eMagazine March 2023

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OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION Global Health eMagazine March 2023 Highlights Reviews GH Narrative Nobody wants to feel attacked, judged, questioned or unstable. By slowing down, you give yourself the chance to come to an understanding of what is being asked of you. You have the chance to make better choices that benefit all parties involved. You don’t want to neglect yourself by under-representing, wrongly expressing, or not expressing your needs. Asking yourself it’s this the right time for me to be engaged. When you find yourself in a complex situation, allow you to gather all the information needed to deliberate whether the choice or choices you are making align with your values and needs, if it serves in a positive way the relationship and other parties. Don’t allow the pressure of making choices, giving answers, or doing something about a situation to cause you to neglect you from meeting your basic emotional and physical needs. Understanding that you are not required to resolve any difficulty, or conversation in the moment and that you are allowed to feel prepared is one of the most empowering tools you can use for bettering your relationships. Reflections Hispanic and Latinx Voices Global Local Voices of Ugandan Students Nursing Division Women’s Health Education Innovation and Technology Our Beautiful Planet Art to Remind Us of Who We Can Be Article of the Month You’re Invited Photo News Calendar Global Health Family Resources Previous Issues of the eMagazine Olwen Gurry 22
OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION Global Health eMagazine March 2023 Highlights Reviews GH Narrative Reflections Hispanic and Latinx Voices Global Local Voices of Ugandan Students Nursing Division Women’s Health Education Innovation and Technology Our Beautiful Planet Art to Remind Us of Who We Can Be Article of the Month You’re Invited Photo News Calendar Global Health Family Resources Previous Issues of the eMagazine Global Local Health Disparities within our Borders Section Editor: Ritesh Vidhun Closure of Rural Hospitals in the United States; Part 2 Written by Ritesh Vidhun Even if a hospital has a lower number of patients, one may think that medical services have high costs and therefore they should be able to survive. However, in rural communities many of the patients that utilize a hospital’s services rely on federal programs. Around 20% of residents are 65 or older, making them eligible for Medicare, while close to 22% of those under 65 are covered by Medicaid (MACPAC, 2021). Patients under these programs are still treated with the same level of care as anyone else, but the payments that hospitals receive are typically lower compared to those with private insurance. Yet a majority of rural hospital revenue can be attributed to the government, with approximately half coming from Medicare. This is highly problematic since reimbursement rates are quite low for these programs–as a matter of fact in 2020, rural hospitals faced $5.8 billion in Medicare and $1.2 billion in Medicaid underpayments (AHA, 2022). Additionally, rural hospitals are not able to offset this with private payers like many urban hospitals putting them at an even greater disadvantage. The lack of consistent revenue makes it nearly impossible for rural hospitals to flourish leading to such a high number of closures in past decades. Given that this issue impacts such a vast number of Americans, lawmakers at the federal and state levels have proposed unique solutions. These range from bills to increase funding to entirely revamping the way rural hospitals are designated by the government. Given that this problem still persists, there has not been a particular initiative that truly improved the situation. As the pandemic significantly worsened this issue, federal legislators from states more affected were quick to propose various bills. The “Save America’s Rural Hospitals Act of 2021” proposed by Representatives Graves (R-MO-6) and Huffman (D-CA-2) aimed to reform payment requirements in Medicaid and Medicare for rural providers. It would suspend Medicare sequestration, adjust bad debt responsibility from 30% to 15%, extend increased MDH/LVH payments, reauthorize the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, and much more (H.R.6400, 2022). All changes were focused on alleviating the pressures of Medicare and Medicaid on rural hospitals in order to increase efficiency. Additionally in September 2021, the federal government passed a spending bill with a clause that extended Global Local continued on next page >> 23
Page 1 and 2: March 2023 Volume 51 NUVANCE HEALTH
Page 3 and 4: OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION Global Heal
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Page 35 and 36: OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION Planet Eart
Page 39 and 40: OUR PEOPLE, OUR MISSION WHO May Soo
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