Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Public health centers struggling with increasing numbers
Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, http://www.tomkileylaw.com, concentrates on legal issues regarding children’s health. A recent article in the Boston Globe indicated that public health centers are becoming overwhelmed by the increasing numbers as the economy has gotten worse. The article, says there are 1,200 community health centers, 1,100 public hospitals, and nearly 3,000 local health departments that are part of the nation’s healthcare system.
These public health centers accept patients who have lost their jobs and their health insurance coverage. They usually struggle to survive even in good economic times, but now they can’t keep up. The biggest problem is the unemployed people who have chronic health problems, like heart disease, that need prescription medications. They turn to public health centers to keep their medications going.
The article states that public health departments play a leading role in preventive care and are dependent on state revenues. Now the states are suffering and cutting jobs and eliminating services. They are hoping that the $787 billion federal stimulus package signed into law last month will help. The stimulus package includes $87 billion for government health insurance for children and the poor, and another $3.5 billion to bolster public health services and safety net care. Federal officials are still deciding specifically how and where to spend that money.
Many of the people with lower incomes and without jobs go to hospital emergency rooms. According to the article, a survey released last month indicates most emergency room doctors are seeing more unemployed patients who have lost health benefits. About 88 percent of the 1,200 doctors who answered a survey from the American College of Emergency Physicians said they had patients who had been turned away elsewhere because they couldn’t pay. There is a federal law requiring emergency rooms to treat patients even if they don’t have insurance or money to pay.
Hospitals have been hit hard by the recession, dealing with these increases in patients as well as losing money in the stock market. Charitable donations are decreasing and It’s harder to borrow from banks or through tax-exempt bonds. Medicaid funding, that depends on state tax revenues, is in trouble. Even affluent patients are cutting back on elective procedures and other care.
The American Public Health Association, http://www.apha.org, is hoping the stimulus bill will create jobs, allow state and local governments to continue offering critical safety-net services and provide an opportunity to work toward improving the health of all Americans.
The APHA is looking to stimulus funding to help fund:
Prevention and Wellness Fund – These funds are an investment in prevention as an essential means to protect health and help support the public health foundation that will be required for successful health system reform.
Safety Net Programs – The bill includes funding for Medicaid, COBRA, the Food Stamp Program and unemployment benefits. Each of these safety-net programs ensures that people are able to access health services and meet their other basic needs.
Public Health Work Force – Also included in the bill is funding to train and educate the public health professionals. This essential funding will help lessen the impact of the current work force shortage and ensure that essential services continue across the nation.
Health Information Technology – These funds are directed at modernizing the health system to lower costs and provide health services more efficiently and accurately.
