Tag: health care

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In brief

Sen. Tim Kaine was first elected to the Senate in 2012. Supplied photo.

Cost of care

Sen. Tim Kaine stopped by Charlottesville on June 21 for a roundtable with the Jefferson Area Board for Aging.

Kicking off the discussion, JABA CEO Marta Keane highlighted how Kaine’s work to reduce healthcare costs through the Inflation Reduction Act and work on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee have benefitted local seniors.

As part of the IRA, maximum insulin prices have been set at $35 and annual out-of-pocket prescription costs have been capped for Medicare recipients. Other legislation co-sponsored by Kaine—the Help Ensure Lower Patient Copays and Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging Acts—aims to expand patient protections from potentially predatory medical and pharmaceutical practices.

One issue of particular concern to JABA leaders not addressed by existing legislation is the marketing of Medicare Advantage Plans in Virginia. While they may be a potentially good option for seniors in other states, where coverage and plan availability vary, several roundtable attendees indicated the plans have major pitfalls.

“The most common thing I hear from Medicare Advantage beneficiaries is, ‘I liked my Medicare Advantage plan until I had to use it,’” said Randy Rogers, JABA insurance counseling team manager.

Kaine acknowledged the concerns but told the press it would be difficult to pass a bill regulating marketing of Medicare Advantage plans given first amendment protections for commercial speech.

The senator’s conversation with JABA comes amid his reelection campaign. Kaine is currently running for a third term in the Senate and will face off against newly nominated Republican primary winner Hung Cao this November.

Supply drive

Charlottesville City Schools just closed for the summer, but families looking for help with supplies for the 2024-2025 school year can begin requesting free school supplies.

By applying through school-specific forms on the CCS website, families in need of assistance can request free school supplies and backpacks for each of their children. Supplies will be available for pickup during open houses and meet-and-greets at students’ schools later this summer.

People interested in donating to the drive, either through the Amazon wishlists or check donation, can find more information on the same site.

Beyond the supply drive, students in Charlottesville and Albemarle can also visit the Back to School Bash on August 10 at Ting Pavilion. In addition to classroom materials, haircuts and hairstyling will be available at the event. For a fun time, students can also check out the Back Together Bash on August 11 at the Cherry Avenue Boys & Girls Club, which will feature basketball, roller-skating, food, giveaways, and more.

Redemptive justice

The FBI has identified a suspect in the 1996 Shenandoah Park murders of Julianne Williams and Laura “Lollie” Winans through DNA testing. In a June 20 announcement, FBI Special Agent Stanley Meador indicated new DNA tests gathered from evidence matched the profile of Walter “Leo” Jackson Sr. A convicted serial rapist, Jackson died in an Ohio prison in 2018 while serving time for other offenses.

Triple threat

Police have responded to multiple shots-fired calls in the last week alone. Around 5pm on June 17, police responded to two calls at Sixth Street SE and Monticello Avenue, as well as the 1400 block of Midland Street. Suspect Malik Luck is charged with three offenses and is in custody. Later that evening, CPD responded to calls at the 900/1000 block of South First Street where, after an investigation, 69 shell casings were recovered. The morning of June 20 at Carlton Avenue, an 18-year-old woman suffered gunshot wounds to her upper body and was rushed to UVA Medical Center, where she remains in serious condition. Five charges have been placed against 25-year-old Travis William Herndon, who turned himself in on June 23. All incidents remain under investigation.

Backed support

Following Gloria Witt’s victory in the Democratic primary for the 5th district congressional seat, she is kicking off her campaign with a visit to Louisa alongside 2025 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger currently represents Virginia as a congresswoman in the 7th district and is the only candidate in the Democratic primary for governor. Gov. Glenn Youngkin cannot run for reelection due to a ban on consecutive gubernatorial terms in Virginia.

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‘Lean thinking’ saves UVA hospital millions

Richard Shannon says 96 fewer worker injuries at the UVA Medical Center is priceless. Photo by Ryan Jones

Sixty patients died unexpectedly while receiving care at the University of Virginia Medical Center last year, according to Executive Vice President of Health Affairs Richard Shannon. This year, he says doctors are on track to drastically reduce that number.

At a June 3 seminar called First Do No Harm, Shannon presented the health system’s efforts to improve safety and patient care.

“Please raise your hand if you’d like to get an infection when you come to the hospital,” he asked, adding that patients receive 1.7 million infections in hospitals annually, which can be attributed to 100,000 deaths. In the U.S. last year, a trillion bucks was spent on harm, failures, overtreatment, fraud and abuse in hospitals, he added.

As part of his almost 2-year-old Be Safe structure, also adopted by the National Institutes of Health’s clinical center, 725 UVA staff are now trained in “lean thinking,” a business model that aims to eliminate waste. In this case, it’s saving cash.

So far, the practice has spared the hospital several million dollars in expenses, including $4.2 million saved from 109 fewer pediatric infections, $1.83 million in 53 fewer sepsis deaths and over $3 million in a  95 percent reduction of wasted medical supplies.

However, 96 fewer worker injuries, says Shannon, is “priceless.”

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Beyond bathrooms: Transgender symposium to educate health care providers

Amid the firestorm North Carolina ignited March 23 with its bathroom laws and a Virginia court case that will determine which restroom a Gloucester teen can use, a daylong transgender symposium to provide education for health care providers will take place in Charlottesville April 27.

“It’s the first event of its kind in Virginia that I’m aware of,” says Ted Heck, who works for the Virginia Department of Health in HIV prevention and who helped organize the symposium. “Its real focus is providers,” he says, “and it was organized by community members.”

One of those is Karen Barker. She is with the Transgender Health Alliance of Central Virginia and she’s the parent of a transgender teen. She says her son’s primary care physician had no experience with that, and she was surprised to learn UVA did not have a transgender teen clinic. UVA opened a Transgender Health Clinic in March 2015.

“Access to care was really critical for me,” she says. “First for my son, but it’s an issue for a lot of people.”

“It’s a really new field,” says Heck. “There’s very little training in medical schools, and very little medical literature. Even people with expertise don’t have a lot of data to back them up.”

Regardless of socio-economic status, transgender people face significant health care disparities, according to a 2011 National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force survey of 6,450 people. Nineteen percent reported being refused medical care, a number that’s even higher for people of color.

Survey participants reported four times the national average for HIV infection, and much higher rates of suicide attempts, smoking and drug and alcohol use than the general population.

Whether trying to get care for transitioning or HIV or even basic health care, “It’s all pretty challenging for trans folks,” says Heck.

Heck knows. He moved to Virginia in 1999 and knew he was going to be transitioning. He was unable to find an endocrinologist in the Richmond area willing to prescribe hormones, and finally found a provider in the Washington area who worked with his primary care physician.

Sometimes the information a provider has is outdated. “Before, they used to require that you live in that [gender] role for a year before you can access hormones,” says Heck. “That can be incredibly challenging, especially if you live in a rural area.”

At one time, UVA was a pioneer in sexual assignment surgery. Dr. Milton Edgerton joined the faculty in 1970 from Johns Hopkins, the first academic institution in the United States to perform such surgery. Neither UVA nor Johns Hopkins does so now.

Gender transitioning worked under a different model then, says Heck. “It was very patronizing and people had to jump through a lot of hoops.”

In some ways, Virginia is ahead of the curve as far as services available to transgender people, says Heck. His work in HIV prevention is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “They’re more progressive in making sure the needs of at-risk people are met,” he says. “Because it’s federally funded, it can’t really be restricted as it could be if state funded.”

Virginia’s General Assembly held off on moving on its own bathroom bill restricting transgender students to using the facilities of their biological gender in anticipation of the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals decision in the case of Gavin Grimm, whose Gloucester School Board ruled he had to use the girls or a unisex restroom. A decision in that case is expected any day now.

North Carolina not only legislated which public bathrooms its citizens may use, it also rebuked Charlotte for prohibiting discrimination based on sexuality. The state now faces a lawsuit, the NBA is reconsidering its 2017 all-star game in Charlotte and its attorney general says he won’t defend the law.

Heck felt a combination of anger, frustration and disappointment over the Tar Heel state’s decision. “I wasn’t surprised, unfortunately,” he says.

That sort of legislation creates a “hostile environment, particularly for young folks,” he says. “When they have to hide who they are, their behavior becomes riskier. There’s a high level of stigma. Any time people’s opportunities are limited because they can’t get a job or find housing, that certainly could have an impact.”

So far 95 people have signed up for the April 27 symposium. “Response has been better than we thought,” says Barker.

Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox have drawn a lot of attention to transgender issues, says Heck, but their visibility also brings a backlash in much the same way that the legalization of same-sex marriage brought religious freedom bills.

“These bathroom bills are part of the backlash,” says Heck.