What We’re Reading: Historic Low of Uninsured; Youth Gender Treatments; Birth Control Recall

Uninsured Rate Reach Historic Low

A historic low of just 7.7% of Americans had no health insurance in the first 3 months of 2023, according to the CDC. Because of pandemic allowances, Medicaid enrollment expanded more than 30% and covered over 90 million people, reported The Hill. However, Congress recently ended those protections, and states have been able to remove people since April. Almost 3.8 million Americans have been kicked off Medicaid rolls as of Tuesday with the most cited reason being “procedure reasons,” like missing or incorrect paperwork, though they still may be eligible.

Medical Group Supports Gender Treatments; Calls for Research

The American Academy of Pediatrics supported gender-related treatments for children, reasserting its position from 2018 on a medical method that has since been prohibited in 19 states, according to The New York Times. The prominent group of doctors went the extra mile of commissioning a systematic review of medical research on the treatments. Treatments are new, and few studies have evaluated their long-term effects.

Birth Control Pills Recalled

The FDA cautioned that 2 lots of an oral contraceptive that were recalled last week by its maker may have reduced effectiveness and could bring about unexpected pregnancies, reported The Washington Post. The FDA’s announcement Tuesday followed drugmaker Lupin Pharmaceuticals' announcement that it was voluntarily recalling 2 lots of drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol/levomefolate calcium (Tydemy) due to concerns that the product didn’t contain enough ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, which could impact the drug’s effectiveness and possibly result in an unexpected pregnancy. Almost 4200 boxes of the drug were involved in the recall.