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Consumers brace for premium hikes while lawmakers grasp at remedies

As some insurers angle for hefty premium hikes and concerns grow that more Americans will wind up uninsured, the federal health law is likely — once again — to play big in both parties’ strategies for the contentious 2018 election.

11 May 2018

Woman should not be compelled by law to take pregnancy-related risks

Laws should not force women to risk death and injury by having a baby, according to a QUT legal academic who has says abortion can be decriminalized without society and governments making a moral judgment.

3 May 2018

Best reads of the week from Brianna Labuskes

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes, who reads everything on health care to compile our daily Morning Briefing, offers the best and most provocative stories for the weekend.

28 Apr 2018

Study may change global guidelines for managing children with uncomplicated fever

Children in sub-Saharan Africa with uncomplicated fever may be safely managed with conditional, rather than universal, 3-day follow-up with a community health worker, according to a randomized trial by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in PLOS Medicine.

18 Apr 2018

FDA-approved drug for chemical abortion shows promise for treatment of vestibular schwannoma

Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers have shown that mifepristone, a drug currently FDA-approved for chemical abortion, prevents the growth of vestibular schwannoma cells. This sometimes-lethal intracranial tumor typically causes hearing loss and tinnitus

3 Apr 2018

‘Aggressive’ new advance directive would let dementia patients refuse food

Treading into ethically and legally uncertain territory, a New York end-of-life agency has approved a new document that lets people stipulate in advance that they don't want food or water if they develop severe dementia.

30 Mar 2018

Neuroscientists investigate brain mechanisms of altruistic behavior

There are two war veterans, both with penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a gunshot. One of them tends to donate his own money to societal entities he believes in, and the other one punishes institutions that don't represent him.

26 Mar 2018

States extend Medicaid for birth control, cutting costs — and future enrollment

The Trump administration is weighing whether to allow Texas to receive millions of federal Medicaid dollars for its family planning program, which bars abortion providers.

22 Mar 2018

Clash over abortion hobbles a health bill. Again. Here’s how.

The Affordable Care Act very nearly failed to become law due to an intraparty dispute among Democrats over how to handle the abortion issue. Now a similar argument between Democrats and Republicans is slowing progress on a bill that could help cut soaring premiums and shore up the ACA.

21 Mar 2018

Campus voices: Should student health centers offer abortion pills?

Forty-five years after Roe v. Wade made abortions legal, a growing number of states — and the federal government — are restricting access to them.

12 Mar 2018

New research shows link between mothers and teenage daughters in having abortions

Teens whose mothers had abortions were more likely to also have abortions, according to new research in CMAJ

29 Jan 2018

In Trump’s first year, anti-abortion forces make strides despite setbacks

As a candidate, President Donald Trump promised abortion opponents four specific actions to "advance the rights of unborn children and their mothers."

23 Jan 2018

Study finds common contraceptive shot may increase HIV risk

A recent study found an association between HIV risk and the use of the common birth control medications DMPA, among women from sub-Saharan Africa.

9 Jan 2018

Pregnancy does not incur greater risk of relapse for breast cancer survivors

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute indicates that pregnancy does not incur a greater risk of relapse for survivors of breast cancer.

26 Oct 2017

Stunner on birth control: Trump’s moral exemption is geared to just 2 groups

Few people were surprised last week when the Trump administration issued a rule to make it easier for some religious employers to opt out of offering no-cost prescription birth control to their female employees under the Affordable Care Act.

16 Oct 2017

4 takeaways from HHS rollback of key contraception coverage provision

On Friday, the Trump administration announced new regulations governing contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The rules will make sweeping changes to the law's requirement that most employers provide coverage of birth control with no out-of-pocket costs to women.

6 Oct 2017

Study estimates that 25.5 million unsafe abortions are done worldwide every year

Every year, of the 55.7 million abortions that take place worldwide, 25.5 million are unsafe according to a new study published in The Lancet. This means that nearly half of all abortions are unsafe, with the vast majority of these (97%, 24 million) taking place in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

30 Sep 2017

GOP health bill’s changes go far beyond preexisting conditions

The latest GOP effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act is getting a lot of attention, even if its passage seems unlikely. But there is far more to the measure than its changes to rules regarding preexisting health conditions.

22 Sep 2017

Oregon, Texas are latest states to put down markers on abortion coverage

Federal health insurance rules are a moving target, and it's unclear whether Republicans will take another run at replacing the Affordable Care Act. In the meantime, some states are staking out strong positions on coverage of abortion, cementing their position regardless of how the federal landscape changes.

22 Aug 2017

Often missing in the health care debate: Women’s voices

Women, in particular, have a lot at stake in the fight over the future of health care. Not only do many depend on insurance coverage for maternity care and contraception, they are struck more often by such diseases as autoimmune conditions, osteoporosis, breast cancer and depression.

17 Aug 2017