The continued surge of COVID-19 cases has forced more than 100 hospitals to postpone elective surgeries.
Patients are suffering as a result. Arthritis patients in need of joint replacements have been inactive for months. Patients with severe back pain — which could be alleviated with minimally invasive spinal surgeries — have temporarily lost their mobility. A few have waited almost a year for their operations, since hospitals canceled surgeries en masse last spring and summer due to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, a well-intentioned federal reform could soon make patients’ lives even harder.
