closer look
Opinion: How women can improve reproductive justice and autonomy, by design
Adobe
The list of ways women suffer from suboptimal medical care is long, Catherine M. Klapperich tells us in a First Opinion, zeroing in on procedures and devices that were flawed from the start. A professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, she catalogs the failures of the Dalkon Shield, the Essure sterilization device, morcellators, and the transvaginal mesh. When she was an engineering student in the 1990s, the prototypical human was a 154-pound man. In some ways, we're still there, she writes.
"If designers prioritized reducing the sexual, lifestyle, and mood side effects of hormonal contraceptives and the short-term pain of IUD insertion, women would have better options that would find wider use," she says. "Designers with no lived experience of gynecological pain, the anxieties of childbirth, or the stresses of avoiding pregnancy cannot properly assess the relative importance of these factors — especially when they do not even try." Read more.
health insurance
How Medicaid unwinding is unfolding
After Medicaid's pandemic-era continuous enrollment ended March 31, 2023, states were required to complete an eligibility renewal for all their Medicaid enrollees. This unwinding process is still affecting people who rely on Medicaid, the latest KFF enrollment tracker reports today. Its survey found that roughly one-fifth of people on Medicaid have been disenrolled while nearly half have been re-enrolled, with renewals for the rest still being processed.
Disenrollment can happen when someone is no longer eligible for benefits or if the renewal process isn't completed; nearly 70% of people were disenrolled for so-called procedural reasons, while 30% were disenrolled because they were deemed ineligible. The survey contained limited data on children, but kids accounted for nearly 40% of disenrollments in the 17 states that broke down the results by age, ranging from 20% of disenrollments in Oregon to 65% in Texas.
farewell
Passing the Morning Rounds baton
So this is my last newsletter before I begin reporting on a new beat: cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. I'm excited to get started on this new challenge, but first, I'm thrilled to say the multitalented Theresa Gaffney — reporter, multimedia producer, and Monday newsletter author — will take over as lead Morning Rounds writer.
It's been quite the ride for me for almost three years, starting when Covid-19 dominated our lives and the news, filling newsletters with stories distilled into 150-word items I composed from my home. Back in STAT's newsroom today, I am reminded of how much we needed each other: expert sources saying what we did and didn't know, reporters and editors making sense of it all, readers telling me what mattered to them most.
It's been a privilege to point you to my STAT colleagues' authoritative, enlightening coverage, not just explaining the pandemic, but also exploring science, biotech, pharma, and policy. We've expanded to new coverage areas, from health tech to chronic diseases to health equity. You know what I mean: You read it every day.
One more thing: Some of you may recall I run marathons. When I started in August 2021, I said I was training for the Covid-delayed London and Boston races in the fall. Then I promptly sustained an injury that canceled London for me and saw me hobbling from Hopkinton to Boston.
Guess what's on my calendar for Monday. Not saying.
Drop me a line with your thoughts on STAT, on cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, or on jinxes.
No comments