The average age of moms giving birth in the U.S. continues to rise, hitting nearly 30 years old in 2023. In a report, published Friday by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, researchers found the average age of all mothers giving birth in the United States increased from 28.7 years old in 2016 to 29.6 in 2023. For new first-time moms, average age also increased, from 26.6 in 2016 to 27.5 in 2023. The data was taken from the National Vital Statistics System, which includes all birth records in the country.
The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy that calls for clinical AI tools that can explain their answers. It also wants the AI purveyors to provide safety and efficacy data. To make AI explainable means that the AI should be able to cite sources or back up its decisions with data clinicians can review. The AMA adopted the policy at its annual house of delegates meeting in Chicago this week, and it calls for an independent third party — like a regulatory agency or other certifying body — to verify that AI tools are actually explainable.
President Trump's former surgeon general blasted HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to fire the entirety of a federal advisory committee on vaccine guidance, saying the move jeopardizes public health and threatens public trust in health institutions. In an op-ed published by Time, former Surgeon General Jerome Adams wrote that Kennedy’s recent actions cast doubt over his pledge that, "We won’t take away anyone’s vaccines."
Veterans' advocates have worked for years to stop unaccredited consultants from charging vets thousands of dollars for help filing disability claims, but setbacks in court and on Capitol Hill indicate their quest to ban the deep-pocketed companies could be in peril. With Republicans in control of Congress, a bill legalizing for-profit claims consultants nationwide will advance to a full House of Representatives vote, the first time such a measure has made it out of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Meanwhile, a competing bill introduced by a Democrat, which would crack down on for-profit companies by imposing criminal penalties, has not advanced.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan on Thursday announced that more than 500 employees have taken buyouts, and another 600 positions are being eliminated as the state's largest health insurance company looks to shed $285 million in administrative costs by year's end following two consecutive years of losses. The Detroit-based insurer said it eliminated more than 600 nonunion positions across the organization this week, laying off 220 employees and axing more than 400 open jobs.
Corporate investors hoping to take over local healthcare facilities in Oregon could soon face one of the hardest markets nationwide. Senate Bill 951, which was quietly signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek this week, sets the strongest regulations on private and corporate control of medical practices in the nation. A similar effort failed in the Legislature last year amid pushback from Republicans that prevented the bill from meeting key legislative deadlines.