More Delays for Women in Emergency Care
A new study revealed that women experience delays getting to the hospital, specifically when heart trouble is the symptom. Researchers discovered that although men and women had similar ambulance response times, women were 52% more likely to spend 45 minutes or longer with EMT’s before reaching the hospital, compared to the average time of 34 minutes. Previous research has typically focused on how long patients wait for care once they have arrived at the hospital, rather than how long it takes one to reach the hospital. Thomas W. Concannon, the lead author and assistant professor of medicine at Tufts said that it is not clear why the discrepancy exists, but relayed that time was critical when dealing with heart conditions.
To read more, please visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27disp.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Jobless Can’t Afford to Extend Health Coverage
Nearly 66% of workers qualify for extend health-insurance coverage under a federal law after losing a job, but only 9% the unemployed do so. Why? Most families simply cannot afford it. The Commonwealth Fund found that while employed, a worker contributes around $3,200 a year towards health coverage. Once unemployed, the cost is driven up to $13,000 for family coverage, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“In other words, you have to pay an extra $10,000 because you have lost the amount your employer was contributing to the coverage, and people who are newly unemployed find it very hard to afford,” said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports health-care research.
To read more, please visit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123276396573912277.html?mod=todays_us_money_and_investing
Collecting Interviews at Barak Obama’s Inauguration
WOMR correspondents Byllye Avery and Ngina Lythcott attended the Inauguration of Barak Obama in Washington DC and collected several interviews.
Listen to the interviews with Cindy Pierson, Dr. Susan Wood and Eleanor Hinton-Hoyt at http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/womr/local-womr-816347.mp3
or visit http://www.womr.org/
Listen to Raising Women’s Voices on the radio!
Listen to Raising Women’s Voices member Eesha Pandit and Wisconsin Regional Coordinator Sara Finger on the WORT radio interview which aired last week. To access the archived audio, visit: http://archive.wort-fm.org/
RWV inspires others to start converstations about what women desire in health care reform
Lois Uttley, co-founder of Raising Women’s Voices, talks with Below the Waist about the history of Raising Women’s Voices, the other organizations behind the inspiration and it’s goals for the future. The organization has inspired others to host speak-outs as well. Listen to the interview via podcast at www.belowthewaist.org
If you’re in the Wisconsin area, be sure to check out the upcoming speak-out this week!
What: Women’s Health Speak Out
When: January 29, 2009; 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: 1st Floor Lecture Hall of the David R. Obey Health Sciences Building at Northcentral Technical College (1000 W. Campus Dr., Wausau, WI
Call 1-800-246-5743 if you need more information. If you can’t make it, keep your eyes on BelowtheWaist for more information.
Drugs, Pregnancy and Parenting: What the Experts in Medicine, Social Work and the Law Have to Say
On February 11, 2009, National Advocates for Pregnant Women, New York University School of Law and New York University Silver School of Social Work are co-sponsoring a spectacular one-day continuing education program entitled: Drugs, Pregnancy and Parenting: What the Experts in Medicine, Social Work and the Law Have to Say.
If your work involves criminal law, family law, child welfare law, advocacy on behalf of children, parents or families, pregnant and parenting women and their families or issues of drug use – this continuing education program is for you. The program is appropriate for all levels of working professionals as well as students.
Discussion points will include:
• What does a positive drug test predict about future neglect and abuse?
• What tools can I use to distinguish between myth and fact regarding the effect of drugs and other claims made about drug use and drug users? Is there such a thing as a “crack baby”?
• Is there a difference between drug use and abuse? Can a person parent and be a drug user?
• How should social workers, lawyers, counselors, advocates and judges use and interpret drug tests?
• How do we determine what, if any, treatment should be required and how do we measure its success?
• What is the relationship between drug use, abstinence, relapse and recovery?
• What does evidence-based research tell us about the effectiveness of different kinds of drug treatment?
• How can we implement safety plans that keep families together?
• How can I best advocate for/ help my client when drug use is an issue?
When: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 from 9 am to 6 pm.
Where: NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South, Manhattan
Registration: The fee is $20 in advance or $25 at the door. (Breakfast, lunch and beverages will be provided). Financial aid is available. To Register, visit: http://napwtraining.eventbrite.com/
To learn more about the presenters, visit:
Goodbye, Global Gag Rule!
Just one day after the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Obama repealed the Global Gag Rule. As you may recall, the rule denied the allocation of federal funds to NGOs (non-governmental organizations) abroad for the use of counseling, performing or referring a woman for abortion services. The rule even went so far as to deny funds to those organizations who support for legalizing abortion and making it a safe option for women, even if they themselves did not take part in the counseling or procedure itself.
To read more, please visit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/obama-lifts-stranglehold_b_160463.html
President Obama’s Agenda for Health Care
The Obama-Biden Health Care Plan focuses on building and improving employer based health coverage, improving the relationship between patient and doctor by working with existing providers, doctors, and plans to ensure that patients have an audible voice in their health care. The plan attempts to refocus who should really be prospering from health care–the American people and not just insurance and drug companies.
Some of the changes the plan calls for include: requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, proving a Small Business Health Tax Credit to aid small businesses in providing affordable coverage, establishing a National Health Insurance Exchange that offers a variety of affordable, comprehensive private insurance plans, reduce drug costs, and require hospitals to collect and report data related to health care cost and quality.
President Obama’s website states that ” Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year”, and that he “will pay for his $50 – $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level”.
To read more, please visit:
Health Care ‘Reform’ Is Not Enough
Is our current health care system ‘healthy’? Is there a future for women’s health? Where does health fall on the activist agenda?
Susan Yanow offers some points for readers to ponder. Yanow argues that too much of the health care system is driven by cost and profit, that health care for all individuals is a basic human right and that women deserve a seat at the table to weigh-in on health care reform at all levels of government, local, state and federal.
To read more, please visit:
http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2009winter/2009winter_2.php
Medicaid, COBRA Provisions Under Economic Stimulus Package Expand Health Care Coverage
The proposal put forth by House Democrats called for an increase in aid to workers recently laid off through an expansion of Medicaid or increase in COBRA subsidies. If enacted, the federal government would cover the cost of all benefits, including administrative costs, for all unemployed Medicaid beneficiaries through 2010. Urban Institute Health policy researcher Stan Dorn said that even with the COBRA subsidies, the high health insurance premiums might still be financially out of reach for some residents. The Post describes the proposal as “bold” and that “including insurance help for the unemployed in a fast-acting economic stimulus package is part of a strategy by congressional Democrats and [President Obama] to place attention on health care right away”.
To read more, please visit:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/health2008dr.cfm?DR_ID=56533
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