Health & Gender

Brief #108 – Health and Gender 
By Siam Bhimji

Throughout 2020, there was a frantic search for medications that could end the Covid-19 pandemic which infected 6 million Americans and caused nearly 160,000 deaths, but despite extensive research, no viable drug was discovered. Scientists stated that the only way to cure the Covid-19 outbreak was by developing a vaccine.

Brief # 107 – Health and Gender Policy
By Justin Lee
On June 3rd 2021, President Biden announced a plan to distribute over 25 million COVID vaccines globally; a new and separate initiative to the already $4 billion US has committed to COVAX. Under this agreement, 19 million doses will be dedicated to COVAX, which will distribute 6 million doses to Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 million doses for south and southeast Asia, and 5 million doses for Africa. The remaining 6 million doses will be shared with countries experiencing surges and US partners and neighbors.

Brief #108 – Health and Gender Policy
By Erin McNemar
While abortion has long been a controversial topic in American politics, there has been a recent increase in policies attempting to restrict a women’s right to chose. Last month, legislators in Texas worked to pass laws shortening the amount of time women have to make a decision regarding terminating their pregnancy. 

The Texas law comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision to review the Mississippi Abortion law beginning next session. This will be the first time the majority conservative leaning court will hear cases that will directly impact Roe v. Wade.

Brief #106—Health & Gender
By Erin McNemar
As COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted all across the United States, it’s important to remember that the pandemic is not over yet. As more and more people across the country gain access to the vaccine, the United States is seeing a steady decline in the number of infections, deaths and hospitalization. It’s easy for people who are experiencing mask fatigue to quickly support the lightening of restrictions. While the United States seems to be experiencing positive trends in getting rid of the virus, it’s also important to remember that the rest of the world is not experiencing the same thing.

Brief #105—Health and Gender
By Erin Mcnemar
President Joe Biden has stated that ending violence against women has been a priority for him throughout his career. During the 1990s, Biden pushed for legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act to empower and protect women who had become the victims of violence. Since then, he has worked to continue strengthening and renewing that act. In The Biden Agenda for Women policy, Biden has pledged he will continue to build upon VAWA and provide better support for survivors.

Brief #104—Health & Gender
By Taylor J Smith
More than 100 bills that threaten the rights of transgender people have been introduced across thirty-three states as we approach only the fifth month of the year. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, tracks such dangerous bills and has on record 117 bills that take aim at the transgender community, the majority targeting trans youth. This is the number of anti-trans bills since HRC began tracking anti-LGBTQ+ legislation back in the early 2000s.

Brief #103—Health And Gender
By Lily Lady Cook
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was founded in 1971 to protect workers from hazards on the job. OSHA has faced intermittent funding challenges since the ‘70s, and reached new lows under the previous administration. Currently, the U.S. has one labor inspector for every 70,000 people although The International Labor Organization recommends one for every 10,000 people. This means that about 1,850 inspectors are responsible for overseeing the safety of 130 million workers. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor criticized OSHA for its lack of regulatory guidance and decreased on-site inspections. On the campaign trail, President Biden called upon then-President Trump to double the amount of OSHA investigators; once in office, he instructed OSHA to release Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) guidelines for employers by March 15. OSHA did not follow through on this order, possibly due to legal barriers related to the ‘grave danger’ precondition necessary for their release. In the absence of federal guidelines, separate states established their own ETSs. OSHA did, however, issue a National Emphasis Program in March, which increased pandemic-related inspection mandates for high hazard industries.

Brief #102—Healthcare and Gender
By Rosalind Gottfried’
Biden has outlined an ambitious reform of the Affordable Care Act though his ability to achieve all of his goals rests on the solidarity of the Democrats since he will not have any Republican support, and consensus is not appearing likely.  The element most at risk for failure is the issue of a public option, a proposal that was eliminated from the Bill in the Obama administration because it was too divisive.

One way to incorporate a public option is to expand Medicare to younger Americans, to age 55 or 60, and to extend care to dental and vision coverage.  This is the plan promoted by Senator Bernie Sanders.  Another proposal is in a bill by Democratic Senators Michael Bennet and Time Kaine which would expand Medicare to allow anyone to buy into it and pay a premium including small businesses. Neither of these proposals is likely to win the day.  Biden, if successful at all in incorporating a public option, will likely provide for buying insurance directly through the federal government in a system like the current insurance federal insurance exchange.  The benefit of this approach is that the government, by directly selling insurance, can set a lower price by appealing to a large segment of the insurance buying public.  In order to stay successful, private insurances would have to mirror that rate.  As a result, premiums would go down and more of the population would participate.  Biden also has increased the tax subsidy for purchasing insurance making the premiums lower.  Biden’s extension of the current enrollment period to May 15, 2021, coupled with subsidies under the American Rescue act, has resulted in over a half a million newly insured Americans to date. 

Brief #101—Gender and Policy
By Erin Mcnemar
In President Joe Biden’s policy proposal, “The Biden Agenda for Women,” he highlights how women have been disproportionately impacted in a number of sectors. Biden explains in the United States women are typically the ones that end up having the responsibility of taking care of their families. While that alone can be a large task, typically only one in six American workers qualify for paid family leave. Additionally, Black and Latina individuals are even less likely to qualify according to Biden.

Brief #100—Health and Gender
By Taylor J Smith
During Donald Trump’s final days as president, the US Supreme Court granted a request by the administration to reimplement restrictions on patients attempting to obtain mifepristone, a drug used to terminate early pregnancy. The Supreme Court decision reinstates the requirement for patients to pick up the medication in person. Three lower courts had previously blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement for an in-person pick up. The lower court rulings were  fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and assumed risks of entering a hospital, doctor’s office, or clinic at this time. The court split 6-3, with the liberal justices in the opposition.

Brief #99—Health and Gender
By Justin Lee 
The American Jobs Plan, introduced by President Biden last week, proposes a whopping $2.25 trillion to revamp and modernize multiple industries. As the plan allocates and focuses most on American infrastructure upgrades, significant parts of the plan also directly and indirectly revamps American public health. As capitol hill will likely continue to debate the size and funding of the legislative package, it is important to outline how this package can move American public health into the modern era.