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Many readers responded to our data-driven coverage of how ethical and religious directives issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have an impact on care practices at Catholic and Catholic-affiliated hospitals in the United States. And we encourage other readers to share their feedback.
A communications specialist in Seattle stated her view bluntly in an X post.
“More and additional females are working into boundaries to obtaining care as Catholic wisely being methods dangle aggressively purchased secular hospitals in powerful of the country.”
Faith is harming healthcare. https://t.co/O4L9mIzP5K
— JoAnne Dyer (@7Madronas) February 27, 2024
— JoAnne Dyer, Seattle
The Only Separation of Church and Care
At my latest OB-GYN appointment, I was warned that our local hospital, Covenant Medical Center, is affiliated with the Roman Catholic denomination, as is its network of primary care and other clinics, Grace Clinics.
Trying to gain some sense of control over my body, I decided to create a healthcare directive to ensure I would not be taken to any medical facility affiliated with that denomination, to prevent my hospital treatment from being curtailed or impacted by ethical and religious directives, known as ERDs, issued by Roman Catholic bishops (“The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across the United States“, Feb. 17). To do this, I needed to know which facilities are so affiliated. It’s very difficult to find that out.
First, I looked at Grace Sanatorium and Covenant Scientific Middle websites. No mention of affiliation with the church, or ERDs, or how ERDs restrict the types of medical treatments a patient will most likely be equipped (or even educated of the existence of).
When I called Grace Sanatorium, they denied affiliation with the Catholic Church. When I called Covenant Scientific Middle, they also denied affiliation. They are owned by Providence, which is Roman Catholic, despite the fact that it is necessary to complete a deep dive into the available protest material to determine that.
Both the employees are lying or are kept in ignorance so that patients will most likely be kept in ignorance. How can a patient determine whether a hospital will provide them care based on religious beliefs, if the organization conceals its affiliation with those beliefs?
These hospitals have the right to believe whatever they wish. It appears they also currently have the right to mislead patients about it. How can patients become informed healthcare consumers if they cannot access the information they need, and are affirmatively given incorrect information from the organizations?
I actually contacted Providence through its website asking if it is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and, if so, where I can find a list of types of patients that would not be treated in accordance with American Medical Association standards, as well as which treatments, procedures, and medications are potentially not offered or offered only on a limited basis due to that affiliation.
I’ve heard nothing.
— Helen Liggett, Lubbock, Texas
An assistant professor at the Cincinnati Children’s Sanatorium Scientific Middle additionally weighed in on X:
— Elizabeth Lanphier, Cincinnati
Lifestyles at All Costs Is Costly
One component of IVF that’s not being talked about is the discarding of embryos found to have serious medical defects (‘What the Health?’: Alabama Court Rules Embryos Are Children. What Now? Feb. 22). For example, a family may carry a devastating condition and wish to test potential offspring, or defects may arise spontaneously. The Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling suggests that these embryos, too, must be implanted.
The court’s ruling also impacts infants born with severe defects. How much support can be provided to a baby born without parts of the brain and skull (anencephaly), which is not extremely rare? Or one born without kidneys? Or one with the most severe form of brittle-bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta), where every touch can shatter bones? It sounds as if Alabama law now requires maximum support in every case — individually, this would be holier-than-thou sadism. How does the court define life? Merely a beating heart? I can’t imagine a nurse or doctor not leaving or quitting when forced to torture these infants. Then there’s the parents’ torment. Is this godly?
— Gloria Kohut, Grand Rapids, Michigan
On X, an anesthetist and emergency treatment doctor promoted the “What the Successfully being?” podcast episode that delved into the topic:
Check out the latest episode of KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” podcast, where the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling on embryo rights sparks a national debate. Plus, you can imagine abortion bans and Catholic hospital care. Listen at: https://t.co/4hrsEaWXVb#health, #healthpolicy…
— David Moniz (@DrDavidMoniz) February 22, 2024
— David Moniz, Chilliwack, British Columbia
Distilling Statistics on Girls’ Drinking
While the distilled spirits industry opposes excessive consumption by any segment of society, it is important to note that your recent article on women and alcohol did not include federal data showing reductions in alcohol abuse among women in the United States (“More Women Are Drinking Themselves Sick. The Biden Administration Is Concerned“, March 28). For example, the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health data indicates binge drinking among women aged 21 and older declined by more than 6% over the past five years (from 2018 to 2022).
Furthermore, claims in the article that the COVID-19 pandemic “exacerbated binge drinking” are not supported by several federal data sources showing that the pandemic did not produce lasting increases in drinking or harmful drinking.
For instance, a 2023 study using federal data found that, while sales increased at the very beginning of the pandemic, this did not necessarily translate to increased binge drinking or overall consumption in the months that followed. Instead, drinking decreased — both days per month drinking and drinks per day — as did binge drinking. Moreover, the same federal NSDUH data referenced above indicates that about 9 out of 10 U.S. adults aged 21 and older (89%) report drinking the same amount or less than they did before the pandemic.
The article additionally cites an outdated World Burdens of Disease list published in 2018 to support claims that “no amount of alcohol is safe” while ignoring the updated GBD list published in 2022. Importantly, this latest GBD overview concluded there are drinking levels “at which the health risk is similar to that of a non-drinker” and that “for participants age 40+, drinking small amounts of alcohol is not inappropriate to health.”
Reporting on alcohol overview supplies well-known files for patrons, so it is imperative that such reporting appropriately shows the most fresh proof on alcohol and wisely being. We aid all adults who resolve to drink — females and males — to drink in moderation, to phrase the advice of the Dietary Systems for American citizensand to search the advice of with their wisely being care suppliers who can reduction resolve what is finest for them in step with particular person factors and family history.
— Amanda Berger, vice president of science and health, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Washington, D.C.
A licensed professional who specializes in fighting insurance denials told our March “Bill of the Month” feature in an X post:
— Scott Glovsky, Pasadena, California
Working Within a Damaged Health Care System
Due to Molly Castle Work for the fantastic article about the England family’s struggles with our damaged health care system (“A Mother’s $97,000 Bill: How Was Her Child’s Air-Ambulance Ride Not Medically Necessary?” March 25). One avenue of resolution that was not mentioned in your fantastic article is the California Department of Managed Health Care. I’m a physician, and we had a comparable, but also very costly ($90,000), health care bill. It took two years and two appeals to that division, but, in the end, we were reimbursed by our insurance company. That is a resource that needs to be more widely known.
— Erica Buhrmann, Berkeley, California
An Unfair Burden on Those Most in Need
It’s hard to understand why those most vulnerable in society, who struggle to afford health insurance, are required to pay more for services and products from the same doctors and facilities than insurance companies pay. Insurers benefit from “negotiated pricing.” Those without insurance are required to pay the full “inflated” bill for medical services and products. In most cases, the difference between the amount a healthcare provider bills and the actual payment doctors receive from insurance companies is approximately 20% of the billed amount.
It’s patently unfair to require uninsured patients to pay higher than insurance protection companies pay. Uninsured participants dangle an unfair bargaining power, when put next with insurance protection companies. A factual example is demonstrated to your article of the girl who purchased an uncovered emergency medical flight forward of her dying, and her heirs were left with an imperfect invoice of $81 (“With out Medicare Part B’s Defend, Affected person’s Family Owes $81,000 for a Single Air-Ambulance Flight,” Feb. 27). If her family used to be told they were accountable for $81,000 for the air ambulance, the transport set aside no longer need occurred.
The practice of holding uninsured patients responsible for “full” medical bills generally means that someone without insurance—often due to affordability—ends up subsidizing the income of doctors and medical providers by being required to pay the inflated amount billed for medical services.
Insurance companies defend this practice of “negotiated pricing,” when, in reality, it is used to shift costs onto those least able to pay, compensating doctors for the lower payments they receive from insurers.
There needs to be laws that prohibit medical suppliers from price-gouging the uninsured, forcing them to supplement doctors’ and suppliers’ earnings to make up for underpayments from insurers. Over and over, uninsured participants are already living at or near poverty levels before incurring unexpected medical obligations. Being hit with a surprise bill for an air-ambulance ride costing $81,000 is enough to cause the patient to file for bankruptcy. In the U.S., the No. 1 reason people file for bankruptcy protection is resulting from medical bills.
Our current system for administering healthcare and payments is broken and needs to be fixed. Once this inequitable payment system is corrected, healthcare can become significantly more accessible to the general public.
— Ronald B. Kaplan, Holbrook, Massachusetts
On X, a public health scholar shared our article about the side effects of the anti-vaccine movement:
A TN law now says they foster other people, social workers & other caregivers can’t provide consent for childhood vaccines — an essential part of health care in early life.
We want to understand antivaxxers seriously because they are seriously harming public health. https://t.co/6jX7ltNq4i
— jenn kauffman ✨ (@jennaudrey) March 12, 2024
— Jenn Kauffman, Washington, D.C.
Not Vaccinated? Seek Education Elsewhere
I’m a father and an essential care physician. I truly read Amy Maxmen’s article “How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health” (March 12) and commend her for her balanced and evidence-based presentation.
I articulate that a well-known component is missing from such articles — that being the rights of nearly all of oldsters who pork up vaccination to dangle their early life in the most receive that you simply would be able to imagine atmosphere in public colleges. Everybody knows that no vaccine is nice, and that our early life are composed at menace for measles, covid, and other illnesses, no topic taking reduction of the proven benefits of vaccines.
I imagine that folk who direct their rights to no longer dangle their early life vaccinated desires to be required to homeschool, or to send their early life to personal colleges having insurance policies with which they agree. I’m wide awake that virtually all effective a small share of American citizens would agree with me.
— John Cottle, Mendocino, California
Clinical psychologist Carl Hindy said he was impressed by our article on a costly new postpartum depression therapy:
[Instead of gender reveal parties, we can have Pharma baby showers ????] A Recent $16,000 Postpartum Despair Drug Is Right here. How Will Insurers Take care of It? – KFF Successfully being News https://t.co/1CVZEX7yf8
— Carl Hindy, Ph.D., HSP, Scientific Psychologist (@DrCarlHindy) March 18, 2024
— Carl Hindy, Exeter, New Hampshire
Tending to Recent Mothers’ Needs
It used to be heartbreaking to read that private health insurers have effectively delayed the provision of a modern therapy for postpartum depression, a debilitating condition that makes it difficult for new parents to care for their families, work, or even get out of bed (“A Recent $16,000 Postpartum Depression Drug Is Here. How Will Insurers Handle It?” March 12).
As someone who was one of the 1 in 5 new moms who struggled with this dreadful illness when my own son was born, I can only hope zuranolone is made widely available very soon. As an advocate for the rights of pregnant workers, I hope that mental health care providers are aware that there is another new and modern tool available today to support patients dealing with prenatal and postpartum mental health conditions. A new federal law, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, gives workers the right to receive adjustments at work needed for pregnancy-related mental health conditions. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which applies to employers with 15 or more employees, requires them to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, as long as it does not impose an undue hardship. For example, a new mom experiencing a perinatal mental health condition may be eligible to receive a modified schedule, break time to attend mental health appointments, a more private workspace, permission to work from home, or another “reasonable accommodation” that can meet their needs. Mental health care providers can support their patients by discussing their work-related challenges, helping to identify appropriate work adjustments, and writing effective work notes to their patients’ employers.
Successfully being care suppliers and their patients can access free resources from the University of California Law-San Francisco Center for WorkLife Law on work accommodations for perinatal mental health conditions at pregnantatwork.org. Health care providers or employees with questions can contact the Center for WorkLife Law’s free and confidential helpline at 415-703-8276 or [email protected].
— Juliana Franco, San Francisco
Agonize of Needles Is Every so continuously Pretend
I read your article “Needle Inconvenience Is a Immense Drawback for Children. One California Doctor Has a Thought” (March 20). I will notify you from ride that the needle is no longer the source of the be anxious. After a bone marrow transplant from a donor, I needed to receive all those childhood vaccines and those for adults 65 and older. The needle stick can barely be felt; it’s the treatment entering into that’s painful. The establish you receive the vaccine in is then sore for so much of days. That has been my ride.
— Patsy Rowan, Los Angeles
Radiologist Ian Weissman chimed in on X about anxiety-reducing methods:
Researchers have helped assemble a five-step plan to help stop what they call “needless anxiety” for children getting injections or having their blood drawnhttps://t”>https://t.co/mCi8Tx6ILn
— Ian Weissman, DO (@DrIanWeissman) March 29, 2024
— Ian Weissman, Milwaukee
Instructed on the Difference Between Mis- and Disinformation
First, I’m grateful for your continued investigative reporting on covid-19.
2nd, I’m writing to share a viewpoint that I believe you would be able to share with the author of “Four Years After Refuge-in-Command, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists” (April 1). My focus is on the term “data” and its variants.
Specifically, I find it useful to distinguish linguistically three variants:
I find the conflation of “mis” and “dis” to be in and of itself inappropriate to people who issue “mis” and then correct it, as well as giving people who use “dis” for less-than-honorable purposes cover, a safe haven, and a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
To illustrate, it is well known that Fox News internally adhered to information based on scientific information and medical evidence at some point during the covid-19 pandemic state of emergency. Concurrently, it disseminated information externally that can only be characterized as “dis.”
What I find alarming is the fact (I stand to be corrected if I am misinformed) that no one has found at least one person who acted upon Fox News’ disinformation that resulted in morbidity and/or mortality — or wrongful death litigation.
Handle the factual work.
— Ed Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, Littleton, New Hampshire
A communications specialist outside Chicago called out disinformation in an X post:
Disinformation is public wisely being enemy 1. Folks that open it and unfold it are toxic for our society.
— Michelle Rathman ???? (the true one) (@MRBImpact) April 1, 2024
— Michelle Rathman, Geneva, Illinois
States Should Not Use Opioid Settlement Cash on Unproven Tech
Aneri Pattani did an excellent job reporting on the event in Mobile, Alabama, on Jan. 24, where the Poarch Band of Creek Indians presented a request for $500,000 from the tribe’s opioid settlement funds to the Helios Alliance (“Statistical Models vs. Front-Line Workers: Who Knows Best How to Use Opioid Settlement Cash?” March 5).
Helios, which includes for-profit and nonprofit organizations, will use funds to develop a proprietary simulation model to help leaders decide how to spend settlement funds. According to Helios, the initial blueprint is likely not completed before spring 2024.
As a digital product supervisor for the previous two decades, I understand the value of craftsmanship to improve healthcare, but settlement funds must not be financing early-stage, proprietary technologies developed by private-sector companies. Helios’ pitch is: “… spend 5% [of settlement funds] so that you simply get the greatest impact from the other 95%,” says Rayford Etherton, who formed the alliance. Nonetheless given the nationwide settlement is $50 billion over the next 18 years, 5% amounts to $2.5 billion that would go to a potentially proprietary solution.
While the promise of a new abilities simulation model is intriguing, it’s also high-risk. Furthermore, while respected experts such as Stephen Loyd are enthusiastic about Helios, there are no experienced artificial intelligence engineers, digital product specialists, data scientists, or security specialists listed on the Helios website.
Any technology developed using opioid settlement funds must be open-source and free to all states. More transparency from Helios is needed to disclose ownership, user access terms, and licensing fees.
Settlement funds should be deployed to proven, evidence-based strategies. Given the opioid crisis has been ongoing for two decades, healthcare professionals have already gathered data-driven insights on how to address this: expand access to medication-assisted treatment; reduce barriers to physician licensing for buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone; expand training in schools; support social services such as employment and child care; and increase funding for law enforcement to combat illegal opioids (namely, fentanyl).
In order to make significant settlement investments into a not-yet-built simulation model, states can choose to adopt a human-centered approach based on input from patients, providers, family members, and community groups that have been fighting the opioid crisis for years to drive initial investments across the ecosystem of opioid crisis drivers. Once Helios has a working simulation product tested and in production, states can consider small investments to pilot usage and see if the product actually produces the desired outcomes.
The ongoing mantra of “public-private partnerships” is a great idea, but the public sector as a whole should not end up paying the bill and bearing all the risk.
— Kelly O’Connor, Washington, D.C.
A professor in Weill Cornell Remedy’s Department of Inhabitants Successfully being Sciences shared insights on X:
Provocative article. On the one hand “Data does not build lives. Numbers on a computer do not build lives,” vs the city has a responsibility to spend its settlement funds “in a way that will do the most good…instead of merely guessing.” https://t.co/w4QJ7zOkgM
— Bruce Schackman (@BruceSchackman) March 6, 2024
— Bruce Schackman, New York City
Originally reported by kffhealthnews.org. Adapted for our readers.
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