OB/GYN Services Needed
A free public service for a better community
A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
If there are subjects you’d like to see or improvements made, please let me know using the comment button below.
Videos of these newsletters appear on Youtube on this channel. Let me know what you think.
Certificates of Need (Article in Work)
I am working on articles on Certificates of Need. This is sort of like zoning for healthcare in that the government can restrict how many hospital beds are available in a particular area. It started almost 50 years ago as a way to make sure there were enough healthcare resources. Now it is used to restrict access to care and civil liberties. It isn’t a small problem. Check the map below. States in green have them in place.
Contraception To Be Covered
The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would expand access to contraceptive products, including making over-the-counter birth control and condoms free for the first time for women of reproductive age who have private health insurance. Under the proposal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor Department, and Treasury Department, which was announced by the administration on October 21, 2024, health insurance companies would be required to cover all recommended over-the-counter contraception products.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said when health care insurers impose burdensome administrative or cost sharing requirements for services, “access to contraceptives become even more difficult.”
“We have heard from women who need a specific brand of birth control but the cost of their prescription isn’t covered by their health insurance. We have made clear that in all 50 states the Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage of women’s preventive services without cost sharing, including all birth control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” Becerra told reporters. “This proposed rule will build on the progress we have already made under the Affordable Care Act to help ensure that more women can access the contraceptive services they need without out-of-pocket costs.” (NPR)
Dangerous Lack of Birthing Centers
More than 400 maternity programs closed nationwide between 2006 and 2020. In rural communities, the disappearance of OB services has been particularly impactful. Between 2011 and 2021, 267 rural hospitals closed OB services, representing 25% of all rural OB units in the U.S.
Maternity services typically include care throughout pregnancy, during labor and delivery, and the postnatal period. Without these services, there is a higher risk of maternal and fetal injury or mortality due to complications, such as blood clots, preeclampsia, infection, stroke, excessive blood loss, and obstructed labor, among others. Many of these conditions are preventable or treatable if caught early enough.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 80% of deaths associated with pregnancy are preventable in the presence of adequate maternal care. But when OB services disappear, expecting mothers must travel farther to receive care. In more than 200 rural communities that lost access to OB services from 2011 to 2021, pregnant women must spend an additional 15 to 45 minutes traveling to reach care. (Chartis)
The real answer is to have regional authorities with the responsibility to make sure there is sufficiently accessible healthcare in their region. JUST LIKE IN HR 3421, THE VASTLY IMPROVED MEDICARE FOR ALL ACT.
Until then we need improvements that make birthing care much more accessible.
Expanding telehealth to cover areas where gaps exist. This would require partnerships between hospitals in maternal care deserts and hospitals with a decent sized OB-GYN program.
Running OB-GYN rotations from hospitals with established maternity programs to those in maternal care deserts for prenatal care services. A full hybrid model would include patients traveling to the larger hospital where the OB-GYN originated for labor and delivery.
Launching mobile OB units to reach underserved areas. The CARE for Moms Act, which is not yet passed, includes proposed grants for rural obstetric mobile units.
Creating incentive programs to encourage OB-GYNs to practice in rural areas.
Extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months.
ACTION
Use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PNHMXS to 50409 on your cell phone to send this message to your member of Congress and senators.
“I am your constituent and I want you to know we have a problem with a lack of OB GYN services in the US and it is dangerous.
Between 2006 and 2020 more than 400 maternity programs have closed. Between 2011 and 2021, 267 rural hospitals closed OB services, representing 25% of all rural OB units in the U.S. When a woman has to travel more than 40 minutes to get there her life and the pregnancy are both at risk. I know you don’t want that. This is a dangerous situation and I want to you pay attention and address it. Here is what you can do:
Expand telehealth to cover areas where gaps exist. This would require partnerships between hospitals in maternal care deserts and hospitals with a decent sized OB-GYN program.
Enable Running OB-GYN rotations from hospitals with established maternity programs to those in maternal care deserts for prenatal care services. A full hybrid model would include patients traveling to the larger hospital where the OB-GYN originated for labor and delivery.
Enable Launching mobile OB units to reach underserved areas. The CARE for Moms Act, which is not yet passed, includes proposed grants for rural obstetric mobile units.
Create incentive programs to encourage OB-GYNs to practice in rural areas.
Extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months.
I know you care about healthy women and children, now show it.”
Psychiatric Hospital Greed
The Veterans Affairs Department is investigating whether Acadia Healthcare, one of the country’s largest chains of psychiatric hospitals, is defrauding government health insurance programs by holding patients longer than is medically necessary, according to three people with knowledge of the inquiry. The investigation, led by the agency’s inspector general, comes three weeks after Acadia told investors that it was facing scrutiny for its admissions practices from several other federal investigators, including prosecutors in Manhattan and a grand jury in Missouri. The company, which relies on government insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid for much of its revenue, said it was also expecting to receive inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies. (NY Times)
CVS Workers Have Had Enough
Workers at seven CVS pharmacies in Southern California have gone on strike for better pay and healthcare and to protest what they say is bad-faith contract bargaining by the company. The walkout, which affected four stores in Los Angeles and three in Orange County, began last Friday morning and continued into the weekend. On Saturday outside one of the L.A. stores, strikers urged customers not to cross the picket lines.
CVS Caremark is one of the giants in the healthcare delivery world. They own Aetna Insurance, CVS Stores and the CVS Caremark Pharmacy Benefit Management Corporation.
Their workers want better health insurance!!!. Universal Healthcare - Just say it over and over. Tell Congress - over and over, call them here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
Insurance Cheating Doctors
If you're like most Americans, you prefer to be paid electronically instead of with old-fashioned paper checks. But imagine if your employer forced you to pay a 2% to 5% processing fee out of each paycheck just for the convenience of directly receiving the money you've earned.
While it may sound ludicrous, that is what America's doctors are up against as healthcare insurers and their payment-processing middlemen continue to include hidden predatory fees on every electronic fund transfer (EFT) payment transaction. Such "penalties of convenience" create administrative burdens and cut into practices' often razor-thin margins as they struggle to stay afloat after years of stagnating reimbursement. These fees benefit no one except the middlemen who use them to line their pockets.
PS the cheapest option for the insurance company is the Electronic Transfer. It costs next to nothing. Cutting a paper check costs money. These guys are scum.
Choose Universal Healthcare.
BONUS ACTION
VOTE ACCORDINGLY UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT AND MAKE LYING WRONG AGAIN AGAIN!!!
RESOURCES
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
Thanks for reading Healthcare Advocacy! Subscribe for free to receive new posts