Money and Computing
When Your Doctor Is Also A Lobbyist: Inside The War Over Surprise Medical Bills
The failure to get legislation through Congress set up a potentially explosive battle in an election year. Republicans and Democrats who have vowed to do something about health care costs must reckon with powerful industry groups whose influence transcends party lines. Meanwhile, physicians and hospitals have made their case in Washington and back home through in-person meetings and phone calls with lawmakers and congressional staff. They’ve hosted dinners and fundraisers and organized fly-ins to swarm Capitol Hill with in-person meetings. They’ve even led tours of their emergency rooms.
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Setting a Record for the Longest Single Spaceflight in History by a Woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch Completes 328-Day Mission in Space
Koch’s first journey into space became a 328-day mission in which she orbited Earth 5,248 times, a journey of 139 million miles, roughly the equivalent of 291 trips to the Moon and back. She conducted and supported more than 210 investigations during Expeditions 59, 60, and 61, including as a research subject volunteer to provide scientists the opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman as the agency plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars. more »
GAO and Election Security: DHS Plans Are Urgently Needed to Address Identified Challenges Before the 2020 Elections
What GAO Found: In the absence of completed plans, CISA is not well-positioned to execute a nationwide strategy for securing election infrastructure prior to the start of the 2020 election cycle. CISA's operations plan may not fully address all aspects outlined in its strategic plan, when finalized. GAO is making three recommendations to the CISA Director to (1) urgently finalize the strategic plan and the supporting operations plan for securing election infrastructure for the upcoming elections, (2) ensure that the operations plan fully addresses all lines of effort in the strategic plan for securing election infrastructure for the upcoming elections, and (3) document how the agency intends to address challenges identified in its prior election assistance efforts and incorporate appropriate remedial actions into the agency's 2020 planning. more »
From the National Institutes of Health: Homicide is a Leading Cause of Pregnancy-associated Death in Louisiana
Of the 119 pregnancy-associated deaths for 2016 and 2017 in the state, 13.4% (16) were homicides. They estimated that, for every 100,000 women who were pregnant or postpartum, there were 12.9 homicide deaths, which outnumbered deaths from any single obstetric cause, including hypertensive disorders (3.2) and amniotic fluid entering the bloodstream (4.8). The risk of homicide death was twice as high for women and girls during pregnancy and the postpartum period, compared to women and girls who were not pregnant. Pregnancy and postpartum deaths were highest for women and girls ages 10 to 29. more »