Health Links
Women's Congressional Policy Institute Weekly Legislative Update: Reproductive Health, Recruiting Families Using Data Act, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act
This week: A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from restricting funding for pregnancy centers; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 6918, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act; the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 6914, the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act; the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 3058, the Recruiting Families Using Data Act. This week, the Senate and House may consider a laddered continuing resolution (CR) (as-yet-unnumbered) to extend most FY2023 spending bills to two dates in March. more »
A Proclamation on National Stalking Awareness Month, 2024 From Joseph R. Biden Jr.
From President Biden: "One of my proudest achievements in life was writing and championing the landmark Violence Against Women Act some 30 years ago in the United States Senate. It began to change our culture, bringing these crimes out of the shadows and getting survivors the services and support they needed. Over the years, I worked with courageous advocates to keep expanding protections and boosting access to healing and justice. In 2022, I was proud to sign a reauthorization of the law, increasing investment in prosecution, prevention, and support for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking." BRIEFING ROOM more »
Medicare Advantage Increasingly Popular With Seniors — But Not Hospitals and Doctors
"As of this year, commercial insurers have enticed just over half of all Medicare beneficiaries — or nearly 31 million people — to sign up for their plans instead of traditional Medicare. The plans typically include drug coverage as well as extras like vision and dental benefits, many at low or even zero additional monthly premiums compared with traditional Medicare. But even as enrollment soars, so too has friction between insurers and the doctors and hospitals they pay to care for beneficiaries. Increasingly, according to experts who watch insurance markets, hospital and medical groups are bristling at payment rates Medicare Advantage plans impose and at what they say are onerous requirements for preapproval to deliver care and too many after-the-fact denials of claims." more »
Facing Financial Ruin as Costs Soar for Elder Care
"The financial toll on middle-class and upper-income people needing long-term care was examined by reviewing data that the HRS collected from 2000 to 2021 on wealthy Americans, those whose net worth at age 65 was in the 50th to 95th percentile, totaling anywhere from $171,365 to $1,827,765 in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars. This group excludes the super-wealthy. Each individual’s wealth at age 65 was compared with their wealth just before they died to calculate the percentage of affluent people who exhausted their financial resources and the likelihood that would occur among different groups. To calculate how many people were likely to need long-term care, how many people needing long-term care services were receiving them, and who was providing care to people receiving help, we looked at people age 65 and older of all wealth levels in the 2020-21 survey, the most recent." more »