Articles Tagged: Rural hospitals

Nationwide, states are racing to win their share of a new $50 billion rural health fund. But helping rural hospitals, as originally envisioned, is quickly becoming a quaint idea.

Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Wednesday he is committed to investigating the members of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation who served during the Biden administration over indictments against President Donald Trump.

Plans by Senate Republicans to scale back a Medicaid provider tax that states like Iowa use to fund their Medicaid program could deal a greater financial blow to rural hospitals, state and national hospital groups warn.

As the country grapples with a health care workforce shortage, health care facilities across Iowa, especially in rural areas, will see some assistance under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa, with 3.2 million residents, has a total of about 760 inpatient mental health beds that are staffed to care for patients. The Treatment Advocacy Center says the “absolute minimum” of such beds would translate to about 960 for Iowa’s population, and the optimal number would be about 1,920.

The U.S. faces a crucial shortage of medical providers, especially in rural areas. The problem has been building for a while, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated it by pushing many doctors over the edge into early retirement or other fields.

The physician shortage is not exclusive to Iowa, as the projected physician shortfall could reach as high as 86,000 physicians by 2036, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. But compared with other states, Iowa’s shortage is one of the most dire.

Also, House lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would make it a crime to send unsolicited sexually-explicit photos or videos. One legislator dubbed it the “anti cyber flashing” bill.

Also, new Iowa House Rep. Blaine Watkins — elected to replace Rep. Martin Graber — is sworn in

Hospital leaders gathered Tuesday at the Iowa Capitol to show support for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal to improve access to high-quality health care in rural Iowa and address the state's shortage of health care professionals.

Plans outlined this week by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to address the state’s physician shortage by increasing medical residency slots in the state could help bolster access to physician services and rural health care. One Iowa hospital CEO says the challenge will be making sure new residency slots can be supported at hospitals across the state.

In some rural Iowa counties, birth rates have fallen by three-quarters since the height of the baby boom in the 1950s and ‘60s, when many rural hospitals were built or expanded.

The 340B program lets eligible hospitals and clinics buy drugs at a discount and then bill insurance companies, Medicare, or Medicaid at market rates. Hospitals get to keep the money they make from the difference. But emergency hospitals — a designation created to help struggling small hospitals — are not eligible for 340B discounts.

Keokuk’s shuttered hospital was among the fewer than two dozen rural hospitals that were converted into Rural Emergency Hospitals in the program’s first year. Now, advocates and lawmakers say tweaks to the law are necessary to lure more takers and keep health care in rural communities.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill supporters say will help address the healthcare needs of Iowa’s underserved rural communities.