As expected, the Trump administration is planning to roll back the contraceptive mandate. The contraceptive mandate requires that insurers cover costs for contraception without copay. The proposed change in regulation would allow employers to refuse to cover contraception because of religious or moral objections. This change will not go unchallenged, Numerous lawsuits will likely be initiated if this change takes place.
Those objecting to the contraceptive mandate often cite their objection to certain birth control methods which prevent implantation. However, mainstream authorities focus on the fact that increased contraceptive availability is associated with plummeting incidence of abortion and unplanned pregnacy.
In other policy news Texas plans to continue funding their task force to determine the causes of their alarming rate of maternal mortality. It is really a shame that Texan’s don’t just save their money and acknowledge the obvious: that increased maternal mortality is directly related to their gutting of health care services to women. At this time, one quarter of Texas women lack health insurance. Data from many quarters tells us that this is a sure fire way to ensure poverty and high maternal mortality for many generations to come.
Arkansas is racing to the bottom as well. A Federal Appellate court in St. Louis has ruled that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.
Winning the race to the bottom, is of course the the Trump administration, who has resolved to cut Teen Pregnancy Prevention program funding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) came out with a swift condemnation of this plan. The current administration supports abstinence only programs, and yet asserts they favor “ evidence based” programs. Sling that medical jargon.
Lawmakers have prevailed upon the Trump administration to make the Federal Government insurance subsidy payment for August. In fact, it is Republican members of Congress together with Democrats who have convinced the administration to continue payments, fearing a collapse of insurance markets. They believe this will buy time for a bipartisan solution to stabilize the markets. The CBO (Congressional Budget Office ) continues to warn that ending subsidies with cause premiums to rise by 20% by 2018.
In encouraging news, Oregon has passed law budgeting half a million dollars to expand comprehensive reproductive health care coverage for all its citizens. The law also requires insurers to cover such services with no out of pocket cost. Available evidence tells us that, as a direct result, they should expect decreased rates of unplanned pregnancy and abortion, with increased levels of educational attainment among women, decreasing unemployment statewide, and increased standards of living.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html
On to the medical news.
It is time for us to start thinking about obesity in more sophisticated ways. Obesity is a devastating and widespread medical problem. It is also very personal and for that reason it is challenging to discuss and treat. We are now beginning to understand that the causes of obesity include but are not limited to individual habits. For example, poverty and its many causes factor in strongly. We can graph the incidence of obesity on maps and thus understand obesity is part of culture as culture spreads across geography. New research out of the National Institute of Health has revealed that the “ origins of obesity lie as much in early childhood - even prenatally and intergenerational- as it does in an individual’s current behavior. “ Obesity is closely tied to many forms of human suffering and disease, from heart disease and diabetes, hypertension and cancer, to poor self esteem and depression. Further research is necessary, by all means. However to effectively address this serious problem, both patients and physicians are going to have to do better at mustering their courage and talk about obesity in frank and accurate terms.
You might have noticed my mention of obesity as having a role in increasing cancer risk. Maybe you were not aware of this, since there is not an obvious connection. However, we have always know that obesity is associated with many types of cancers. However, new research from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sheds more light on the subject. It turns out that “ women who eat a lot of high calorie foods may face a slightly higher risk of obesity related cancers - even if they remain thin” The study went on to elaborate that “ women who favored low nutrient high calorie foods had a 10% higher risk of cancer linked to obesity. “ Cancers related to obesity include cancer of breast, colon, ovary, kidney, and endometrium (uterine lining).
A new study from the Canadian Medical Association has shown that oral cancers related to the HPV are on the rise. Between 2000 and 2012 it is believed that the incidence of such cancers has risen by 50 %.
Smoking in pregnancy is still a big problem. It turns out that depression in pregnancy makes smoking more likely. This tendency of smoking during depression in pregnancy is on the rise, according to new research published online in the October issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
HPV and smoking are a bad combination. Did you know smoking greatly accelerates the progress of HPV related disease ?
HPV has an effective vaccine against it. However, new research indicates that less than half of girls and a quarter of boys are vaccinated. HPV ( Human papilloma virus ) has a vaccine. Humans papilloma virus causes genital warts, precancerous and cancerous lesions of the genitalia and mouth. Vaccines are available for young people from the ages of 9-26 years of age. They have little in the way of known side effects.
In other virus news, there have been no locally transmitted cases of Zika viruses in Florida yet this year. The same encouraging trend has also been seen in Latin America and the Caribbean. Authorities now believe that those infected develop immunity to reinfection. However, authorities are also concerned that Zika may now be getting transmitted sexually. Work on a Zika vaccine is underway.
Again, I encourage you all to contact your elected officials about your views on women’s health. Tell them the American people are willing to shoulder their collective responsibility for people's health care and the good of the future.