Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Expected To Vote Today On IVF Bill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is planning another vote on a Democrat-backed bill on in vitro fertilization (IVF) that has already failed in the upper chamber. He revealed in a letter to senators on Sunday that another vote on the measure would take place on Tuesday. ... "We are going to give our Republican colleagues another chance to show the American people where they stand." (Johnson, 9/16)
On abortion, menopause, and STIs —
The supreme court justice Samuel Alito and a German aristocrat and “networker of the far right” from whom Alito accepted expensive concert tickets, are both linked to an ultra-conservative Catholic US group whose board members include the dark money impresario Leonard Leo and the founder of a hardline anti-abortion Christian group, documentation reviewed by the Guardian shows. (Pengelly, 9/17)
A recent study shows that for health care coverage, access and affordability for women, Florida ranks 48 out of 50 states and Washington, D.C. For prenatal care, Florida comes in last, 51st. The 2024 State Scorecard on Women's Health and Reproductive Care was conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan foundation that promotes a high-performing health care system. (Barbor, 9/16)
Fewer women are taking hormone therapy for menopause symptoms and it likely stems from an older study that raised safety concerns. Menopause is gaining more attention in the media and online, but a new analysis shows that hormone therapy among women over 40 has declined to a low of 1.8%. That's drastically lower than the 40% of menopausal women who used it before a study in 2002 suggested the medications could increase a woman's risk of breast cancer and heart disease. After that, use plummeted. (Marshall, 9/16)
In 2010, Lisa Copeland found herself single, again. ... “Dating in your 20s was about getting married, having kids, cats, dogs – building your world,” Copeland said, now 68. “Today, it’s about fun and play.” But the dangers single people over 50 face differ from those they encountered as singles decades earlier. Learning that lesson has become essential for Copeland and others as research shows that sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, are skyrocketing among older adults at a faster rate than among other age groups. (Rodriguez, 9/17)
