Health and Science

Senator Kamala Harris introduced a bill to support states in their work to end preventable morbidity and mortality in maternity care* by using evidence-based quality improvement to protect the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the postpartum period, and to reduce neonatal and infant mortality*, to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. Sen. Tammy Baldwin introduced a bill to require that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide coverage for treatment of a congenital anomaly or birth defect. more »

On 8 September 1944 at the district registrar’s office, Ashfield, Payne-Scott married William Holman Hall, a telephone mechanic. In 1950 CSIRO management officially heard of her marriage. Since public service rules at the time required women to resign upon marriage, she lost her permanent position and became a temporary employee — a loss of status she indignantly protested in keeping with her fearless, unconventional character and passionate commitment to her political views. She left CSIRO and radio astronomy in 1951, when she was expecting her first child. more »

More than two in ten report loneliness or social isolation in the U.K. and the U.S., double the share in Japan. More than a fifth of adults in the United States (22 percent) and the United Kingdom (23 percent), as well as one in ten adults (nine percent) in Japan, say they often or always feel lonely, feel that they lack companionship, feel left out, or feel isolated from others, and many of them say their loneliness has had a negative impact on various aspects of their life. For example, across countries, about half or more reporting loneliness say it has had a negative impact on their personal relationships or their physical health. While loneliness is often thought of as a problem mainly affecting the elderly, the majority of people reporting loneliness in each country are under age 50. They’re also much more likely to be single or divorced than others. more »

As of 2019, Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D prescription drug plans will no longer be exposed to a coverage gap, sometimes called the “donut hole”, when they fill their brand-name medications. The coverage gap was included in the initial design of the Part D drug benefit in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 in order to reduce the total 10-year cost of the benefit. Subsequent legislative changes are phasing out the coverage gap by modifying the share of total costs paid in the gap by Part D enrollees and plans and requiring drug manufacturers to provide a discount on the price of brand-name drugs in the gap. more »