Latest news with #ArielSkelley
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cuts to Medicaid funding will send ‘tidal wave' through Oklahoma's health care system
A medical provider gives a child a vaccine. (Photo by Ariel Skelley/Getty Photos) (This image cannot be republished unless you have a Getty subscription.) There's been a lot of talk lately in Congress about cutting Medicaid. Known in Oklahoma as SoonerCare and SoonerSelect, Medicaid provides health coverage to low-income Oklahomans, including pregnant women, children, elderly Oklahomans, people with disabilities, veterans and families in need. More than 900,000 Oklahomans — nearly 1 in 4 — depend on Medicaid to access the medical and behavioral health care they need. As an OB-GYN with decades of experience caring for women and families in Oklahoma, I've seen firsthand what these programs have provided for so many families. Medicaid pays for 52% of Oklahoma births and covers 47% of all Oklahoma children. Thanks to Medicaid, I've seen expectant mothers receive access to critical prenatal care and postpartum support they couldn't have afforded otherwise, ensuring better health outcomes for both moms and babies. Medicaid plays a vital role in supporting the health and future of Oklahoma children. Children enrolled in Medicaid miss fewer school days, are more likely to graduate high school and become healthier adults. In a state where nearly half of our children rely on Medicaid, this is a lifeline we can't afford to lose. Every year, Oklahoma receives $7 billion from Medicaid, 68% of the federal funding sent to our state. Think of it as an investment that pays dividends through health care savings and continued reinvestment in the community through salaries, taxes and the purchase of goods and services. Patients on Medicaid who have access to primary and preventative care services are less likely to end up in the ER, where health care costs are far more expensive. Losing even a fraction of Oklahoma's Medicaid funding would create a substantial gap for our state and send a tidal wave through our interconnected health care system. When one part of the system fails, the issue doesn't disappear — the burden is simply shifted elsewhere. Cutting Medicaid wouldn't just hurt patients; it could be detrimental to access to care in our state. These funds are a vital lifeline for rural hospitals, many of which are struggling to keep their doors open. Further cuts could strike a fatal blow to these hospitals, negatively affecting not only the health of these communities but also their economy, as many potential employers consider health care resources when expanding into new areas. We can't overlook the hardworking physicians who would take a hit if Medicaid is cut. Many of those who serve a larger number of Medicaid patients — such as pediatricians, OB-GYNS, psychiatrists and family doctors — work on slim margins, and if Medicaid is cut, doctors could be forced to close their practices altogether. The health of our state is worth protecting. Continuing to invest in Medicaid is the best way to ensure Oklahomans receive the care they deserve. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Health officials say 3 confirmed measles cases are cause for caution, not panic
A baby getting a medical exam. Measles vaccinations can be given as early as 6 months, doctors say. (Photo by Ariel Skelley/Getty stock photo) Health officials have confirmed three measles cases in Maryland this month, but say it's not time to panic about an outbreak given the state's more than 96% vaccination rate against the highly transmissible virus. But with outbreaks occurring in other states, experts are urging Marylanders to make sure that they are up to date with their vaccinations, to protect vulnerable populations and ensure that measles stays manageable in the state. 'What we're seeing now with three imported cases, that doesn't concern me. It's a reflection of what's happening globally and people traveling,' said Dr. William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 'What would concern me is if we started seeing more locally acquired cases where people who did not travel acquired measles in Maryland,' Moss said. The Maryland Department of Health announced on March 9 that a Howard County resident who had traveled internationally had contracted measles. Two other international travelers, this time from Prince George's County, also caught measles while abroad, the health department reported Thursday. While all three cases were connected to Washington Dulles International Airport, the Prince George's cases are not related to the Howard County case, according to the health department. And the department said none of the Maryland cases are related to ongoing outbreaks identified in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, some of which have led to fatalities. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX But out of 'an abundance of caution,' the agency issued a list of potentially exposed flights, Metro lines and hospitals where the public might have been exposed to one of the Maryland cases. 'Measles cases occur sporadically in Maryland, with one case of measles identified in Maryland earlier this year [the March 9 case], one in 2024, one in 2023, and no cases from 2020-2022,' the department said in a statement Thursday. With three cases identified in March alone, should Marylanders expect an outbreak? Public health experts say no — so long as you're vaccinated, which more than 96% of the state's residents are, according to Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director for the American Public Health Association. If people who've contracted measles virus 'happen to go into a community that is unvaccinated or undervaccinated, or around a child under the age of 1 that has not yet had their vaccine, you can see spread,' he said. 'But the likelihood of a big outbreak occurring in Maryland is relatively low. Very low.' Measles starts as a standard respiratory disease, with a fever, runny nose, cough and red, watery eyes. A couple days after the initial symptoms, people sick with measles may develop the illness's calling card – a red, bumpy rash that starts on the head area and spreads to the rest of the body. Moss said that while the measles virus travels more quickly among unvaccinated populations, breakthrough cases among vaccinated people are still possible, though rare. He advised that those who suspect they may have been exposed to measles shouldn't just walk into an emergency room if they can avoid it, due to how transmissible it is. 'Because measles virus is so contagious, you don't want someone with measles just walking into a crowded emergency room with a lot of other sick people,' Moss said. 'Ideally what would happen is that a parent or an individual would contact their health care provider to give them a heads up that … they think they could have measles,' he said. 'That way … they can be prepared to handle that patient and make sure that patient doesn't pass the infection to others.' People can get vaccinated for measles as early as 6 months old, and Maryland schools require kindergartners to be vaccinated for measles and other diseases before entering class, although the state has a liberal religious exemption policy. More parents using religious exemption to opt children out of school vaccinations But Moss is concerned about a rising national trend of parents asking for religious exemptions from required vaccinations to attend state schools – a trend that Maryland is not immune to. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more parents have invoked a religious exemption to opt their children out of vaccination requirements in recent years, which Moss and other public health experts say is an indication of increased vaccine hesitancy. In the 2023-24 school year, for example, 1.54% of Maryland kindergartners received a religious exemption from required vaccinations, including the MMR vaccine which helps protect against measles, mumps and rubella. Religious exemptions have been growing steadily since 2002-2003, when only 0.2% of students were exempted, state data shows. According to health department data, of those 98.46% of kindergartners who were vaccinated last school year, 99% received the MMR vaccine. Vaccine rates for the current academic year are not yet available. 'Successful vaccination programs undermine themselves because the disease goes away and people don't worry about these vaccine-preventable diseases that can actually come back,' Moss said. He added that vaccine hesitancy has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. 'I would hope for many people the current measles outbreak here in the United States is a reminder that measles is still around, that measures can still put people in the hospital, that measles can still kill,' he said. 'And that will highlight the value of measles vaccination and that we'll be able to maintain high measles vaccination coverage here in Maryland and nationally.' He said that if Maryland can maintain high vaccination levels, it can keep a potential future outbreak at bay. 'My prediction would be that we're not going to see many secondary cases as a consequence of these importations in Maryland,' Moss said. 'I think we're pretty good here.'
