Readers Speak Up About Women's Health Issues, From Reproductive Care to Drinking – Kaiser Health News
Letters to the Editor is a periodic function. We welcome all comments and can publish a range. We edit for size and readability and require full names.
Many readers responded to our data-driven protection of how moral and spiritual directives issued by the U.S. Convention of Catholic Bishops have an effect on care choices at Catholic and Catholic-affiliated hospitals in america. And we encourage different readers to share their feedback.
A communications specialist in Seattle acknowledged her opinion bluntly in an X publish.
"An increasing number of girls are working into limitations to acquiring care as Catholic well being programs have aggressively acquired secular hospitals in a lot of the nation."
Faith is harming healthcare. https://t.co/O4L9mIzP5K
— JoAnne Dyer, Seattle
The Proper to Separation of Church and Care
At my most up-to-date OB-GYN appointment, I used to be warned that our largest hospital, Covenant Medical Middle, is affiliated with the Roman Catholic denomination, as is its string of major care and different clinics, Grace Clinics.
Trying to regain some sense of management over my physique, I made a decision to create an advance well being directive to clarify I don’t need to be taken to any medical facility related to that denomination, to keep away from my medical care being curtailed or impacted by moral and spiritual directives, referred to as ERDs, issued by Roman Catholic bishops (“The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across America,” Feb. 17). To do that, I needed to know which services are so affiliated. It is extremely exhausting to seek out that out.
First, I checked out Grace Clinic and Covenant Medical Middle web sites. No point out of affiliation with the church, or ERDs, or how ERDs restrict the varieties of medical therapies a affected person might be provided (and even knowledgeable of the existence of).
After I known as Grace Clinic, they denied affiliation with the Catholic Church. After I known as Covenant Medical Middle, additionally they denied affiliation. They’re owned by Providence, which is Roman Catholic, although you need to do a deep dive into the web site to determine that out.
Both the workers are mendacity or are stored in ignorance so the sufferers might be stored in ignorance. How can a affected person decide whether or not a hospital will deny them care due to spiritual beliefs, if the group conceals its affiliation with stated beliefs?
These hospitals have the best to imagine no matter they need. It seems they presently even have the best to deceive sufferers about it. How can sufferers learn well being care shoppers if they’ll’t entry the knowledge they want, and are affirmatively given incorrect info from the organizations?
I’ve contacted Windfall via its web site asking whether it is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and, if that’s the case, the place I can discover a checklist of varieties of sufferers that received’t be handled in accordance with American Medical Affiliation requirements, in addition to which therapies, procedures, and medicines is not going to be offered or offered solely on a restricted foundation due to that affiliation.
I’ve heard nothing.
— Helen Liggett, Lubbock, Texas
An assistant professor on the Cincinnati Youngsters’s Hospital Medical Middle additionally weighed in on X:
Necessary reporting from @KFFHealthNews on the affect of Catholic hospital care together with their ethics overview course of:https://t.co/0k2mJpPhY0
— Elizabeth Lanphier, Cincinnati
Life at All Prices Is Pricey
One facet of IVF that’s not being mentioned is the discarding of embryos discovered to have critical medical defects (‘What the Well being?’: Alabama Court Rules Embryos Are Children. What Now? Feb. 22). For instance, a household might carry a devastating situation and want to display potential offspring, or defects might come up spontaneously. The Alabama Supreme Court docket’s choice means that these embryos, too, have to be implanted.
The court docket’s choice additionally impacts infants born with extreme defects. How a lot assist have to be offered a child born with out elements of the mind and cranium (anencephaly), which isn’t terribly unusual? Or one born with out kidneys? Or one with a most extreme type of brittle-bone illness (osteogenesis imperfecta), the place each contact can break bones? It sounds as if Alabama legislation now requires most assist in each occasion — for my part, this is able to be holier-than-thou sadism. How does the court docket outline life? Merely a beating coronary heart? I can’t think about a nurse or physician not leaving/quitting when compelled to torture these infants. Then there’s the dad and mom’ torment. That is godly?
— Gloria Kohut, Grand Rapids, Michigan
On X, an anesthetist and emergency medication physician promoted the “What the Well being?” podcast episode that delved into the subject:
Take a look at the most recent episode of KFF Well being Information' "What the Well being?" podcast, the place the Alabama Supreme Court docket's ruling on embryo rights sparks a nationwide debate. Plus, doable abortion bans and Catholic hospital care. Pay attention at: https://t.co/4hrsEaWXVb#health, #healthpolicy, …
— David Moniz, Chilliwack, British Columbia
Distilling Statistics on Ladies’s Ingesting
Whereas the distilled spirits business is against extreme consumption by any section of our society, it’s vital to notice that your current article on girls and alcohol failed to incorporate federal knowledge exhibiting reductions in alcohol abuse amongst girls in america (“More Women Are Drinking Themselves Sick. The Biden Administration Is Concerned,” March 28). For instance, the newest Nationwide Survey on Drug Use and Well being knowledge signifies binge-drinking amongst girls 21 and older declined greater than 6% up to now 5 years (from 2018 to 2022).
Moreover, claims within the article that the covid-19 pandemic “considerably exacerbated binge-drinking” are usually not supported by a number of federal knowledge sources that point out that the pandemic didn’t produce lasting will increase in consuming or dangerous consuming.
As an example, a 2023 study utilizing federal knowledge confirmed that, whereas gross sales did rise on the very starting of the pandemic, this didn’t essentially translate to elevated binge-drinking or total consumption within the months following. Fairly, consuming decreased — each days monthly consuming and drinks per day — as did binge-drinking. Furthermore, the identical federal NSDUH knowledge referenced above signifies practically 9 out of 10 U.S. adults 21 years and older (89%) say they drink the identical quantity or lower than they did pre-pandemic.
The article additionally cites an outdated International Burdens of Illness report revealed in 2018 to again up claims that “no quantity of alcohol is protected” whereas ignoring the updated GBD report revealed in 2022. Importantly, this most recent GBD research concluded there are consuming ranges “at which the well being threat is equal to that of a non-drinker” and that “for people age 40+, consuming small quantities of alcohol will not be dangerous to well being.”
Reporting on alcohol analysis offers vital info for shoppers, so it’s crucial that such reporting accurately displays the most recent proof on alcohol and well being. We encourage all adults who select to drink — ladies and men — to drink moderately, to observe the recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and to speak to their well being care suppliers who might help decide what’s finest for them primarily based on particular person components and household historical past.
— Amanda Berger, vp of science and well being, Distilled Spirits Council of america, Washington, D.C.
A lawyer who makes a speciality of preventing insurance coverage denials really useful our March “Invoice of the Month” function in an X publish:
All too typically insurance coverage suppliers declare medical remedy will not be medically needed. This text explains a #Cigna denial. #healthinsurance #medicalnecessity https://t.co/rpMwsSOOup
— Scott Glovsky, Pasadena, California
Working Inside a Damaged Well being Care System
Due to Molly Citadel Work for the superb article concerning the England household’s struggles with our damaged well being care system (“A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?” March 25). One avenue of decision that was not famous in your glorious article is the California Division of Managed Well being Care. I’m a doctor, and we had a unique, but additionally very costly ($90,000), well being care invoice. It took two years and two appeals to that division, however, finally, we have been reimbursed by our insurance coverage firm. This can be a useful resource that ought to be extra extensively identified.
— Erica Buhrmann, Berkeley, California
An Unfair Burden on These Most in Want
It’s obscure why these most susceptible in society, who’ve problem buying medical health insurance, are required to pay extra for providers with the identical medical doctors and services than insurance coverage firms pay. Insurers profit from “negotiated pricing.” These with no insurance coverage are required to pay all the “inflated” invoice for medical providers. Most instances, the distinction between the quantity a health care provider or medical supplier payments, in contrast with the precise fee medical doctors obtain from insurance coverage firms, is roughly 20% of the quantity billed.
It’s patently unfair to require uninsured sufferers to pay greater than insurance coverage firms pay. Uninsured people have an unfair bargaining energy, in contrast with insurance coverage firms. A very good instance is demonstrated in your article of the lady who acquired an uncovered emergency medical flight earlier than her loss of life, and her heirs have been left with an outrageous invoice of $81 (“Without Medicare Part B’s Shield, Patient’s Family Owes $81,000 for a Single Air-Ambulance Flight,” Feb. 27). If her household was instructed they have been liable for $81,000 for the air ambulance, the transport wouldn’t have occurred.
The follow of holding uninsured individuals liable for “whole” medical payments typically, in essence, causes somebody who doesn’t have protection — largely due to affordability — to complement the income of medical doctors and medical suppliers by being required to pay the complete inflated quantity billed for medical providers.
Insurance coverage firms defend this follow of “negotiated pricing,” when, in essence, it’s used to drive those that can least pay to complement losses suffered by the medical doctors for discounted funds from insurers.
There must be regulation that prohibits medical suppliers from price-gouging the uninsured, forcing them to complement medical doctors’ and suppliers’ earnings to make up for underpayments from insurers. Many instances, uninsured people are already dwelling at or close to poverty ranges earlier than incurring sudden medical obligations. Being hit with a shock invoice for an air-ambulance trip costing $81,000 is ample to trigger the affected person to file for chapter. Within the U.S., the No. 1 motive folks file for chapter safety is due to medical payments.
Our present system of administering well being care and funds for such is damaged and must be mounted. As soon as this disparate system of funds is rectified, well being care ought to develop into much more accessible to most of the people.
— Ronald B. Kaplan, Holbrook, Massachusetts
On X, a public well being scholar shared our article concerning the unintended effects of the anti-vaccine motion:
A TN legislation now means they foster dad and mom, social employees & different caregivers can’t present permission for childhood vaccines — a vital a part of well being care for youths.
We have to take antivaxxers severely as a result of they’re severely harming public well being. https://t.co/6jX7ltNq4i
— Jenn Kauffman, Washington, D.C.
Not Vaccinated? Get Education Elsewhere
I’m a father and a major care doctor. I simply learn Amy Maxmen’s article “How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health” (March 12) and commend her for her balanced and fact-based presentation.
I really feel that an vital facet is lacking from such articles — that being the rights of the vast majority of dad and mom who assist vaccination to have their kids within the most secure doable atmosphere in public faculties. We all know that no vaccine is ideal, and that our youngsters are nonetheless in danger for measles, covid, and different ailments, regardless of profiting from the confirmed advantages of vaccines.
I imagine that oldsters who train their rights to not have their kids vaccinated ought to be required to homeschool, or to ship their kids to non-public faculties having insurance policies with which they agree. I’m conscious that solely a tiny proportion of Individuals would agree with me.
— John Cottle, Mendocino, California
Medical psychologist Carl Hindy appeared impressed by our article on a expensive new postpartum despair remedy:
[Instead of gender reveal parties, we can have Pharma baby showers 😢] A New $16,000 Postpartum Melancholy Drug Is Right here. How Will Insurers Deal with It? – KFF Well being Information https://t.co/1CVZEX7yf8
— Carl Hindy, Exeter, New Hampshire
Tending to New Moms’ Wants
It was heartbreaking to learn that non-public well being insurers have successfully delayed the provision of a revolutionary remedy for postpartum despair, a debilitating situation that makes it troublesome for brand spanking new dad and mom to care for his or her households, work, and even get away from bed (“A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?” March 12).
As one of many 1 in 5 new moms who struggled with this horrible sickness when my very own son was born, I can solely hope zuranolone is made extensively accessible very quickly. As an advocate for the rights of pregnant employees, I hope that psychological well being care suppliers are conscious that there’s one other new and revolutionary software that’s at their disposal right now to assist sufferers fighting prenatal and postpartum psychological well being situations. A brand new federal legislation, the Pregnant Staff Equity Act, offers employees the best to obtain modifications at work wanted for pregnancy-related psychological well being situations. The Pregnant Staff Equity Act, which applies to employers with 15 or extra workers, requires they supply cheap lodging for being pregnant, childbirth, and associated medical situations, as long as it doesn’t impose an undue hardship. For instance, a brand new mom experiencing a perinatal psychological well being situation could also be eligible to obtain a modified schedule, time without work to attend psychological well being appointments, a extra non-public workspace, permission to do business from home, or some other “cheap lodging” that can tackle their wants. Psychological well being care suppliers ought to assist their sufferers by discussing their work-related challenges, serving to to determine office modifications, and writing efficient work notes to their sufferers’ employers.
Well being care suppliers and their sufferers can entry free sources from the College of California Regulation-San Francisco Middle for WorkLife Regulation on office lodging for perinatal psychological well being situations at pregnantatwork.org. Well being care suppliers or workers with questions can contact the Middle for WorkLife Regulation’s free and confidential authorized helpline at 415-703-8276 or ho*****@wo*********.org.
— Juliana Franco, San Francisco
Concern of Needles Is Generally Unfounded
I learn your article “Needle Pain Is a Big Problem for Kids. One California Doctor Has a Plan” (March 20). I can let you know from expertise that the needle will not be the supply of the ache. After a bone marrow transplant from a donor, I needed to get all these childhood vaccines and people for adults 65 and older. The needle stick can barely be felt; it’s the remedy moving into that’s painful. The world you get the vaccine in is then sore for a number of days. That has been my expertise.
— Patsy Rowan, Los Angeles
Radiologist Ian Weissman chimed in on X about pain-reduction methods:
Researchers have helped develop a 5 step plan to assist stop what they name "useless ache" for youngsters getting injections or their blood drawnhttps://t.co/mCi8Tx6ILn
— Ian Weissman, Milwaukee
Knowledgeable on the Distinction Between Mis- and Disinformation
First, I’m grateful in your continued investigative reporting on covid-19.
Second, I’m writing to share a perspective that I belief you’ll be able to share with the author of “Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists” (April 1). My focus is on the time period “info” and its variants.
Particularly, I discover it useful to tell apart linguistically three variants:
I discover the conflation of “mis” and “dis” to be in and of itself dangerous to those that convey “mis” after which appropriate in addition to giving those that use “dis” for less-than-honorable functions cowl, a protected haven, and a “get-out-of-jail card.”
For instance, it’s well-known that Fox Information internally adhered to info primarily based on scientific knowledge and medical proof in the course of the covid-19 pandemic state of emergency. Concurrently, it parlayed info externally that may solely be characterised as “dis.”
What I discover stunning is the actual fact (I stand to be corrected ought to I be misinformed) that nobody has discovered at the least one particular person who acted upon Fox Information’ disinformation that resulted in morbidity and/or mortality — or wrongful loss of life litigation.
Sustain the great work.
— Ed Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Group Well being Companies, Littleton, New Hampshire
A communications specialist outdoors Chicago known as out disinformation in an X publish:
Disinformation is public well being enemy 1. Those that begin it and unfold it are poisonous for our society.
— Michelle Rathman, Geneva, Illinois
States Ought to Not Spend Opioid Settlement Money on Unproven Tech
Aneri Pattani did a superb job reporting on the occasion in Cell, Alabama, on Jan. 24, the place the Poarch Band of Creek Indians offered a examine for $500,000 from the tribe’s opioid settlement funds to the Helios Alliance (“Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?” March 5).
Helios, which incorporates for-profit and nonprofit organizations, will use funds to construct a proprietary simulation mannequin to assist leaders resolve find out how to spend settlement funds. In line with Helios, the preliminary system is not going to be accomplished earlier than spring 2024.
As a digital product supervisor for the previous 20 years, I perceive the potential of know-how to enhance well being care, however settlement funds shouldn’t be financing early-stage, proprietary applied sciences developed by private-sector firms. Helios’ pitch is: “… spend 5% [of settlement funds] so that you get the largest affect with the opposite 95%,” says Rayford Etherton, who fashioned the alliance. However given the nationwide settlement is $50 billion over the subsequent 18 years, 5% implies that $2.5 billion would go to a doubtlessly proprietary resolution.
Whereas the promise of a brand new know-how simulation mannequin is thrilling, it’s additionally high-risk. Furthermore, whereas revered specialists like Stephen Loyd are concerned with Helios, there aren’t skilled synthetic intelligence engineers, digital product specialists, knowledge scientists, or safety specialists listed on the Helios web site.
Any know-how developed utilizing opioid settlement funds ought to be open-source and free to all states. Extra transparency from Helios is required to explain possession, person entry phrases, and licensing charges.
Settlement funds ought to be deployed to confirmed, evidence-based options. Given the opioid disaster has been raging for 20 years, well being care specialists have already got data-driven insights on find out how to repair this: improve entry to medication-assisted remedy; scale back limitations to doctor licensing for buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone; improve schooling in faculties; improve social providers resembling employment and baby care; and improve funding to legislation enforcement to struggle unlawful opioids (particularly, fentanyl).
Fairly than placing giant settlement investments right into a not-yet-built simulation mannequin, states ought to use a human-centered design method primarily based on analysis from sufferers, suppliers, relations, and neighborhood teams which were battling the opioid disaster for many years to drive preliminary investments throughout the ecosystem of opioid disaster drivers. As soon as Helios has a working simulation product examined and in manufacturing, states can think about small investments to pilot utilization and see if the product truly produces the specified outcomes.
The continuing mantra of “public-private partnerships” is a superb concept, however the public sector shouldn’t find yourself paying the invoice and taking up all the chance.
— Kelly O’Connor, Washington, D.C.
A professor in Weill Cornell Drugs’s Division of Inhabitants Well being Sciences shared insights on X:
Fascinating article. On the one hand “Information doesn’t save lives. Numbers on a pc don’t save lives,” vs the town has an obligation to make use of its settlement funds “in a manner that’s going to do essentially the most good…as a substitute of merely guessing.” https://t.co/w4QJ7zOkgM
— Bruce Schackman, New York Metropolis
Share This Story:
We want to hear from you: Contact Us
Letters to the Editor is a periodic function. We welcome all comments and can publish a range. We edit for size and readability and require full names.
Many readers responded to our data-driven protection of how moral and spiritual directives issued by the U.S. Convention of Catholic Bishops have an effect on care choices at Catholic and Catholic-affiliated hospitals in america. And we encourage different readers to share their feedback.
A communications specialist in Seattle acknowledged her opinion bluntly in an X publish.
“An increasing number of girls are working into limitations to acquiring care as Catholic well being programs have aggressively acquired secular hospitals in a lot of the nation.”Faith is harming healthcare. https://t.co/O4L9mIzP5K
— JoAnne Dyer, Seattle
The Proper to Separation of Church and Care
At my most up-to-date OB-GYN appointment, I used to be warned that our largest hospital, Covenant Medical Middle, is affiliated with the Roman Catholic denomination, as is its string of major care and different clinics, Grace Clinics.
Trying to regain some sense of management over my physique, I made a decision to create an advance well being directive to clarify I don’t need to be taken to any medical facility related to that denomination, to keep away from my medical care being curtailed or impacted by moral and spiritual directives, referred to as ERDs, issued by Roman Catholic bishops (“The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across America,” Feb. 17). To do that, I needed to know which services are so affiliated. It is extremely exhausting to seek out that out.
First, I checked out Grace Clinic and Covenant Medical Middle web sites. No point out of affiliation with the church, or ERDs, or how ERDs restrict the varieties of medical therapies a affected person might be provided (and even knowledgeable of the existence of).
After I known as Grace Clinic, they denied affiliation with the Catholic Church. After I known as Covenant Medical Middle, additionally they denied affiliation. They’re owned by Providence, which is Roman Catholic, although you need to do a deep dive into the web site to determine that out.
Both the workers are mendacity or are stored in ignorance so the sufferers might be stored in ignorance. How can a affected person decide whether or not a hospital will deny them care due to spiritual beliefs, if the group conceals its affiliation with stated beliefs?
These hospitals have the best to imagine no matter they need. It seems they presently even have the best to deceive sufferers about it. How can sufferers learn well being care shoppers if they’ll’t entry the knowledge they want, and are affirmatively given incorrect info from the organizations?
I’ve contacted Windfall via its web site asking whether it is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and, if that’s the case, the place I can discover a checklist of varieties of sufferers that received’t be handled in accordance with American Medical Affiliation requirements, in addition to which therapies, procedures, and medicines is not going to be offered or offered solely on a restricted foundation due to that affiliation.
I’ve heard nothing.
— Helen Liggett, Lubbock, Texas
An assistant professor on the Cincinnati Youngsters’s Hospital Medical Middle additionally weighed in on X:
Necessary reporting from @KFFHealthNews on the affect of Catholic hospital care together with their ethics overview course of:https://t.co/0k2mJpPhY0
— Elizabeth Lanphier, Cincinnati
Life at All Prices Is Pricey
One facet of IVF that’s not being mentioned is the discarding of embryos discovered to have critical medical defects (‘What the Well being?’: Alabama Court Rules Embryos Are Children. What Now? Feb. 22). For instance, a household might carry a devastating situation and want to display potential offspring, or defects might come up spontaneously. The Alabama Supreme Court docket’s choice means that these embryos, too, have to be implanted.
The court docket’s choice additionally impacts infants born with extreme defects. How a lot assist have to be offered a child born with out elements of the mind and cranium (anencephaly), which isn’t terribly unusual? Or one born with out kidneys? Or one with a most extreme type of brittle-bone illness (osteogenesis imperfecta), the place each contact can break bones? It sounds as if Alabama legislation now requires most assist in each occasion — for my part, this is able to be holier-than-thou sadism. How does the court docket outline life? Merely a beating coronary heart? I can’t think about a nurse or physician not leaving/quitting when compelled to torture these infants. Then there’s the dad and mom’ torment. That is godly?
— Gloria Kohut, Grand Rapids, Michigan
On X, an anesthetist and emergency medication physician promoted the “What the Well being?” podcast episode that delved into the subject:
Take a look at the most recent episode of KFF Well being Information’ “What the Well being?” podcast, the place the Alabama Supreme Court docket’s ruling on embryo rights sparks a nationwide debate. Plus, doable abortion bans and Catholic hospital care. Pay attention at: https://t.co/4hrsEaWXVb#health, #healthpolicy, …
— David Moniz, Chilliwack, British Columbia
Distilling Statistics on Ladies’s Ingesting
Whereas the distilled spirits business is against extreme consumption by any section of our society, it’s vital to notice that your current article on girls and alcohol failed to incorporate federal knowledge exhibiting reductions in alcohol abuse amongst girls in america (“More Women Are Drinking Themselves Sick. The Biden Administration Is Concerned,” March 28). For instance, the newest Nationwide Survey on Drug Use and Well being knowledge signifies binge-drinking amongst girls 21 and older declined greater than 6% up to now 5 years (from 2018 to 2022).
Moreover, claims within the article that the covid-19 pandemic “considerably exacerbated binge-drinking” are usually not supported by a number of federal knowledge sources that point out that the pandemic didn’t produce lasting will increase in consuming or dangerous consuming.
As an example, a 2023 study utilizing federal knowledge confirmed that, whereas gross sales did rise on the very starting of the pandemic, this didn’t essentially translate to elevated binge-drinking or total consumption within the months following. Fairly, consuming decreased — each days monthly consuming and drinks per day — as did binge-drinking. Furthermore, the identical federal NSDUH knowledge referenced above signifies practically 9 out of 10 U.S. adults 21 years and older (89%) say they drink the identical quantity or lower than they did pre-pandemic.
The article additionally cites an outdated International Burdens of Illness report revealed in 2018 to again up claims that “no quantity of alcohol is protected” whereas ignoring the updated GBD report revealed in 2022. Importantly, this most recent GBD research concluded there are consuming ranges “at which the well being threat is equal to that of a non-drinker” and that “for people age 40+, consuming small quantities of alcohol will not be dangerous to well being.”
Reporting on alcohol analysis offers vital info for shoppers, so it’s crucial that such reporting accurately displays the most recent proof on alcohol and well being. We encourage all adults who select to drink — ladies and men — to drink moderately, to observe the recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and to speak to their well being care suppliers who might help decide what’s finest for them primarily based on particular person components and household historical past.
— Amanda Berger, vp of science and well being, Distilled Spirits Council of america, Washington, D.C.
A lawyer who makes a speciality of preventing insurance coverage denials really useful our March “Invoice of the Month” function in an X publish:
All too typically insurance coverage suppliers declare medical remedy will not be medically needed. This text explains a #Cigna denial. #healthinsurance #medicalnecessity https://t.co/rpMwsSOOup
— Scott Glovsky, Pasadena, California
Working Inside a Damaged Well being Care System
Due to Molly Citadel Work for the superb article concerning the England household’s struggles with our damaged well being care system (“A Mom’s $97,000 Question: How Was Her Baby’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?” March 25). One avenue of decision that was not famous in your glorious article is the California Division of Managed Well being Care. I’m a doctor, and we had a unique, but additionally very costly ($90,000), well being care invoice. It took two years and two appeals to that division, however, finally, we have been reimbursed by our insurance coverage firm. This can be a useful resource that ought to be extra extensively identified.
— Erica Buhrmann, Berkeley, California
An Unfair Burden on These Most in Want
It’s obscure why these most susceptible in society, who’ve problem buying medical health insurance, are required to pay extra for providers with the identical medical doctors and services than insurance coverage firms pay. Insurers profit from “negotiated pricing.” These with no insurance coverage are required to pay all the “inflated” invoice for medical providers. Most instances, the distinction between the quantity a health care provider or medical supplier payments, in contrast with the precise fee medical doctors obtain from insurance coverage firms, is roughly 20% of the quantity billed.
It’s patently unfair to require uninsured sufferers to pay greater than insurance coverage firms pay. Uninsured people have an unfair bargaining energy, in contrast with insurance coverage firms. A very good instance is demonstrated in your article of the lady who acquired an uncovered emergency medical flight earlier than her loss of life, and her heirs have been left with an outrageous invoice of $81 (“Without Medicare Part B’s Shield, Patient’s Family Owes $81,000 for a Single Air-Ambulance Flight,” Feb. 27). If her household was instructed they have been liable for $81,000 for the air ambulance, the transport wouldn’t have occurred.
The follow of holding uninsured individuals liable for “whole” medical payments typically, in essence, causes somebody who doesn’t have protection — largely due to affordability — to complement the income of medical doctors and medical suppliers by being required to pay the complete inflated quantity billed for medical providers.
Insurance coverage firms defend this follow of “negotiated pricing,” when, in essence, it’s used to drive those that can least pay to complement losses suffered by the medical doctors for discounted funds from insurers.
There must be regulation that prohibits medical suppliers from price-gouging the uninsured, forcing them to complement medical doctors’ and suppliers’ earnings to make up for underpayments from insurers. Many instances, uninsured people are already dwelling at or close to poverty ranges earlier than incurring sudden medical obligations. Being hit with a shock invoice for an air-ambulance trip costing $81,000 is ample to trigger the affected person to file for chapter. Within the U.S., the No. 1 motive folks file for chapter safety is due to medical payments.
Our present system of administering well being care and funds for such is damaged and must be mounted. As soon as this disparate system of funds is rectified, well being care ought to develop into much more accessible to most of the people.
— Ronald B. Kaplan, Holbrook, Massachusetts
On X, a public well being scholar shared our article concerning the unintended effects of the anti-vaccine motion:
A TN legislation now means they foster dad and mom, social employees & different caregivers can’t present permission for childhood vaccines — a vital a part of well being care for youths. We have to take antivaxxers severely as a result of they’re severely harming public well being. https://t.co/6jX7ltNq4i
— Jenn Kauffman, Washington, D.C.
Not Vaccinated? Get Education Elsewhere
I’m a father and a major care doctor. I simply learn Amy Maxmen’s article “How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health” (March 12) and commend her for her balanced and fact-based presentation.
I really feel that an vital facet is lacking from such articles — that being the rights of the vast majority of dad and mom who assist vaccination to have their kids within the most secure doable atmosphere in public faculties. We all know that no vaccine is ideal, and that our youngsters are nonetheless in danger for measles, covid, and different ailments, regardless of profiting from the confirmed advantages of vaccines.
I imagine that oldsters who train their rights to not have their kids vaccinated ought to be required to homeschool, or to ship their kids to non-public faculties having insurance policies with which they agree. I’m conscious that solely a tiny proportion of Individuals would agree with me.
— John Cottle, Mendocino, California
Medical psychologist Carl Hindy appeared impressed by our article on a expensive new postpartum despair remedy:
[Instead of gender reveal parties, we can have Pharma baby showers 😢] A New $16,000 Postpartum Melancholy Drug Is Right here. How Will Insurers Deal with It? – KFF Well being Information https://t.co/1CVZEX7yf8
— Carl Hindy, Exeter, New Hampshire
Tending to New Moms’ Wants
It was heartbreaking to learn that non-public well being insurers have successfully delayed the provision of a revolutionary remedy for postpartum despair, a debilitating situation that makes it troublesome for brand spanking new dad and mom to care for his or her households, work, and even get away from bed (“A New $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?” March 12).
As one of many 1 in 5 new moms who struggled with this horrible sickness when my very own son was born, I can solely hope zuranolone is made extensively accessible very quickly. As an advocate for the rights of pregnant employees, I hope that psychological well being care suppliers are conscious that there’s one other new and revolutionary software that’s at their disposal right now to assist sufferers fighting prenatal and postpartum psychological well being situations. A brand new federal legislation, the Pregnant Staff Equity Act, offers employees the best to obtain modifications at work wanted for pregnancy-related psychological well being situations. The Pregnant Staff Equity Act, which applies to employers with 15 or extra workers, requires they supply cheap lodging for being pregnant, childbirth, and associated medical situations, as long as it doesn’t impose an undue hardship. For instance, a brand new mom experiencing a perinatal psychological well being situation could also be eligible to obtain a modified schedule, time without work to attend psychological well being appointments, a extra non-public workspace, permission to do business from home, or some other “cheap lodging” that can tackle their wants. Psychological well being care suppliers ought to assist their sufferers by discussing their work-related challenges, serving to to determine office modifications, and writing efficient work notes to their sufferers’ employers.
Well being care suppliers and their sufferers can entry free sources from the College of California Regulation-San Francisco Middle for WorkLife Regulation on office lodging for perinatal psychological well being situations at pregnantatwork.org. Well being care suppliers or workers with questions can contact the Middle for WorkLife Regulation’s free and confidential authorized helpline at 415-703-8276 or ho*****@wo*********.org.
— Juliana Franco, San Francisco
Concern of Needles Is Generally Unfounded
I learn your article “Needle Pain Is a Big Problem for Kids. One California Doctor Has a Plan” (March 20). I can let you know from expertise that the needle will not be the supply of the ache. After a bone marrow transplant from a donor, I needed to get all these childhood vaccines and people for adults 65 and older. The needle stick can barely be felt; it’s the remedy moving into that’s painful. The world you get the vaccine in is then sore for a number of days. That has been my expertise.
— Patsy Rowan, Los Angeles
Radiologist Ian Weissman chimed in on X about pain-reduction methods:
Researchers have helped develop a 5 step plan to assist stop what they name “useless ache” for youngsters getting injections or their blood drawnhttps://t.co/mCi8Tx6ILn
— Ian Weissman, Milwaukee
Knowledgeable on the Distinction Between Mis- and Disinformation
First, I’m grateful in your continued investigative reporting on covid-19.
Second, I’m writing to share a perspective that I belief you’ll be able to share with the author of “Four Years After Shelter-in-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists” (April 1). My focus is on the time period “info” and its variants.
Particularly, I discover it useful to tell apart linguistically three variants:
I discover the conflation of “mis” and “dis” to be in and of itself dangerous to those that convey “mis” after which appropriate in addition to giving those that use “dis” for less-than-honorable functions cowl, a protected haven, and a “get-out-of-jail card.”
For instance, it’s well-known that Fox Information internally adhered to info primarily based on scientific knowledge and medical proof in the course of the covid-19 pandemic state of emergency. Concurrently, it parlayed info externally that may solely be characterised as “dis.”
What I discover stunning is the actual fact (I stand to be corrected ought to I be misinformed) that nobody has discovered at the least one particular person who acted upon Fox Information’ disinformation that resulted in morbidity and/or mortality — or wrongful loss of life litigation.
Sustain the great work.
— Ed Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Group Well being Companies, Littleton, New Hampshire
A communications specialist outdoors Chicago known as out disinformation in an X publish:
Disinformation is public well being enemy 1. Those that begin it and unfold it are poisonous for our society.
— Michelle Rathman, Geneva, Illinois
States Ought to Not Spend Opioid Settlement Money on Unproven Tech
Aneri Pattani did a superb job reporting on the occasion in Cell, Alabama, on Jan. 24, the place the Poarch Band of Creek Indians offered a examine for $500,000 from the tribe’s opioid settlement funds to the Helios Alliance (“Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Spend Opioid Settlement Cash?” March 5).
Helios, which incorporates for-profit and nonprofit organizations, will use funds to construct a proprietary simulation mannequin to assist leaders resolve find out how to spend settlement funds. In line with Helios, the preliminary system is not going to be accomplished earlier than spring 2024.
As a digital product supervisor for the previous 20 years, I perceive the potential of know-how to enhance well being care, however settlement funds shouldn’t be financing early-stage, proprietary applied sciences developed by private-sector firms. Helios’ pitch is: “… spend 5% [of settlement funds] so that you get the largest affect with the opposite 95%,” says Rayford Etherton, who fashioned the alliance. However given the nationwide settlement is $50 billion over the subsequent 18 years, 5% implies that $2.5 billion would go to a doubtlessly proprietary resolution.
Whereas the promise of a brand new know-how simulation mannequin is thrilling, it’s additionally high-risk. Furthermore, whereas revered specialists like Stephen Loyd are concerned with Helios, there aren’t skilled synthetic intelligence engineers, digital product specialists, knowledge scientists, or safety specialists listed on the Helios web site.
Any know-how developed utilizing opioid settlement funds ought to be open-source and free to all states. Extra transparency from Helios is required to explain possession, person entry phrases, and licensing charges.
Settlement funds ought to be deployed to confirmed, evidence-based options. Given the opioid disaster has been raging for 20 years, well being care specialists have already got data-driven insights on find out how to repair this: improve entry to medication-assisted remedy; scale back limitations to doctor licensing for buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone; improve schooling in faculties; improve social providers resembling employment and baby care; and improve funding to legislation enforcement to struggle unlawful opioids (particularly, fentanyl).
Fairly than placing giant settlement investments right into a not-yet-built simulation mannequin, states ought to use a human-centered design method primarily based on analysis from sufferers, suppliers, relations, and neighborhood teams which were battling the opioid disaster for many years to drive preliminary investments throughout the ecosystem of opioid disaster drivers. As soon as Helios has a working simulation product examined and in manufacturing, states can think about small investments to pilot utilization and see if the product truly produces the specified outcomes.
The continuing mantra of “public-private partnerships” is a superb concept, however the public sector shouldn’t find yourself paying the invoice and taking up all the chance.
— Kelly O’Connor, Washington, D.C.
A professor in Weill Cornell Drugs’s Division of Inhabitants Well being Sciences shared insights on X:
Fascinating article. On the one hand “Information doesn’t save lives. Numbers on a pc don’t save lives,” vs the town has an obligation to make use of its settlement funds “in a manner that’s going to do essentially the most good…as a substitute of merely guessing.” https://t.co/w4QJ7zOkgM
— Bruce Schackman, New York Metropolis
We encourage organizations to republish our content material, freed from cost. Right here’s what we ask:
You could credit score us as the unique writer, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org web site. If doable, please embody the unique writer(s) and KFF Well being Information” within the byline. Please protect the hyperlinks within the story.
It’s vital to notice, not every little thing on kffhealthnews.org is out there for republishing. If a narrative is labeled “All Rights Reserved,” we can not grant permission to republish that merchandise.
Have questions? Tell us at KHNHelp@kff.org
Almost 1 in 4 Adults Dumped From Medicaid Are Now Uninsured, Survey Finds
As Bans Unfold, Fluoride in Ingesting Water Divides Communities Throughout the US
California Fails to Adequately Assist Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Choose Guidelines
After Uphill Battle, Firm Is Poised for Takeover of Bankrupt California Hospital
© 2024 KFF. All rights reserved.
Powered by WordPress VIP
Thanks in your curiosity in supporting Kaiser Well being Information (KHN), the nation’s main nonprofit newsroom targeted on well being and well being coverage. We distribute our journalism totally free and with out promoting via media companions of all sizes and in communities giant and small. We recognize all types of engagement from our readers and listeners, and welcome your assist.
KHN is an editorially impartial program of KFF (Kaiser Household Basis). You possibly can assist KHN by making a contribution to KFF, a non-profit charitable group that’s not related to Kaiser Permanente.
Click on the button under to go to KFF’s donation web page which can present extra info and FAQs. Thanks!
