State News

The federal government approved Arizona’s 1115 demonstration targeted at expanding access to coverage and addressing nutrition and housing needs, report Healthcare Dive. The program will focus on making sure Medicaid beneficiaries have adequate housing with resources to help them transition from temporary to more stable living situations.

New York state is doubling its spending to expand the physician workforce to include more people of color, bringing total efforts to $2.4 million, reports Spectrum News. The effort, first launched in 2017, has had moderate success, but just 12 percent of physicians are Black or Hispanic, despite compromising 30 percent of the state’s overall population. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted health inequities, which rallied support for this initiative. The program is meant to encourage students from diverse communities to pursue jobs in medicine, get accepted to and complete medical school in the state. Experts believe initiatives such as these will help provide trusted voices and more cultural understanding within the healthcare community, and, thus, improve equitable outcomes.

More than half of Connecticut residents with private insurance are enrolled in a high deductible health plan, according to the Connecticut News Junkie. Patients covered by high deductible plans are one-third times more likely to have medical debt, and their debts average $4,000 higher, than people without high deductibles. Medical debt impacts Connecticut residents across the socioeconomic demographic—the  Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, which operates a charity fund for individuals struggling with medical debt in the state, reports that the majority of their applicants receive insurance coverage through their employer but are underinsured at the time of receiving care.

Oklahoma has approved and is in the process of implementing a 25 percent rate increase for providers who work with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reports The Oklahoman. Policymakers claim that the impetus for the increase is the 13-year wait list for intellectual and developmental disability services in the state, which lead to poor health outcomes and an increased reliance on private and unpaid caregiving across Oklahoma–which can be expensive and time consuming for families. DHS bumped its provider reimbursement rates to increase pay for a variety of medical professionals, including nurses, speech therapists, group home employees and direct care staffers who help developmentally disabled Oklahomans and those who help low-income seniors.

The 2022 RAND 4.0 study found that Indiana has the seventh highest hospital costs, relative to Medicare prices, of all states measured, according to WFYI Indianapolis. Around the time of the study, Indiana legislators issued a letter to healthcare providers and insurers stating they would likely take steps to reduce healthcare costs in the next session if the providers and insurers do not make efforts to do so.

The Listening to Black Californians study found that many Black Californian respondents were intentional about their health and have a regular provider, but many have been treated unfairly by healthcare providers because of their race or ethnicity, according to the California Health Care Foundation. In addition, respondents reported avoiding care due to concerns about being treated unfairly or with disrespect. In terms of solutions, respondents reflected on strengthening patient-provider relationships, increasing Black representation among healthcare leaders and providers and expanding community-based education, among other initiatives.

Upon realizing that their white patients fared better than patients of color, the North Carolina Association of Free & Charitable Clinics launched a new initiative focused on health equity in 2021, reports NC Health News. The initiative brought together a 29-member Health Equity Task Force composed of association staff, board members and clinic leaders for discussions about health equity. As a result, many of the member clinics undertook intentional equity work, often focusing on narrowing gaps in access to vaccines and COVID testing and treatment. The next steps for the Association include creating a long-term task force focused on health equity, rather than one that is time limited.

Nearly 30 percent of farmers, surveyed by the New Connecticut Farmers Alliance, describe their health insurance as “unaffordable” or “very unaffordable,” reports Connecticut Public Radio. The article also explains that only 5 percent of farmers or farm workers surveyed in Connecticut receive health insurance through their employer. The challenges surrounding affordable health insurance negatively impact health outcomes and financial security, discourages potential farmers from pursuing the profession and may lead to underinsurance in the population.

Beginning on Oct. 1, 2022, Maryland’s state-designated health information exchange (HIE) connecting healthcare providers and the Maryland Department of Health will have authority to operate as a health data utility (HDU), reports Business Wire. This is the first legislation of its kind to be signed in the U.S. As such, the HIE will be required to provide data in real-time to individuals and organizations involved in the treatment and care coordination of patients and to public health officials to support public health goals. The law also required the Maryland Department of Health, nursing homes, electronic health networks and prescription drug dispensers to provide data to the HIE. Experts note that state designation is key for allowing HIEs to clarify, defragment and secure individual health data before sharing it with the state health department – it also allows enhanced partnership with state public health departments to use data to guide, elevate and ultimately enhance outcomes of public health interventions and state-specific health equity goals.