打烊-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥� feature about a free cruise that turned out to be anything but.
As Congress remains deadlocked on gun policy, the Biden administration is calling on hospital leaders and doctors to gather more data about gunshot injuries and deaths and step up their violence prevention work.
California is the ninth state to set annual health spending targets for the industry. Already hospitals and doctors are voicing resistance to the fledgling Office of Health Care Affordability, even as they avoid overtly opposing its goals.
Provider groups are disappointed that the Federal Trade Commission鈥檚 new rule may not protect those who work for nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities, which employ the largest number of medical professionals.
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A disconnect between two federal programs meant to help keep hospitals afloat discourages struggling rural facilities from accepting the aid.
Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system in Tennessee and Virginia, benefits from the largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in the United States and is the only option for hospital care for a large swath of Appalachia.
A Florida law was enacted this spring making the Sunshine State the first in the nation to let cesarean sections be performed in settings other than hospitals 鈥� leading to warnings about increased risks for pregnant women and their babies.
Los Angeles County, the nation鈥檚 most populous county, is spearheading a comprehensive plan to tackle a $2.9 billion medical debt crisis. Hospitals are still getting on board with the project, which is helmed by the public health department.
Public health authorities are closely watching an unusual strain of bird flu that has infected dairy cows in nine states and at least one dairy worker. Meanwhile, another major health system suffered a cyberattack, and Congress is moving to extend the availability of telehealth services. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat join 吃瓜不打烊鈥� Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Atul Grover of the Association of American Medical Colleges about its recent analysis showing that graduating medical students are avoiding training in states with abortion bans and major restrictions.
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