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States push Medicaid work rules, but few programs help enrollees find jobs
Sam Whitehead, Phil Galewitz and Katheryn Houghton, KFF Health News, April 15
For many years, Eric Wunderlin’s health issues made it difficult for him to find stable employment. In 2018, his Medicaid program helped connect him to a full-time job with health benefits. However, his story is rare. As Republicans in Congress and in several states push to implement work requirements for non-disabled adults covered by Medicaid, the reality is that Medicaid rarely offers help connecting enrollees to jobs. Existing efforts to help Medicaid recipients get a job are mostly ineffective because most of them already have one. Two-thirds of Medicaid recipients work, with most of the rest acting as caregivers, going to school, or unable to hold a job due to disability or illness.
How cutting Medicaid would affect long-term care and family caregivers
Kat McGowan, NPR, April 14
As Congress considers ways to reduce the federal deficit, cuts to Medicaid are a possibility. Family caregivers and people needing long-term care could be hard-hit by cuts to the program. While Medicaid is the federally and state funded health insurance program for low-income individuals, it is also the biggest source of money for long-term care for disabled and elderly people. It pays for 60% of extended nursing home stays and pays wages to caregivers. Experts warn that cuts could lead to hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and in some cases early death among the disabled and elderly.
As CT commemorates HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, concerns loom over federal funding
Katy Golvala, The Connecticut Mirror, April 15
This year, Connecticut’s 25th annual HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event occurred against the backdrop of federal cuts that advocates say threaten to reverse decades of progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Roughly 29% of the nearly 800 National Institutes of Health research grants terminated by the current administration relate to HIV/AIDS. Layoffs and workforce reductions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Health and Human Services could also threaten HIV/AIDS programs. “If we stop putting money into prevention, then the same thing that happened at the beginning of this epidemic will occur again,” said André McGuire, an HIV activist.
“We can’t shrink from the fight”: Black maternal health advocates on the crisis—and the hope—driving change
Jasmine Browley, Essence, April 17
After Dr. Faith Ohuoba, a board-certified OB/GYN, delivered her baby via c-section she noticed swelling in her legs. Her blood pressure had spiked to 200/120 but her doctor ignored her concerns. She trusted her instincts and prescribed herself blood pressure medication, potentially saving her life. “I could have died,” she said. “I’m a physician, and even I was dismissed. So I kept thinking—what happens to the woman who doesn’t know what to look for?” Stories like hers are all too common in the U.S., where Black women are three times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy-related causes.
How a nonprofit organization is bringing showers and dignity to Connecticut’s unhoused community
Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, CT Insider, April 13
On the New Haven Green, a trailer with clean showers offers those who are experiencing homelessness access to safe and private bathing areas for free. The New York-based non-profit Power in a Shower partners with the city of New Haven, Yale New Haven Health, and Cornell Scott Hill Health Center to provide the service. Each person is provided with care kits that include hygiene products, a towel, a clean shirt and more. A recent survey found that many of those who used the showers left feeling content, reported that it helped rebuild their self-confidence, and some said the warm showers helped relieve their chronic pain.