Federal Program to Save Rural Hospitals Feels ‘Growing Pains’
Fewer than two dozen rural hospitals were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals in the program’s first year. Now, advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are necessary to lure more takers and keep health care in rural communities.
People With Disabilities Hope Autonomous Vehicles Deliver Independence
A pilot project in northern Minnesota aims to pave the way for fully autonomous vehicles to offer independence for people who can’t drive.
Millions of Rural Americans Rely on Private Wells. Few Regularly Test Their Water.
More than 43 million Americans drink, bathe, and cook with water from private wells, which can be tainted by farm or industrial runoff, leaky septic systems, or naturally occurring minerals.
As Covid Infections Rise, Nursing Homes Are Still Waiting for Vaccines
“People want covid-19 to be in the rearview mirror,” one nursing home official says. Faced with a slow rollout of the updated covid vaccines, and without state mandates for workers to get vaccinated, most skilled nursing facilities are relying on persuasion to boost vaccination rates among staff and residents.
Rural Nursing Home Supporters Fear Proposed Staffing Standards Will Trigger More Closures
The Biden administration says a recently proposed minimum staffing standard would help ensure quality care, but nursing home leaders predict many rural facilities would struggle to meet it.
More States Legalize Sales of Unpasteurized Milk, Despite Public Health Warnings
Distrust of public health authorities, who say drinking raw milk is dangerous, fuels demand for unpasteurized milk products, leaders on both sides of the issue say.
As Fewer MDs Practice Rural Primary Care, a Different Type of Doctor Helps Take Up the Slack
The number of DOs is surging, and more than half of them practice in primary care, including in rural areas hit hard by doctor shortages.
People With Down Syndrome Are Living Longer, but the Health System Still Treats Many as Kids
The median life expectancy for a U.S. baby born with Down syndrome jumped from about four years in 1950 to 58 years in the 2010s. That’s largely because they no longer can be denied lifesaving care, including surgeries for heart defects. But now, aging adults with Down syndrome face a health system unprepared to care for them.
Mental Health Care by Video Fills Gaps in Rural Nursing Homes
In-person mental health care is hard to arrange in rural nursing homes, so video chats with faraway professionals are filling the gap.
After People on Medicaid Die, Some States Aggressively Seek Repayment From Their Estates
States take drastically different approaches to recovering Medicaid money from deceased participants’ estates. Demands for repayment of Medicaid spending can drain the assets a person leaves behind, depending on where they lived.