The severity of the impact that COVID-19 has had on the Commonwealth, especially its rural communities, cannot be overstated. Because of shortages in both healthcare supplies and professionals, rural hospitals have faced the brunt of the Commonwealth’s financial woes attributed to the pandemic.
It is critically important that rural hospitals receive adequate funding to maintain a reliable level of healthcare supplies and healthcare professionals.
Passage of legislation similar to Kentucky House Bill 75, which increases Medicaid reimbursement to hospitals, gives healthcare systems in the Commonwealth more operational breathing room and helps to reinforce primary healthcare delivery, especially considering that nearly 1 in 3 Kentuckians are enrolled in Medicaid.
It is imperative that rural hospitals not only in Kentucky, but internationally are adequately equipped with healthcare supplies and professionals to circumvent the detrimental effects of a global pandemic.
Improving access to quality care and focusing on prevention would enable individuals in the Commonwealth and around the world to take advantage of opportunities that might not be available otherwise when there are poor community health outcomes.
Addressing shortages in lifesaving drugs and primary healthcare delivery in low-income nations is a sentiment that echoes throughout the Commonwealth, as healthier communities mitigate the risk of another worldwide pandemic, which is why increasing funding for programs that address these inequities are so important.
Encouraging Kentucky Representative Hal Rogers, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, to advocate for increased funding toward primary healthcare delivery in underdeveloped counties is a step toward improving population health outcomes for disadvantaged communities across the globe.
Kelton Crank
Executive Vice President
Student Government Association
Morehead State University
kcrank@moreheadstate.edu
I see you almost demanding money be spent in the name of “equality”.
Where should this money come from? Are you suggesting that tax dollars be spent internationally instead of inside our Commonwealth? How is that justified? Your suggestion does not fully walk through sourcing nor identifies who would be receiving.
We must be careful when spending tax dollars and over-generalizations like yours only contribute to a jingoistic rush towards socialized medicine.
Ironically, the over reaction by our government in shutdowns and subsequent redistribution of money by the federal government was a contributor to an increase in short term and long term ailments which hugely affected our Commonwealth’s health. (Not to mention the huge disruption in supply/logistics directly impacted by our government shutdowns)
Any time our government thinks it can do something better than the free market, we get the results you are complaining about in your column.