Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 6-23-22 E-Edition

Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Guest Column
A bipartisan fix for America's looming homecare crisis
By Tom Ryan
Guest columnist
Within the next 40 years, the number of people over the age of 65 in this country will increase by about 70 percent.
Many older Americans — three in four, according to an AARP survey — want to live out their golden years at home. They won't be able to, absent action to shore up our nation's homecare infrastructure.
Fortunately, Congress is beginning to recognize as much. In February, a bipartisan coalition in the House in- troduced legislation that would raise pay for the homec- are providers who furnish seniors and Americans in need with oxygen, wheelchairs, ventilators, and other medical equipment that enables them to safely receive care at home.
This pay hike not only will ensure that seniors have access to homecare in the years to come. It will also generate savings and reduce pressure on other parts of the healthcare system.
Long-standing demand for critical homecare has surged during the pandemic.
Aging Americans want to avoid group facilities where the risk of contracting COVID-19 is high. Hospitals are turning to home care for follow-up services that might previously have required a return trip to the clinic.
This surge in demand has collided with severe short- ages of everything from hospital beds to walkers. Before the pandemic, the average wait for delivery of new stock was a few days. Now, wheelchairs are on months-long back orders. Sleep apnea machines and oxygen tanks are in short supply.
When items are available, costs have soared. Home medical equipment providers have reported price in- creases of more than 30%. On top of that, they're paying shipping and handling surcharges.
Then there are pandemic-related expenditures for personal protective equipment for staff, which can total $15,000 a year per location.
Operating under these conditions would be challeng- ing for any industry. But homecare providers cannot pass these higher costs along. That's because they're paid according to a reimbursement schedule set by Medicare back in 2015 that's been locked in ever since.
Many home medical equipment providers have found the strain too much to bear. More than one-third have gone out of business or stopped accepting Medicare patients.
The need to act is urgent.
Medicare has twice failed to hold a new bidding round that would bring rates into alignment with mar- ket reality. Instead, Medicare has offered a 5% increase, citing the overall inflation rate. That's hardly adequate.
Preserving America's homecare infrastructure will benefit not just the patients who count on it but the rest of our healthcare system.
High-quality, home-based care reduces overall health- care costs by keeping patients out of high-cost environ- ments like hospitals and nursing homes. That can help preserve scarce medical resources for more acute cases.
In an era of intense polarization, it's rare to find an idea that commands the support of Republicans and Democrats. But both parties can support Americans who wish to age in place, in the comfort of their own homes.
Lawmakers can translate that support into action by advancing H.R. 6641, the DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022. This bill would raise pay and ensure that Medicare reim- bursement for homecare providers keeps up with rising equipment and operational costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought our nation's ability to provide care outside of hospitals and nursing facilities into focus. Our nation's growing population of seniors adds even more urgency to the need to invest in home-based care. Passing The DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022 is an important step in that direction.
Tom Ryan is president and CEO of the American Asso- ciation for Homecare (aahomecare.org). This piece origi- nally ran in the Detroit News.
The short respite is over — get set for that treacherous Valley heat
Fred Hall — Publisher Emeritus Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Thursday, June 23, 2022 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
QUOTE
“Making duplicate copies and computer printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose.”
— Andy Rooney (1919-2011)
This past Friday night (June 17), I was shooting photos for the annual City-County football game in Fresno. I missed last year's contest, but was fully expecting a hot evening under the setting Central Valley sun. Believe it or not, by the time halftime arrived I was thinking to myself "did I need to bring a windbreaker?"
I quickly put that thought out of my mind, as the cool evening conditions and a bit of a breeze were conditions I'd soon be pining to endure. After all, summer is here as of Tuesday. And we all know what that means: triple digit tem- peratures for a string of days. In recent years, that string has grown mighty long – even extending past a month. This week, we're already feeling it.
Summer's arrival brings all the annual creature discom- forts we endure here in Central California from June to tradi- tionally late September. This week, we're starting the run of 100-plus degree temperatures.
How long will it last? If we're lucky, we'll get some a one-day break for one day in July. Un- likely, and we're bound to get some warm and smoky eve- nings on the extended Fourth of July holiday weekend with the expected pummeling from both safe and sane and illegal fireworks.
The next four months also brings the prime season for fires, both grassfires and roar- ing wildfires in foothill and mountain areas. Structures aren't exempt in the Valley, as exhibited by the blaze in Sanger at Velasco's Mexican Restaurant on June 21. Thank- fully, the popular Sanger food spot wasn't too severely dam- aged and will return to busi- ness in the not-too-distant fu- ture.
We always have the option to cool off at a watering hole, both natural and manmade. The obvious risk currently is along the Kings River, where cold water releases make for haz- ardous wading and swimming
conditions. It's
strongly ad-
vised to avoid
venturing far
into the deep
and fast-mov-
ing water at
Reedley Beach
and spots near
the bridges east of Sanger and for the next couple of weeks. Fortunately, Reedley has a splash pad and there are com- munity pools in the region, if you don't have the good fortune of access to your own pool.
This appears to be a short river run season. It's unlikely we'll have any substantial wa- ter flow by the Labor Day holi- day in early September.
Whatever you do — work or play — in the region for the next three months, stay hydrat- ed when you go out and prac- tice caution (and fire safety) in any foothill and mountain areas, trails or lakes. In conclu- sion, stay cool.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
Jon Earnest
Can we finally start dealing with gun violence?
By Wim Laven
Guest columnist
It was an ordinary Valen- tine’s Day four years ago when my class was interrupted by incoming news of an active shooter in a Florida high school. On Feb. 14, 2018, a 19-year-old opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Park- land, Florida, but the impacts were far reaching indeed.
More than a thousand miles away the breaking news just before our class started, “17 Dead in School Shooting,” was unavoidable. As a class we piv- oted to the current event, we shared stories, and I did my best to make a teachable mo- ment out of the horror.
I shared with students about my experiences with gun vio- lence. In 2017 I watched a live stream as a gunman opened fire onto a Las Vegas concert crowd. Friends at the concert were in harm’s way, two of the nicest people I know were hit and luckily survived, and with the sometimes horrifying mir- acles of modern technology I was watching it in real time.
When I shared, they did as well and collectively it was re- plete: we had been on hitlists; we had hidden behind furniture and in closets during shooting events; we had known people shot and killed.
The commonality of this persistent epidemic of prevent-
able violence is why March for our Lives featured events in 400 US cities on June 11.
There are always choices in how we (individually or col- lectively) proceed. I can repeat the well known science on guns and violence or ugly conclu- sions like: people in the US are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations (Australia, France, the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland), Israel, South Korea, Japan, Nor- way, Poland and Slovenia).
I have seen guns in my classrooms after Georgia made their version of concealed car- ry legal on college and univer- sity campuses.
Very painful is the apology survivors of the Columbine High School shooting (1999) made to the survivors of Mar- jory Stoneman Douglas High School (2018): “We’re sorry we couldn’t stop it.”
There are some signs for encouragement. There is broad partisan agreement for some gun policy proposals, like red flag laws enabling removal of guns from people deemed a danger, requiring background checks for pur- chases made at gun shows, and opposition to concealed carry without a permit.
Unimaginably, however, common sense gun legislation with bipartisan approval con- tinues to fail. At some point the people must be prepared to
take the power back into their own hands.
The net result from all these years of mass shootings and gun violence has been inef- fective thoughts and prayers. Not one wake-up call has been answered, no matter how inno- cent the victims were.
It is time that the people recognized the call to collec- tive action. This is a power that can be employed when the state ignores and refuses to act on behalf of its citizens — "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
It is time the people used their First Amendment rights to put an end to the deaths en- abled by the Second Amend- ment. Like Jeff Tiedrich wrote with bitter sarcasm, “Well- Regulated Militia Opens Fire In Robb Elementary School in Uvalde TX,” the supreme stu- pidity of the outcomes of our gun policies must change.
Any politician failing to vote for common sense gun laws should not be re-elected. Pe- riod. This our responsibility to track and act.
It is time for the bleeding to stop; it is time to apply di- rect pressure ... until bleeding stops.
Wim Laven, Ph.D., syndi- cated by PeaceVoice, teaches courses in political science and conflict resolution.