Health

Nautilus -  The rate of high blood pressure among women who gave birth shot up 73 percent between 2016 and 2024, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. In fact, more than 1 in 10 women who gave birth in 2024 were plagued with some form of hypertension (including preeclampsia), up from a little over 6 percent in 2016.

Even more alarming, the incidence of hypertension increased in every state and for women of every age, race, and weight. And because the report drew on data collected at birth, and not prior medical tests, the issue may be even more widespread than documented by the CDC.

According to the report, American Indian and Alaska Native mothers suffered the highest rates of hypertension, but even Asian women, who had the lowest rates, saw their risk double in the eight years studied. The incidence of high blood pressure was lowest for mothers younger than age 20 and those aged 30 to 34 and highest for mothers 40 and older. The rates of high blood pressure also increased along with body mass index, with heavier women showing a greater risk, but hypertension also went up among underweight mothers during the eight-year period.    

The Hill - The end of a subsidy program that helped keep costs down for Medicare drug coverage could leave millions of seniors with higher monthly costs, a move that undermines the Trump administration’s message of cutting drug costs. 

President Trump often touts his push for access to cheaper drugs through the TrumpRx platform and making “most-favored-nation” deals with drug companies.  But healthcare advocacy and policy organizations have said the end of the subsidy program will raise premium costs and put a burden on seniors at a time when costs are already high.

“President Trump has had a lot of strong rhetoric on drug prices and negotiating deals with manufacturers to lower prices, and they’ve taken a lot of different steps to try to bring drug prices down,” Juliette Cubanski, vice president and director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF, told The Hill.

“But it’s also true that this move to end these extra premium subsidies for some Medicare drug plans cuts in the other direction because it could translate to higher premium costs for millions of people with Medicare,” she said.