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EVERYTHING
VP Harris Proposes Medicare Pay for Long-Term Home Care
What: VP Kamala Harris proposed having Medicare pay for long-term care at home. The plan would need Congress’ approval, but it could be a big help for millions of Americans. As of now, Medicare only pays for acute at-home care.
Why it matters: “More than 37 million people, or 14% of the adult population, provide some form of unpaid eldercare in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The majority of these caretakers, around 59%, are women.”
Source: CNBC
Maven First US Women’s Health Company to Hit Unicorn Status
What: Maven Clinic is the first US women’s health company to reach unicorn status, with a valuation over $1 billion. The company will use new funding to expand fertility benefits and use “real-time data to deliver more proactive care to members.”
Why it matters: “’I think between more funding and research, more data points from states, from platforms like ourselves, you can start to point and paint a complete picture of everything going on that helps change [women’s health] policy for the better,’ [CEO Kate] Ryder said. ‘The question is, to be honest, when? And how many more people need to needlessly suffer in the meantime?’”
Source: CNBC
ABORTION ACCESS
Texas OBGYNs Consider Leaving State Because of Abortion Bans
What: The state of Texas OBGYNs is grim. A survey found 70% say the state’s abortion ban has negatively impacted their work, 20% are considering leaving the state because of the ban, and 13% are considering retiring early.
Why it matters: “Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston OB/GYN and an officer with the Texas division of ACOG, said the survey results raise concerns about the long-term impacts of these laws. The state is expecting a significant shortage of OB/GYNs over the next decade, with some rural areas already unable to find the doctors they need.”
Source: Texas Tribune
PCOS
Why Aren’t Women Getting PCOS Diagnoses Earlier?
What: PCOS affects up to 10% of American women of childbearing age, and according to the Endocrine Society is the most common cause of infertility. So why are women only getting diagnosed in their 20s and 30s?
Why it matters: “…the way doctors measure and interpret PCOS symptoms varies greatly. For example, there is a defined scale for assessing abnormal hair growth, but not all clinicians consider hair loss or acne as clear symptoms of high androgen levels, Dr. Hudson says. There’s also some controversy about which androgens to measure: Some clinicians only look at free testosterone, while some also measure dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and/or androstenedione. Some symptoms, like an irregular menstrual cycle or acne, are often dismissed as “normal variations,” Dr. Hosseinzadeh says. The same goes for hair loss and weight gain, which are often brushed off and attributed to something else…”
Source: Women’s Health
ONCOLOGY
More Estrogen, More Alcohol, More Cancer?
What: Younger women have gotten breast cancer at increasing rates since 2012, and researchers have a few theories why: Girls getting periods at a younger age and women having kids later, which means more periods and more estrogen exposure; increased obesity rates which can increase estrogen exposure; and increased alcohol consumption.
Why it matters: “Women today are a lot less likely to die from breast cancer, but alarming disparities still remain, especially for Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American and Black women,” Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, said in a news release about the report. “These gaps need to be rectified through systematic efforts to ensure access to high-quality screening and treatment for every woman.”
Source: CBS News
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