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A 'staggering' number of people couldn't get care during the pandemic, poll finds
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Michael Ejercito
Aug 9, 2022, 11:16:26 PM8/9/22
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A 'staggering' number of people couldn't get care during the pandemic,
poll finds
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Updated August 8, 2022·11:59 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
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Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2006 and
underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass. When she started
experiencing symptoms again in 2020, she was unable to get an
appointment with a gynecologist. Her experience was not uncommon,
according to a new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Nicole Buchanan for NPR
When the pandemic started, Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson knew she had a small
growth inside her uterus. She was first diagnosed with uterine fibroids
back in 2006 and had been able to have the non-cancerous mass removed
through outpatient laser surgery. Over the years, she'd also been able
to manage her symptoms with medication and changes in her lifestyle.
But when those symptoms – a bloated belly, irregular periods, nausea –
returned in 2020, Kimbrough-Hilson was unable to get an appointment with
a specialist.
"March 27th came and everything got shut down," says Kimbrough-Hilson,
47, of Stone Mountain, Georgia. "I wasn't at the tier of care that
needed [immediate attention], because of all the precautions that had to
be taken."
But even after the lockdown in spring of 2020 was lifted,
Kimbrough-Hilson, a mother of five who works in the health insurance
industry, was unable to see a gynecologist.
She left message after message with providers. But her calls went
unreturned, or providers were booked for months at end. "I couldn't get
the appointments," she says. "I couldn't follow up."
These days, her belly is swollen, and she says she often feels fatigued
and nauseous: "It makes me want to throw up a lot."
She also struggled to get appointments for other members of her family.
Her 14-year-old daughter underwent brain surgery before the pandemic,
but then couldn't get follow-up appointments until recently.
Kimbrough-Hilson's family's experience isn't uncommon, according to a
new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health.
Among households that had a serious illness in the past year, one in
five respondents said they had trouble accessing care during the pandemic.
That's a "staggering" number of people unable to access care, says Mary
Findling, the assistant director of the Harvard Opinion Research
Program. "From a health and a good care standpoint, that's just too high."
Other recent studies have found significant delays in cancer screenings,
and disruptions in routine diabetes, pediatric and mental health care.
While it's still early to know the long-term impacts on people's health,
researchers and physicians are concerned, especially as the disruptions
continue with the country's health care system struggling to bounce back
from the pandemic.
The new poll also found that disruptions in care hit some racial and
ethnic groups harder. Among households where anyone had been seriously
ill in the past year, 35% of American Indian and Alaska Native
households and 24% of Black households had trouble accessing care for
serious illness, compared with only 18% of White households.
Among Black respondents who had seen a provider in the past year, 15%
said they were disrespected, turned away, unfairly treated, or received
poor treatment because of their race and ethnicity, compared with only
3% of White respondents who said the same.
"What's really sad is the racial gaps in health care between Black and
White Americans has remained," says Findling. "And looking across a
broad range of measures, it's better to be a White patient than a Black
patient in America today. And when you just stop and think about that,
that's horrible."
Health insurance wasn't a barrier to access
The vast majority of people – across racial and ethnic groups – who
experienced delays in care reported having health insurance.
"One thing it tells us is that just the provision of more health care
insurance is not going to plug some of these gaps and holes that we're
seeing in terms of individuals getting more care," says Loren
Saulsberry, a health policy researcher at the University of Chicago, who
worked closely with Findling on the poll.
"There are broader issues at play here," says Findling, like the
historic workforce shortages among health systems. "The pandemic
continues and it's wreaking havoc on everyone."
Saulsberry, who studies health disparities in vulnerable populations,
says that the pandemic has exacerbated those disparities because of a
range of barriers, including a person's zip code.
For example, the state of Georgia, where Kimbrough-Hilson lives, has had
one of the lowest numbers of OB-GYNs in the country for years. Now,
she's having a harder time getting an appointment with one than ever before.
"I've been able to get my teeth done, my eyes checked," she says. "But I
can't get to women's health."
She has a referral from her primary care provider, she says, but it's
for a practice "30 to 40 miles away."
Health systems too overwhelmed for routine care
While the pandemic exacerbated disparities in care, it also overwhelmed
the health care system, causing delays and disruptions across the board,
says Cassie Sauer, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association.
And it's also taken a huge financial toll, says Dr. Arif Kamal, chief
patient officer at the American Cancer Society. "Some of that is related
to actually taking care of patients who are very complex, who have very
serious illnesses due to COVID-19," he says. "But also during that time
there was also loss of revenue because other activities had to be
stopped, for example, elective surgeries."
As a result, preventive services and early detection activities – not
the "highest margin activities" for health systems – have taken a back
seat, he adds.
"Over the last two years we estimate about 6 million women, for example,
have missed routine cancer screening," says Kamal. That includes missed
mammograms for breast cancer detection, and Pap smears to check for
cervical cancer.
Kamal is concerned that in a year or two, providers will start to detect
cancers at later stages because of missed screenings, which makes them
harder to treat or cure.
In the meantime, health systems are continuing to feel the repercussions
of the pandemic, causing continuing delays in what was once routine care.
Sauer has experienced this at work and in her personal life.
"In my own family, we have struggled to get access to health care for my
kids and my parents," says Sauer.
Her 80-year-old father, who has Parkinson's disease, had a fall over the
winter holidays and was hospitalized. "I was with him, caring for him in
the hospital. My mom had COVID at the time, so she wasn't able to be
there," she says. "And I couldn't figure out how to get him out of the
hospital."
He needed to go to a skilled nursing facility, but she couldn't get him
into one. "I found two nursing homes that seemed like good fits," says
Sauer. "And they both shut down because they had COVID outbreaks the
same day."
This is still one of the biggest problems that the state's hospitals are
facing right now, she adds. "We can't get people out of the hospitals
right now. There's no back door, but the front door is wide open to the
emergency room."
There are patients who spend as many as 90 days in a hospital, she says,
when the average hospital stay is three days. "So they've taken the
space of 30 patients who needed care."
This is why, more than two years into the pandemic, she says, people are
still unable to schedule regular procedures, everything from knee and
heart valve replacements, to cancer treatments.
These procedures may be considered "elective," but postponing them can
have major repercussions on a patient's health and quality of life, she
adds.
"You have a chance of falling, you are probably going to gain weight,"
says Sauer. "You're going to lose flexibility. You know, all those
things contribute to a potential decline, cardiac issues, respiratory
issues." Which can in turn also increase someone' risk of serious
illness from COVID.
"I think that the toll of this delayed care is tremendous," she says.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
A 'staggering' number of people couldn't get care during the pandemic,
poll finds
Updated August 8, 2022·11:59 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
RHITU CHATTERJEE
LISTEN· 4:14
4-Minute Listen
Add toPLAYLIST
Download
Embed
Transcript
Enlarge this image
Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2006 and
underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass. When she started
experiencing symptoms again in 2020, she was unable to get an
appointment with a gynecologist. Her experience was not uncommon,
according to a new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Nicole Buchanan for NPR
When the pandemic started, Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson knew she had a small
growth inside her uterus. She was first diagnosed with uterine fibroids
back in 2006 and had been able to have the non-cancerous mass removed
through outpatient laser surgery. Over the years, she'd also been able
to manage her symptoms with medication and changes in her lifestyle.
But when those symptoms – a bloated belly, irregular periods, nausea –
returned in 2020, Kimbrough-Hilson was unable to get an appointment with
a specialist.
"March 27th came and everything got shut down," says Kimbrough-Hilson,
47, of Stone Mountain, Georgia. "I wasn't at the tier of care that
needed [immediate attention], because of all the precautions that had to
be taken."
But even after the lockdown in spring of 2020 was lifted,
Kimbrough-Hilson, a mother of five who works in the health insurance
industry, was unable to see a gynecologist.
She left message after message with providers. But her calls went
unreturned, or providers were booked for months at end. "I couldn't get
the appointments," she says. "I couldn't follow up."
These days, her belly is swollen, and she says she often feels fatigued
and nauseous: "It makes me want to throw up a lot."
She also struggled to get appointments for other members of her family.
Her 14-year-old daughter underwent brain surgery before the pandemic,
but then couldn't get follow-up appointments until recently.
Kimbrough-Hilson's family's experience isn't uncommon, according to a
new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health.
Among households that had a serious illness in the past year, one in
five respondents said they had trouble accessing care during the pandemic.
That's a "staggering" number of people unable to access care, says Mary
Findling, the assistant director of the Harvard Opinion Research
Program. "From a health and a good care standpoint, that's just too high."
Other recent studies have found significant delays in cancer screenings,
and disruptions in routine diabetes, pediatric and mental health care.
While it's still early to know the long-term impacts on people's health,
researchers and physicians are concerned, especially as the disruptions
continue with the country's health care system struggling to bounce back
from the pandemic.
The new poll also found that disruptions in care hit some racial and
ethnic groups harder. Among households where anyone had been seriously
ill in the past year, 35% of American Indian and Alaska Native
households and 24% of Black households had trouble accessing care for
serious illness, compared with only 18% of White households.
Among Black respondents who had seen a provider in the past year, 15%
said they were disrespected, turned away, unfairly treated, or received
poor treatment because of their race and ethnicity, compared with only
3% of White respondents who said the same.
"What's really sad is the racial gaps in health care between Black and
White Americans has remained," says Findling. "And looking across a
broad range of measures, it's better to be a White patient than a Black
patient in America today. And when you just stop and think about that,
that's horrible."
Health insurance wasn't a barrier to access
The vast majority of people – across racial and ethnic groups – who
experienced delays in care reported having health insurance.
"One thing it tells us is that just the provision of more health care
insurance is not going to plug some of these gaps and holes that we're
seeing in terms of individuals getting more care," says Loren
Saulsberry, a health policy researcher at the University of Chicago, who
worked closely with Findling on the poll.
"There are broader issues at play here," says Findling, like the
historic workforce shortages among health systems. "The pandemic
continues and it's wreaking havoc on everyone."
Saulsberry, who studies health disparities in vulnerable populations,
says that the pandemic has exacerbated those disparities because of a
range of barriers, including a person's zip code.
For example, the state of Georgia, where Kimbrough-Hilson lives, has had
one of the lowest numbers of OB-GYNs in the country for years. Now,
she's having a harder time getting an appointment with one than ever before.
"I've been able to get my teeth done, my eyes checked," she says. "But I
can't get to women's health."
She has a referral from her primary care provider, she says, but it's
for a practice "30 to 40 miles away."
Health systems too overwhelmed for routine care
While the pandemic exacerbated disparities in care, it also overwhelmed
the health care system, causing delays and disruptions across the board,
says Cassie Sauer, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association.
And it's also taken a huge financial toll, says Dr. Arif Kamal, chief
patient officer at the American Cancer Society. "Some of that is related
to actually taking care of patients who are very complex, who have very
serious illnesses due to COVID-19," he says. "But also during that time
there was also loss of revenue because other activities had to be
stopped, for example, elective surgeries."
As a result, preventive services and early detection activities – not
the "highest margin activities" for health systems – have taken a back
seat, he adds.
"Over the last two years we estimate about 6 million women, for example,
have missed routine cancer screening," says Kamal. That includes missed
mammograms for breast cancer detection, and Pap smears to check for
cervical cancer.
Kamal is concerned that in a year or two, providers will start to detect
cancers at later stages because of missed screenings, which makes them
harder to treat or cure.
In the meantime, health systems are continuing to feel the repercussions
of the pandemic, causing continuing delays in what was once routine care.
Sauer has experienced this at work and in her personal life.
"In my own family, we have struggled to get access to health care for my
kids and my parents," says Sauer.
Her 80-year-old father, who has Parkinson's disease, had a fall over the
winter holidays and was hospitalized. "I was with him, caring for him in
the hospital. My mom had COVID at the time, so she wasn't able to be
there," she says. "And I couldn't figure out how to get him out of the
hospital."
He needed to go to a skilled nursing facility, but she couldn't get him
into one. "I found two nursing homes that seemed like good fits," says
Sauer. "And they both shut down because they had COVID outbreaks the
same day."
This is still one of the biggest problems that the state's hospitals are
facing right now, she adds. "We can't get people out of the hospitals
right now. There's no back door, but the front door is wide open to the
emergency room."
There are patients who spend as many as 90 days in a hospital, she says,
when the average hospital stay is three days. "So they've taken the
space of 30 patients who needed care."
This is why, more than two years into the pandemic, she says, people are
still unable to schedule regular procedures, everything from knee and
heart valve replacements, to cancer treatments.
These procedures may be considered "elective," but postponing them can
have major repercussions on a patient's health and quality of life, she
adds.
"You have a chance of falling, you are probably going to gain weight,"
says Sauer. "You're going to lose flexibility. You know, all those
things contribute to a potential decline, cardiac issues, respiratory
issues." Which can in turn also increase someone' risk of serious
illness from COVID.
"I think that the toll of this delayed care is tremendous," she says.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
HeartDoc Andrew
Aug 9, 2022, 11:27:13 PM8/9/22
to
the U.S. & elsewhere is by rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19
) finding out at any given moment, including even while on-line, who
among us are unwittingly contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or
asymptomatic) in order to http://tinyurl.com/ConvinceItForward (John
15:12) for them to call their doctor and self-quarantine per their
doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the
best while preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage
mutations and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota,
Lambda, Mu & Delta lineage mutations combining via
slip-RNA-replication to form hybrids like
http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current COVID
vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
...because we mindfully choose to openly care with our heart,
HeartDoc Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Cardiologist with an http://bit.ly/EternalMedicalLicense
2024 & upwards non-partisan candidate for U.S. President:
http://WonderfullyHungry.org
and author of the 2PD-OMER Approach:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrewCare
which is the only **healthy** cure for the U.S. healthcare crisis
Michael Ejercito
Aug 10, 2022, 10:48:09 AM8/10/22
to
Michael
HeartDoc Andrew
Aug 10, 2022, 11:56:22 AM8/10/22
to
Michael Ejercito wrote:
While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as circling eagles don't have COVID) and
pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6) Father in
Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy Spirit
(Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to always
say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways including
especially caring to http://tinyurl.com/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12
as shown by http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrew touts hunger (Luke 6:21a) with all glory
( http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD, Who causes us to hunger
(Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a) thereby
removing the http://tinyurl.com/HeartVAT from around the heart
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as circling eagles don't have COVID) and
pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6) Father in
Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy Spirit
(Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to always
say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways including
especially caring to http://tinyurl.com/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12
as shown by http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrew touts hunger (Luke 6:21a) with all glory
( http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD, Who causes us to hunger
(Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a) thereby
removing the http://tinyurl.com/HeartVAT from around the heart
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