Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Far Too Little Is Known About Perimenopause; Patients Can't Use Health Care If It's Unaffordable
In women's health, there's a phase often glossed over, hidden away in quiet conversations and veiled discomfort: perimenopause. It's a phase that catches many women unprepared and ill-equipped. But it's time to cast off the shroud of silence and ignite a revolution in women's health, especially among the trailblazing millennials鈥攖o forge a path of informed autonomy and empowerment. (Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Alyssa Milano, 5/30)
The health care bill passed by the Massachusetts House earlier this month provides a strong foundation for policy makers to address important questions: How can we help financially struggling community hospitals? How can we enhance state oversight of health care transactions to avoid another debacle like Steward鈥檚 bankruptcy? And perhaps most importantly, how can we ensure health care is affordable? (5/30)
As the 77th World Health Assembly takes place this week, negotiations around the Pandemic Treaty are front and center of conversations. The treaty has been beset by delay and misinformation. The vested interests of pharmaceutical companies, lobbying groups, and conservative British broadcaster Nigel Farage bleating about 鈥渄efending sovereignty鈥 are threatening to derail the treaty process entirely. (Vanessa Kerry, 5/31)
Access to primary care in the U.S. has worsened over the past decade, and a lack of investment is to blame. This drop in access impacts all Americans, in communities large and small, urban and rural. Wait times to see a primary care clinician take up to one month on average and are likely much longer for those trying to establish care for the first time. More than 25% of American adults and more than 10% of children have no regular source of care, another statistic that has worsened over the last decade, despite expanded insurance access from the Affordable Care Act and other federal programs. (Dr. Yalda Jabbarpour, 5/31)
Pregnant people and new mothers who are being treated for opioid addiction often have to fight to keep their children out of the hands of child protective services. But it鈥檚 a fight they shouldn鈥檛 have to face. (Arthur Robin Williams and Judith Cole, 5/31)
