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POSTPARTUM
Where Republican Holdouts Stand on Expanding Postpartum Medicaid
What: Nearly every state has expanded Medicaid coverage for postpartum moms for a full year, even conservative states, after Congress passed legislation in 2021 that made it easier. But four states are holding out—Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Axios provides an overview of where legislation stands in those states.
Why it matters: Medicaid covers 40% of births in the United States, and maternal mortality has been on the rise.
Source: Axios
BIRTH CONTROL
Over The Counter Birth Control: What’s the Cost?
What: The first over-the-counter birth control pill is coming soon. Known as Opill, it should hit drugstore shelves by the end of March. But we still don’t know how much it will cost – and that is a key part of exactly how many people will use it.
Why it matters: The promise of Opill is largely in reaching women who can’t afford to see a doctor regularly to get a birth control prescription. If the drug manufacturer charges a high price for the medication, it’ll certainly limit usage within that population.
Source: Ms. Magazine
ABORTION ACCESS
Yet Another Study Shows Abortion Pills are Safe and Effective
What: Abortion pills prescribed via telehealth are safe and effective, according to a study that examined electronic medical records for more than 6,000 patients. The medication, which was provided after video or text chat with a health care professional, ended 98% of pregnancies without further follow up, and 99.7% of patients had no serious adverse events.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the abortion pill, including the safety of the medication and how FDA approved it, in March.
Source: NPR
METABOLISM + WEIGHT
Can Body Positivity and Weight Loss Drugs Coexist?
What: The Washington Post dives into the debate going on within the body positivity movement around weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, and how companies like Weight Watchers have been sponsoring influencers to promote the medications. (Including in stunts like the GLP-1 House.)
Why it matters: There are tons of social stigmas and societal changes to come as we learn more about semaglutides and their usage grows.
Source: Washington Post
MENOPAUSE
Women Spend 40% of Life in Menopause. We Should Know More.
What: A Q+A with Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscience professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, and the author of a new book, “The Menopause Brain.”
Why it matters: We can’t say it better than Mosconi does herself: “The dignity of this important life transition has been taken away and there’s this parade of symptoms and risk and treatments and despair and making women invisible. Basically, menopausal women have been made invisible by society and dramatically overlooked by medicine – and this is unacceptable. Just think about the sheer numbers: by 2030 there will be 1 billion women just entering or about to enter menopause – women of menopausal age are the fastest-growing demographic group and women spend 40% of their life in menopause.”
Source: MarketWatch
CARDIOVASCULAR
Are Women’s Hearts Atypical? Or Just Under Studied?
What: Eva Epker breaks down the depressingly bad outcomes women have when it comes to health care for the heart. As we’ve written many times here, women’s heart disease symptoms get missed and their care is delayed.
Why it matters: As Epker writes: “Some cardiologists, though, have noted that the word ‘atypical’ to describe women’s symptoms should be replaced with ‘understudied’. After all, sex-specific data is lacking in cardiovascular disease, starting with its clinical trials.”
Source: Forbes
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