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PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Trump's 'Big' Bill Cuts Funding for Pregnant Women, Children
What: Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families has a good explanation of what the Medicaid cuts in Trump's "big" bill (signed into law on July 4) will be for pregnant women and children. Medicaid covers over 40% of births in the United States, and the funding cuts could hurt rural hospitals most.
Key Line: "And where will these women have their babies?? Medicaid is a vital source of health coverage for women and children across the country, and it is particularly important to those living in small towns and rural communities, who already face challenges accessing needed care. ...The National Partnership for Women and Families estimates more than 140 labor and delivery units will close under proposed cuts."
Source: Center For Children and Families
Doulas, Once a Luxury, Are Increasingly Covered by Medicaid
What: At the same time, KFF Health News explains how doulas are increasingly being covered by Medicaid -- and how that might continue, even in red states, despite funding cuts. Research has shown doulas can improve health outcomes by reducing c-sections and preterm births, while also addressing racial health disparities.
Key Line: "Even as states brace for significant reductions in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade, legislatures across the country continue to pass laws that grant doula access to Medicaid beneficiaries. Some state laws already require private health insurers to do the same. Since the start of 2025, Vermont lawmakers, alongside Republican-controlled legislatures in Arkansas, Utah, Louisiana, and Montana, have passed laws to facilitate Medicaid coverage of doula services."
Source: KFF Health News
MENOPAUSE
California Law Aims to Boost Doctors' Menopause Training
What: NPR dives into states pushing medical schools and doctors to increase menopause training, including a California bill that would require menopause coursework for doctors to renew licenses if a certain percentage of their patients are under 65.
Key Line: "But Bauer-Kahan, the assemblymember, kept the provisions that Newsom cited as a problem. However, she added education requirements, when last year's bill strictly focused on insurance. 'We've doubled down,' she said. 'I think one of the things I learned last year through the hearings we held on menopause and this work is how little is understood about menopause.'"
Source: NPR
New Study Reveals Sleep Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Menopausal Women
What: A study looking at data from 3,000 women in midlife found that poor sleep was the biggest predictor for future cardiovascular events--and dying from them. They defined "poor sleep" as trouble falling asleep, frequent night awakenings, or waking up too early over the previous two weeks.
Key Line: "'Midlife sleep quality may uniquely contribute to future event risk,' the researchers wrote in the conclusion. ...'As cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, it is important to protect heart health as much as possible,' says Jessica Shepherd, MD...'As menopause affects every middle-aged woman, many post-menopausal women suffer from increased risks for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and sleep problems.'"
Source: Women's Heath
ONCOLOGY
Half of Americans Confused About Mammogram Timing
What: A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found just under 50% of adults surveyed knew women with average breast cancer risk should start regular mammogram screening at 40 years old. Most of the rest thought the screening should start earlier, at 20 or 30 years old.
Key Line: "'Confusion can arise when medical guidance about detection or treatment changes, as it has in recent years with mammograms,' said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. 'Our data suggest that the recommendation that such screening ordinarily start at 40 years old is not yet widely enough known.'”
Source: Annenberg Public Policy Center
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