Among the changes: expanding Medicaid’s reach, preventive screenings, support services and insurance coverage requirements By the time women reach 44 years old, roughly 85% have given birth. Yet even though pregnancy and childbirth are so commonplace, health insurance coverage and support services to keep mothers and babies healthy are often seriously deficient. Some private insurers, for example, treat pregnancy as a preexisting conditio ... Jump to full article >>

Although pregnant women make up about 1 percent of the U.S. population at any given time, during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak they made up 5 percent of deaths, a new study has found. Researchers also found that pregnant women who waited four days before seeking treatment were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) nearly 57 percent of the time, compared to only about 9 percent for pregnant women who didn’t delay seeking treatment. The H ... Jump to full article >>

The NHS is spending more money helping people stop smoking – but fewer are quitting, say official figures. The cost per quitter was £219 in 2008/09 compared with £173 in 2007/08 and £160 in 2006/07. The proportion of people successfully quitting last year went down four per cent. But spending went up 21 per cent last year to £74m – not including the cost of nicotine replacement therapy. Latest figures show that – four week ... Jump to full article >>