Upsurge of suburban poor discover health care’s nowhere land, By Elaine Korry, February 9, 2018, Washington Post: “The promise of cheaper housing brought Shari Castaneda to Palmdale, Calif., in northern Los Angeles County, about nine years ago. The single mom with five kids had been struggling to pay the bills. ‘I kept hearing that the rent was a lot cheaper out here, so I moved,’ she said. But when she developed health problems — losing her balance and falling — Castaneda found fewer care options in her new town. Unable to find local specialty care, she traveled nearly 65 miles to a public hospital in Los Angeles, where doctors discovered a tumor on her spine…”
Category: Health
Kids Count Report – Indiana
- 2018 Kids Count: Ind. ranks 28th overall, 41st for infant deaths, By Jill Sheridan, February 5, 2018, Indiana Public Media: “The 24th annual Indiana Youth Institute’s Kids Count Data Book was released Monday. The data tool measures the well-being of Hoosier children. Overall Indiana ranks 28th nationally, but near the bottom in several categories…”
- Achievement gap still present in Indiana schools, By Caele Pemberton, February 4, 2018, Kokomo Tribune: “There is still a wide achievement gap in Indiana schools. This is according to data compiled by the Indiana Youth Institute, which each year releases data on Hoosier children. The 2018 Kids Count Data Book, supported and coordinated by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, looks at a range of factors affecting childhood well-being in Indiana, including economic, health, safety and education factors…”
- Opioid use breaking up families, By Matthew LeBlanc, February 5, 2018, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette: “The opioid epidemic is expanding to affect the children of people who use the drugs, according to the Indiana Youth Institute. The 2018 Kids Count Data Book released today by the Indianapolis nonprofit says more children are being removed from homes where parents are drug users…”
State Medicaid Programs – Indiana, Kentucky
- Indiana’s brand of Medicaid drops 25,000 people for failure to pay premiums, By Phil Galewitz, February 1, 2018, National Public Radio: “As the Trump administration moves to give states more flexibility in running Medicaid, advocates for the poor are keeping a close eye on Indiana to see whether such conservative ideas improve or harm care. Indiana in 2015 implemented some of the most radical changes seen to the state-federal program that covers nearly 1 in 4 low-income Americans — including charging some adults a monthly premium and locking out for six months some of those who don’t pay their premiums…”
- Indiana wins federal permission to adopt Medicaid work requirements, By Amy Goldstein, February 2, 2018, Washington Post: “Indiana has become the second state to win permission from the Trump administration to require certain low-income residents on Medicaid to work, study or perform public service to qualify for the safety-net health insurance…”
- Are Bevin’s new Medicaid rules ‘all about putting up roadblocks’ for poor people?, By John Cheves, February 2, 2018, Lexington Herald-Leader: “Ronnie Stewart spent years as a state social worker. Given his experience in government bureaucracy, Sewart said he understands why Gov. Matt Bevin is going to make many of Kentucky’s Medicaid recipients pay monthly premiums and regularly report their work and income status…”