To get these headlines delivered to your inbox every week, sign up for our weekly health news roundup.
Infant mortality in the US rose 3% in 2022, marking 1st significant increase since 2002
Mary Kekatos, ABC News, July 25
For the second straight year, the infant mortality rate in the United States increased. The 3% increase from 2021 to 2022 is concerning for experts who said the infant mortality rate in the U.S. is already much higher than in almost every other developed country in the world. Infants of Black women had the highest mortality rate at 10.90 per 1,000 live births in 2022. “This has been a rather intractable problem in the United States…and the disparities between white and non-Hispanic, Black infant mortality and white and American Indian/Alaska Native infant mortality are quite striking and continue to be very, very troubling,” said Dr. James Greenberg, co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children’s.
Medicare Advantage’s geographic disparities
Maya Goldman, Axios, July 30
Medicare enrollees living in communities of color and with high rates of poverty had less access to top-rated Medicare Advantage plans last year than those living in wealthier places that are majority white. Experts worry that this could contribute to unequal health outcomes. Private Medicare plans now cover more than half of Medicare beneficiaries but the geographic quality differences in Medicare availability highlight how where someone lives in America can determine the quality of their health care options.
FDA approves blood test to screen for colon cancer
Erika Edwards, NBC News, July 29
Doctors are hopeful that a blood test to screen for colon cancer will help boost the low rate of screenings for the second-highest cause of cancer death in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration approved the blood test, called Shield, this week. With FDA approval, Medicare and private insurance companies are much more likely to cover the cost of the test, making it more widely accessible to patients. The test is not meant to replace colonoscopies, but research shows it is 83% effective in finding colorectal cancers.
Maternity care in rural areas is in crisis. Can more doulas help?
Jess Mador, KFF Health News and WABE, July 29
While Bristeria Clark had a good experience with the labor and delivery of both of her children, she wishes she had had a doula for one-on-one support. Now, she wants to help give other women that option. She is a member of Morehouse School of Medicine’s first class of rural doulas, called Perinatal Patient Navigators. “We’re developing a workforce that’s going to be providing the support that Black women and birthing people need,” said Natalie Hernandez-Green, a professor at the school. Doulas have been associated with improved labor and delivery outcomes, reduced stress, and other benefits.
How CT health systems are addressing doctor shortage that’s impacting patient wait times
Lisa Backus, CT Insider, July 28
Connecticut’s largest health systems are working on ways to recruit and retain staff and reduce patient wait times amid a physician shortage. One new program, designed by Hartford HealthCare and Quinnipiac University Medical School, leverages federal funding to train doctors in urban and rural areas. Through the program, several physicians will be completing their residencies at St. Vincent’s and Charlotte Hungerford hospitals in hopes that those doctors will end up staying in Connecticut. Earlier this year, the state announced that any medical school student who agrees to practice in Connecticut in under-served areas for two years after graduating can receive a $50,000 grant for tuition reimbursement.