Rural Reporter
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Preexisting Condition Provision of ACA Challenged
(06/08/2018)
The Department of Justice will not defend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that protect patients with preexisting conditions, according to a lawsuit. Under the current Affordable Care Act, consumers cannot face denial of coverage or higher premiums from their health insurers, but that may soon change if a lawsuit, Texas v. Azar , is successful. The lawsuit, which is led by the state of Texas and joined by Wisconsin and eighteen other states, argues that after Congress eliminated the penalty for the individual mandate last year, the individual mandate became unconstitutional. If the judge agrees, 52 million Americans with preexisting conditions could face denial of coverage or higher premiums. (Source: CNN; Photo: Patient Care Technician)
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CDC: Suicide Rates On the Rise, Including in Wisconsin
(06/08/2018)
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that suicide rates are on the rise for nearly every state in the nation since 1999. Wisconsin fits with the national trend: the statewide suicide rate has increased by nearly 26 percent over the past two decades. According to the statistics, suicides often seem to happen without warning and without a previously known mental health issue. Among the many factors that contribute to the decision to commit suicide are relationship, substance use, health, job or financial problems. (Source: National Public Radio; Image: Percent change in annual suicide rate by state from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
To reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). A directory of county-level coalitions and crisis lines within Wisconsin is available here.
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More On the Rural Dentist Shortage
(06/07/2018)
Many rural areas across the country are feeling a shortage of dentists, and about forty-three percent of rural Americans lack access to any kind of dental care. Some solutions, such as loan assistance programs and changes to state law to increase flexibility for dental therapists to practice, are working to bring dental care to rural areas. But these solutions often don't address the difficulties rural Americans face in affording oral health care in the first place. (Source: The Washington Post; Photo: Yingpis Kalayom on Unsplash)
And for more on Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas in Wisconsin, see our map.
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Contest/Grant Program to Fund Programs for Local Communities
(06/06/2018)
A new multi-million dollar philanthropic initiative is now taking applications to award $1 million each to ten organizations dedicated to improving local economies and expanding economic opportunity for low-income and financially insecure people. The initiative, called the Communities Thrive Challenge, was purposely designed more like a contest than a regular grant in order to attract new kinds of potential grantees, including underfunded rural organizations. Applicants must register by next Tuesday, June 12th, 8 pm Central Time. Applications are then due the following week, on Tuesday, June 19th, at 8 pm Central Time. Applications will then be considered over a six-month period and will be considered on factors of scale, impact, community-drivenness, and leadership. (Source: Daily Yonder; Image: Community Thrive Challenge)
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Visualizing Medication-Assisted Treatment in Wisconsin
(06/06/2018)
The Uniform Data System (UDS) Mapper is an interactive tool to visualize service area information for Health Center Program (HCP) grantees and look-alikes, and compares that information with community/population data. The recently-updated tool now is able to identify areas of high need and existing services for Medication-Assisted Treatment, and users are able to visualize trends in drug poisoning mortality, the opioid dispensing rate, and the number of DEA waiver programs for medication-assisted treatment (MAT). There are several upcoming webinars to learn how to use the UDS Mapper; times and dates are listed here.
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New Data on Wisconsin's Demographic Shifts
(06/06/2018)
According to census figures released in December 2017, Wisconsin has gained 108,195 new residents in the past seven years. Yet the projected population decrease in rural areas of Wisconsin is indeed happening, with Adams, Ashland, Iron and Rusk counties losing four percent or more of their population between April 2010 and July 2017. Each of these four rural counties experienced a different balance of factors for their population loss, which in turn indicates slightly different stories — social, economic, and otherwise — at play. (Source and Image: WisContext)
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Improving Health and Equity in Rural Communities
(06/06/2018)
Rural counties continue to lag behind more urbanized ones in factors that play a critical role in a community’s overall health. But while much of the research exploring rural health issues in the U.S. focuses on disparities – increased health risks “related to geographic, socioeconomic, environmental and other factors” – seldom is attention paid to the strengths and assets within these communities that can be, and often are, deployed to improve health. (Source: Daily Yonder; Photo: County Health Rankings - Wisconsin)
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Know Meth Campaign Enters Second Phase
(06/05/2018)
Know Meth, a state campaign to show the dangers of methamphetamine addiction, has entered its second phase and will show up in advertisements in print, broadcast, and online media. The campaign is a response to the increasing rate of meth abuse in Wisconsin, and is a project of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Northwoods Coalition, and Alliance for Wisconsin Youth. According to statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the number of meth cases analyzed by the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories has rocketed up by nearly 500% from 2010 to 2017. Materials and resources are available here. (Source: WBAY; Image: @WisDOJ on Twitter)
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Wisconsin: Rural Residents More Likely to Be Obese
(06/05/2018)
Researchers at the Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Initiative are the first to make new maps in a report detailing the rate of obesity in Wisconsin by ZIP code. They find that the patterns of obesity in Wisconsin vary widely by age and place, with adult rates ranging from 15.9% to 67.2%. The report concludes that rural areas generally had higher obesity rates than urban or suburban ones, a trend that could reflect less access to health care and affordable, healthy foods in rural places, a greater dependency on driving or other factors. (Source: Wisconsin Health Atlas and Wisconsin State Journal; Image: Map of Adult Obesity Rates from Wisconsin Health Atlas)
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An Average Family's Health Care Cost Is Over $28,000
(06/04/2018)
The Milliman Medical Index is an annual measure of the full cost of healthcare benefits for a typical American family of four receiving coverage from an employer-sponsored health care plan. According to this year's newly-release Index, the average cost of health insurance, including deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses, is estimated to be $28,166. The Index reports that the pace of healthcare cost growth has slowed, but the costs themselves are still at record levels. The report also shows that employees are footing a greater portion of their healthcare costs, and that prescription drug expenditures have declined. (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Image: Milliman Medical Index)
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Wisconsin High School Students Learn To Save a Life
(06/04/2018)
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Wisconsin to Provide Free Surveillance to Combat Abuse
(06/04/2018)
Wisconsin is the second state in the nation to provide families with free surveillance devices in order to combat instances of possible abuse toward older adults. Often, cases of abuse go unresolved due to difficulty in securing evidence. In 2016, there were nearly 7,019 complaints of elder abuse to county agencies in Wisconsin. Critics of the program, which include the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Wisconsin Personal Services Association, a statewide coalition of home care providers, take issue with its lack of oversight and privacy implications. (Source: Wisconsin State Journal; Photo: Mattias Diesel on Unsplash)
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Calling All Nurses!
(06/04/2018)
Nurses working in underserved and/or rural areas are invited to invited to participate in a Loyola University Chicago School of Nursing survey examining factors on practice settings. The study is HRSA-funded and IRB-approved, and the results will help current nursing students. (Source and Image: Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing)
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Half of Older Adults Don't Use Patient Portals
(06/01/2018)
According to new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, only about half of older adults use the "patient portal" offered by their health care provider. Older adults aged 65–80 identified technology barriers and lack of comfort as key reasons for not setting up a portal, whereas adults aged 50–64 reported few specific barriers. To read the full report, click here. (Source: Michigan Health Lab; Image: National Poll on Healthy Aging)
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New Opioid Abuse Prevention Materials For American Indian Communities
(06/01/2018)
Attorney General Brad Schimel announced at a Thursday news conference the newest phase of a campaign to prevent opioid abuse. Dose of Reality, a Wisconsin-based campaign to prevent the abuse of prescriptions and opioids, now has new opioid prevention and addiction awareness materials that are customized with American Indian audiences in mind. The materials, which will exist online and through a radio presence, are a result of a collaboration between tribal communities, health coalitions, the State Department of Health Services and the State Department of Justice. (Source: Wausau Daily Herald; Image: Dose of Reality Fact Sheet)
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The Three Rural Americas
(06/01/2018)
A new study concludes there are three different 'types' of rural areas in the United States: one rich in natural amenities; one undergoing economic changes and demographic transitions; and one that is chronically poor. The study, which collected interview and survey data of nearly 17,000 rural residents, attempts to provide a more nuanced framework for understanding the issues in rural communities, and the role of rural residents in current national politics. According to the authors, those in rural areas feel important ties to place, and deeply value family and community. The majority of rural residents also reported strong feelings that economic restructuring had changed rural communities for the worse, and had nostalgia for a lost economy of the past. (Source: The Journal of Peasant Studies; Image: pawpaw67 on flickr)
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Surveying Rural Physicians Who Provide Medication-Assisted Treatment
(05/31/2018)
A survey published in the newest American Journal of Preventive Medicine queried the habits of all rural physicians who had a DEA waiver to prescribe certain medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. The results show that as of 2016, few of the rural physicians who possessed the required waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid treatment were approaching their waiver-mandated cap on patients. More than 60% of rural counties in the U.S. lack a physician with a Drug Enforcement Administration waiver to prescribe it, indicating what some rural patients with opioid use disorder may already experience: it can be a challenge to find an avenue for medication -assisted treatment. (Source and Image: American Journal of Preventive Medicine via ScienceDirect)
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Professionals Find Their Niche in the Rural Upper Midwest
(05/31/2018)
A University of Minnesota-Extension researcher explains that the common narrative of the "rural brain drain" needs to be rewritten: rural communities may be losing high school graduates, but they're also gaining residents with more skills and education, who are often looking for a good community to raise a family. (Source: The Daily Yonder; Photo: BaronLarf on Wikimedia)
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Community Life in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas
(05/30/2018)
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Taking Your Comments on Broadband Availability Data
(05/30/2018)
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is requesting public comment on actions that can be taken to improve the quality and accuracy of broadband availability data, particularly in rural areas. They are seeking input from a broad range of interested stakeholders—including private industry; academia; federal, state, and local government; not-for-profits; and other stakeholders with an interest in broadband availability. The public comment period closes on July 16th, 2018. (Source: The Federal Register; Photo: Public Domain Pictures)
