Contraception News and Research

Latest Contraception News and Research

Bayer HealthCare receives FDA approval for Natazia to treat HMB

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for Natazia (estradiol valerate and estradiol valerate/dienogest) tablets for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) that is not caused by any diagnosed conditions of the uterus (womb), in women who choose an oral contraceptive (OC) for contraception.

15 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Sandra fluke on slurs; Shifting the cost of uncompensated care

(D)espite the misinformation being spread, the regulation under discussion has absolutely nothing to do with government funding: It is all about the insurance policies provided by private employers and universities that are financed by individual workers, students and their families -- not taxpayers.

14 Mar 2012

Texas - Feds standoff on women's health continues

HHS Secretary Sebelius warned the state that funds would be cut off if officials carry out the threat of excluding Planned Parenthood.

14 Mar 2012

Feds won't renew $30 million funding for Texas' women's health program

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius confirmed Friday that the federal government would stop funding the program which provides health care to more than 100,000 women after Texas barred Planned Parenthood and other "affiliates of abortion providers" from participating. Gov. Rick Perry has pledged to replace the money, but has not said where it would come from.

13 Mar 2012

Views on Supreme Court case: Both sides stage assault on the Constitution; Obama overreached; Law provides basic needs

As the date of the high court arguments grows nearer, news outlets have a number of editorials and opinions about the health law case.

13 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: America's mixed views on health; Contraception and political 'excesses'; Colorado Medicaid debate

Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with preexisting conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will have a negative effect on their own medical care ... But the law itself isn't any more popular than the day it passed.

12 Mar 2012

Women Democratic Senators to Boehner: 'Nix' vote on birth control coverage rule

The 12 senators wrote a letter to the House Speaker, asking him not to hold a vote on proposals to expand exemptions from the Obama administration's birth control coverage mandate.

12 Mar 2012

Virginia uproar frames abortion, contraception legislation in many states

States are grappling with reproduction-related issues after Virginia's pre-abortion ultrasound bill passed: In California, lawmakers are set to consider a bill to give more women access to early-term abortions while lawmakers in Ohio and Minnesota consider legislation on contraception.

11 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: The fight against IPAB; Chinks in GOP armor on health care law

As part of their broader campaign to repeal health care reform, House Republicans are determined to kill off an independent board that is supposed to help rein in federal spending on Medicare. Their rhetoric is predictably distorted: charging that "15 unelected bureaucrats" should not be able to "ration care." In truth, the independent payment advisory board of nongovernmental experts is specifically precluded from rationing care, and Congress, not the board, has the final say on what cuts should be made.

11 Mar 2012

Women Democratic Senators urge Boehner to 'nix' vote on birth control coverage rule

The 12 senators wrote a letter to the House Speaker, asking him not to hold a vote on proposals to expand exemptions from the Obama administration's birth control coverage mandate.

11 Mar 2012

Health care politics: Contraception issues shift women to Dems, GOP contenders on Medicare's future

News outlets covered a poll on the health law and also analyzed Republican positions on abortion, contraception and Medicare.

10 Mar 2012

On the campaign trail, Santorum hits Romney on Mass. health law

GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum continued to press the parallels between the state law signed by his rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and the federal measure, as well as to question Romney's explanation of his positions. Meanwhile, news outlets report on how the gender gap and social issues like contraception are playing in this election cycle.

9 Mar 2012

Contraception, abortion issues crop up in state legislatures, political races

The debate over the birth control mandate is seeping into West Virginia's governor race as reproductive-rights supporters assess their place amid losses in state legislatures.

9 Mar 2012

Some House GOP lawmakers threatening to walk away from last year's budget pact

Conservative Republicans are seeking deeper cuts in both discretionary and mandatory spending. The White House and Democratic lawmakers are "crying foul" and some GOP veterans caution it could produce gridlock. In the background, three key departures from the Senate Finance Committee could make that panel, which oversees Medicare and much of the health law, less centrist.

9 Mar 2012

Obama fields questions on Limbaugh, 'war on women'

During his "Super Tuesday" press conference, the president talked about contraception coverage and the Rush Limbaugh flap, saying that Democrats have "a better story to tell women."

8 Mar 2012

House GOP slows down efforts to pass legislation aimed at Obama contraception coverage rule

In related news, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is reportedly having "voter's remorse" regarding her decision last week to vote for similar Senate legislation - the Blunt amendement.

8 Mar 2012

Texas plan to defund women's health program draws protest; Other abortion and contraception news

Texas' move and subsequently imminent loss of federal Medicaid money has sparked a protest. Lawmakers in New Hampshire and Minnesota are examining the federal contraception coverage requirement.

8 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 7, 2012

Reporting for Kaiser Health News in collaboration with The Washington Post, Susan Jaffe writes: "In the latest effort to enlist seniors in the fight against Medicare fraud, federal officials have overhauled Medicare billing statements to make it easier to find bogus charges without a magnifying glass."

7 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: WSJ on Super Tuesday; Zeke Emanuel, NY Times on electronic health records; Iowa high-risk pool concerns

Mr. Santorum is also scoring on the stump with his warnings about the threat to freedom posed by ObamaCare. Especially if the economy improves, this will be a crucial issue for Republicans in November because it reflects the great American fault line over the role of government. Yet the issue has bedeviled Mr. Romney's because of his refusal to distance himself from RomneyCare in Massachusetts and to say more than his cursory line that he'll "repeal ObamaCare."

7 Mar 2012

Health law, contraception coverage central themes in Mass. Senate race

Indeed, Brown has wandered off the GOP reservation enough to claim some independence, but he has also toed a strong partisan line on a number of key issues: opposing President Obama's health care bill, cosponsoring a proposal to allow employers to deny certain health care coverage on moral grounds, and opposing any tax increases, even on the wealthy.

7 Mar 2012