Letters to the Editor is a periodic characteristic. We welcome all comments and can publish a variety. We edit for size and readability and require full names.
We Have Invested Too Much To Let Research Programs Die Quietly
I’ve devoted my life to analysis, however now that work, together with the belief, knowledge, and progress behind it, is in danger (“NIH Grant Disruptions Slow Down Breast Cancer Research,” Feb. 3).
As a rheumatologist and researcher, I’ve spent a long time finding out lupus — a persistent autoimmune illness that may have an effect on almost each organ system, producing signs which can be typically unpredictable and troublesome to handle. Its affect on a affected person’s high quality of life is profound: Nearly 90% of individuals with lupus report being unable to keep up full-time work, whereas many additionally face interruptions in training or profession development.
But funding uncertainty from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and different federal applications signifies that the 1000’s of sufferers concerned in my analysis, together with hundreds of thousands of sufferers nationwide, are in danger. While I recognize the rise in lupus analysis funding included within the just lately handed congressional funding package deal, funding disruptions persist nationwide, and restoration takes time.
Increased funding is just not like a light-weight swap that we are able to simply flip again on. It will take loads of time to recruit again these we misplaced. That doesn’t embody the younger investigators who would have entered the sector and at the moment are misplaced. It takes time to construct again the damaged belief and infrastructure wanted to maintain individuals engaged and guarantee dependable knowledge.
Medical analysis connects the bedside to the database to the policymaker’s desk. Without it, we’re blind to the very issues we most urgently want to unravel. The window to save lots of these applications is closing. We should act now earlier than it’s too late.
— S. Sam Lim, Atlanta
Knocking Down Barriers to Long-Term Hospital Care
For many Americans, being launched from their preliminary hospital keep is just the start of their care journey. Depending on the complexity of 1’s situation and the scientific want for extra specialised post-acute companies comparable to air flow, long-term care hospitals, or LTCHs, supply extremely customized care to people recovering from a catastrophic sickness or damage (Broken Rehab: “They Need a Ventilator To Stay Alive. Getting One Can Be a Nightmare,” Dec. 2).
LTCHs play a important position within the nation’s well being care system by offering advanced, resource-intensive care to sufferers leaving acute-care hospitals however who nonetheless want sustained assist and remedy. Not solely do LTCHs assist sufferers who’re depending on air flow, have advanced wounds, or have a number of organ failure, in addition they function a aid valve in our nation’s hospital system by serving to release beds and sources at normal hospitals.
However, the power to entry this important type of care is changing into more and more troublesome — underscoring the necessity for lawmakers in Washington to behave. Since 2016, over 100 LTCHs have closed as a consequence of persistent underpayments amid increased prices. This has been exacerbated by Congress’ resolution to implement modifications to the way it reimburses LTCHs for its beneficiaries. As a outcome, sufferers have fewer choices, and the services that stay open are sometimes far-off from dwelling for sufferers and households, notably in rural areas. Furthermore, insurance coverage firm obstacles — comparable to prior authorization necessities put in place by Medicare Advantage plans — are creating dangerous delays and denials of obligatory and time-sensitive affected person care. Consequently, many sufferers are denied entry to an LTCH setting — or transferred to different post-acute care settings like rehabilitation or expert nursing services that aren’t geared up to take care of sufferers with extremely advanced wants like air flow.
America’s sickest sufferers deserve the proper stage of care on the proper time. As this want turns into extra pressing by the day, policymakers should work to handle these challenges and strengthen entry to LTCHs, which assist sufferers get transferred out of the hospital faster, cut back hospital overcrowding, and in the end save lives.
— Jim Prister, Chicago; president and CEO of RML Specialty Hospital; chair of the American Hospital Association’s Post-Acute Care Steering Committee
KFF Health News is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points and is likely one of the core working applications at KFF—an impartial supply of well being coverage analysis, polling, and journalism. Learn extra about KFF.
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