Highlighted Healthcare Studies

News At A Glance

National Trustees of Social Security and Medicare say Medicare will be insolvent by 2026– If the funds become insolvent, hospitals and providers may begin receiving less money for the services they provide to Medicare beneficiaries and there may be cuts to benefits. The Social Security disability program is expected to remain solvent until 2052. Report by non-profit health consumers advocacy group finds that Medicaid enrollment declined by 1.6 million last year–Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri saw the greatest declines. The report finds a link between state policies that have cumbersome eligibility redetermination processes and reductions in enrollment. Some state officials suggest the decline in enrollment is linked to a stronger economy; for a person in Missouri to become ineligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), they would have to rise from 100 percent of the federal poverty line to 310 percent. In Missouri, 85,000 people were dropped from enrollment and the state projected $200 million in savings. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Teva Pharmaceutical’s generic naloxone nasal spray– The brand version Narcan was approved and sold as a nasal spray in 2016. It costs between $130 to $150 for a pack of two sprays. In similar news, the FDA also approved a digital medical device as a therapy for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sixty medical and dental professionals charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for illegally prescribing opioids– Many of the medical professionals were receiving services and payments in exchange for the painkillers. They wrote over 350,000 illegal prescriptions and distributed more than 32 million pain pills across multiple states. In related news, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is providing $350 million in grants to four universities to find ways to reduce overdose deaths by 40 percent over three years. Walgreens increases minimum age to purchase tobacco products in the store from 18 to 21 years– Starting September 1st, patrons under the age of 21 will not be allowed to purchase tobacco products from Walgreens. Earlier this year, the company was found to be in violation of selling tobacco products to minors.

April 24, 2019 | Issue 57

1. Study in the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association (JAMA) Pediatricsfinds that young people between theages of 2 and 19 were more likely toconsume an average of an additional93 calories per day if they did notdrink water that day.

2. Study in the Journal of Health Economicsfinds that daylight savings timeshortens the average sleep time by 19minutes a day, contributing to sleepinsufficiency.

3. Study in Depression and Anxiety findsthat a speech program created by theresearchers was capable of detectingposttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)with 89 percent accuracy by analyzingthe voices of veterans.

4. Study in Pediatrics finds that thenumber of deaths from sudden infantdeath syndrome (SIDs) has increasedfrom 6 per 100,000 infants in 1990 to 23per 100,000 in 2015. Around 70 percentof the SIDs cases investigated between2011 and 2014 involved soft beddingthat suffocated infants.

5. Study in Science Advances finds thatexposure to media coverage of massviolence increases the risk of post-traumatic stress and the likelihood ofwatching more coverage ofsubsequent tragedies in the future.

6. Study in Health Affairs finds thatlimiting people to fruit and vegetable-only nutrition assistance vouchers didnot increase their dietary intake offruits and vegetables.

Healthcare

California Los Angeles (LA) police see 18 percent decline in suspects killed due to violent encounters between 2017 and 2018– LA Police officers also decreased the number of shootings by 25 percent. Last year, 14 people were fatally shot. The victims were disproportionately men of color. The department has increased training and has implemented body cameras. These numbers still represent more shootings and deaths than Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Houston.

Water in communities affected by fires contaminated with carcinogens– Officials found benzene in 30 percent of the water sources. They speculate that this occurred due to the firestorm from last November. It will take many years and nearly $300 million to ensure that residents have access to safe drinking and bathing water. In similar news, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that the state prison in Stockton was contaminated with the Legionella bacteria, which led to the death of one inmate. The facility received a letter stating that the showers must have special filters and all drinking water must be either bottled or from off-site.

Office of Diversion and Reentry in Los Angeles County finding success with diversion program for inmates with medical needs– The officials released a report showing that 90 percent of the inmates who were housed and receiving medical and psychological support remained housed for six months. Candidate eligibility for the program is currently done in the courts. The county is looking to expand the program.

Other States Faith-based center files federal lawsuit against Connecticut city ordinance that requires centers providing pregnancy care to disclose whether they have a medical provider on site– The faith-based organization, Caring Families Pregnancy Services, filed a lawsuit alleging that the city of Hartford is infringing on the center’s right to exercise its religious beliefs. The organization provides ultrasounds, pregnancy testing, adoption referrals, and other services. Hospitals in Massachusetts create alliance to cut supply costs– Independent community hospitals across the state teamed up in 2016 with the Massachusetts Value Alliance to purchase supplies and services together as a way to cut costs and address the financial challenges of community hospitals. Hospital leaders reported millions of dollars in savings. The alliance allows the hospitals to maintain their independence as organizations.

Washington bill to create long-term care benefits for employees passes legislature– If the bill were written into law, employees would be able to pay into the program for a lifetime maximum of $36,500. The program would collect a 0.58 percent premium from the employees’ salaries starting in 2022.

Number of lockdowns increasing in school districts in Colorado– Between the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school year, lockdowns increased by 55 percent. The number of reported threats in the area tripled between 2015 to 2018. In the last school year, lockdowns represented 6 percent of all the school incidents, and most of the incidents occurred in elementary schools.

Direct primary care model offers alternative to fee-for-service insurance billing in Kansas– The direct primary care (DPC) model charges patients a regular fee to cover primary care services. There are no co-pays or hidden fees. Around 26 DPC centers have formed the Midwest Direct Primary Care Alliance in Kansas City. The Alliance negotiates prices for labs and radiology.

American Lung Association finds Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, San Diego, and Denver among the top cities with the worst ozone pollution in the 2019 State of the Air report– California has 10 of the 25 most polluted cities, Texas has three, Colorado has two, and Arizona, Nevada, and Utah each have one. The report finds that 2015 to 2017 were among the hottest years in US records, which drives poor air quality. Roughly 40 percent of the US population lives in a county with an unhealthy amount of ozone or particle pollution, but the figure indicates a 15 percent drop since the 2016 report.

Oral Health

Hunger as a Health

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Mental/Behavioral

Health

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Newsbytes Relevant to Our Strategic Priorities

WalletHub’s 2019 Best and Worst States for Children’s Health Care

To bring focus to our work, the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership has identified three strategic priorities: oral health, mental health and hunger as a health issue. This segment highlights news articles relevant to these priorities.

Top 5 best states

1. Vermont2. Massachusetts3. Rhode Island4. Connecticut5. New Hampshire

The personal finance website WalletHub conducts an annual analysis on the best and worst places for children’s health care using 33 parameters including access to health care, nutrition and physical activity index, and oral health. The survey participants were children between the ages of 0 and 17 who were in excellent or great health.

People with autism or other developmental conditions struggle to get dental care– Dentists often avoid providing care to many of the patients with developmental disabilities because the patients cannot sit through regular cleanings without general anesthesia. Eight in ten people with developmental disease suffer from serious gum infections.

City of Atlanta partners with Lyft to address food deserts in six-month pilot project– The project will identify and enroll 300 low-income households that live in a food desert. Families will be given heavily discounted rides to groceries. The program is modeled after a program in Washington D.C. was considered successful.

Clinics experiment with urgent care models for mental health care– Eight states are experimenting with free-standing community centers to provide on-demand mental health services in urgent care settings. The program in Massachusetts is dealing with challenges such as accessing medical records and providing medications that do not require monitoring.

Top 5 worst states

1. Mississippi2. Oklahoma3. Alaska4. Indiana5. Texas