50% of US military bases have health care access issues
The Military Health System: Stabilization and Improving Military Preparation for Families in the Boundaries, from the March of Dimes to MIRTA
Maternity care shortage areas came from the March of Dimes. The areas used in this analysis were areas designated as “maternity care deserts” or areas with “low access to care”.
Primary care and mental health care shortage areas came from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s shortage designations. These health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) are identified by state offices and approved by the federal agency. The whole population within the designated area is a shortage, meaning that the shortages were geographic HPSAs. An HPSA designation takes into account travel time to the nearest source of care in addition to other factors.
Military base locations came from the Military Installations, Ranges and Training Areas (MIRTA) dataset produced by the Department of Defense. This data includes sites in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam that are larger than 10 acres and have a facility replacement value of at least $10 million.
Military recruiting has lagged in recent years, and surveys show that health care is a growing concern for military families. Convincing them to stay in the service may be harder when they might be ordered to go live in a health care desert.
Now the Pentagon admits the downsizing has gone too far and may be hurting military readiness as well as recruitment, according to a DoD memo titled “Stabilizing and Improving the Military Health System.” The Inspector General’s report shows that there are issues with access to care and medical staff on the base.
Murphy says civilian healthcare is working on such low profit margins that many providers can’t afford to take Tricare’s low reimbursement rates — even in areas that are not health care deserts. When Murphy retired to North Carolina in 2021, he had trouble himself, getting turned down by four doctors before he found a fifth that would take Tricare.
You’re out with everybody else in the boonies. He said that they had promised the military members that they would have a certain level of care.
“Military members often don’t have a lot of control over where they’re stationed. Eileen Huck is a member of the National Military Family Association.
Tony Awards Takeaway: The Outsiders, Hell’s Kitchen, and Bogot’s Care School for Men (Pa.B.C.D.)
The winner of Best Musical was the sole surprise at last night’s Tony Awards. The Outsiders, an energetic adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s beloved YA book, took home the last award of the night. Hell’s Kitchen, a musical loosely based on Alicia Keys’ life, only won two awards out of 13 nominations. Here are five takeaways from the ceremony and the full list of winners.
If you spent your weekend binge-watching Bridgerton and then staying up way too late for House of the Dragon like I did, you might know a little something about guilty pleasures. This is the reason why a bar of chocolate or reading “romantasy” can be good for you, and how to have a balanced pleasure cycle.
Three-quarters of all caregivers are women, according to the International Labour Organization. Bogot’s Care School for Men teaches men how to take care of their families and homes and help out with child care. Besides hands-on learning, men who participate also discuss the importance of challenging the gender norms they were raised with. The program allowed Ferley Senz to be with his children.
Israel’s military announced yesterday that it would pause fighting from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily along about seven miles of road on a southern route in the Rafah area in Gaza. The pause aims to allow aid trucks to safely travel from the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel deeper into Gaza.
Source: 50% of U.S. military bases face health care access issues; Tony Awards takeaways
The Up First Newsletter: Predictions for Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern UHECR Temperatures in the Light of a Record-Hot Wave
The Midwest was very warm yesterday. Over the next few days, the heat wave is expected to reach much of the Great Lakes, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. They say temperatures could set a daily record. It could be the longest heat wave experienced in decades for some locations, according to the National Weather Service.
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The US military is facing a shortage of maternity care, mental health care and primary care services at its military bases, according to a Pentagon report. Of the 500 military bases surveyed, half had no access to a health care provider, the report said. According to data released by the military earlier, nearly half of its base population lives in “health care deserts”.