Rural Hospitals
Biography of a district: Alabama 2nd district residents lack health care access
The biggest health care issue in Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District? A lack of access to it. It’s an old problem, said Dev Wakeley, a worker policy advocate for Alabama Arise, stemming from a lack of investment from the state and a lack of resources for those living there. “This is a Black Belt district. […]
Auburn University receives grant to expand telehealth access to rural Alabama
Auburn University has received a $2 million grant to expand a model for telehealth services to help address disparities in rural areas throughout the state. The grant, provided by the Alabama Department of Finance, will support the creation of four telehealth health and wellness centers in the Black Belt region for two years, following a […]
10 Medicaid holdout states scramble to improve health coverage
The Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid are trying a variety of strategies to save struggling hospitals and cover more people without full expansion, which was one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Georgia passed a partial expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health coverage to low-income and disabled Americans, […]
You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’
When someone with a medical emergency calls 911, they expect an ambulance to show up. But sometimes, there simply isn’t one available. Most states don’t declare emergency medical services (EMS) to be an “essential service,” meaning the state government isn’t required to provide or fund them. Now, though, a growing number of states are taking […]
Some states back hospital mergers despite record of service cuts, price hikes
Some illnesses and injuries — say, a broken ankle — can send you to numerous health care providers. You might start at urgent care but end up in the emergency room. Referred to an orthopedist, you might eventually land in an outpatient surgery center. Four different stops on your road to recovery. But as supersized […]
Balancing act: Alabama weighs the cost of rural hospital survival with inpatient closure plan
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Thursday voted to solicit public comment on a set of rules that would give rural hospitals some financial relief, but only if they close inpatient facilities. Rural hospitals now have this option through the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, which established rural emergency hospitals as a new Medicare […]