The birth rate in the United States hit a 32-year low last year as the number of babies born dropped for the fourth straight year, federal health officials said in a report released Wednesday. Faculty Associate Donna Strobino is quoted.

Levels of “flourishing” in the study were determined by three indicators: children’s interest and curiosity in learning new things; persistence in task completion; and capacity to regulate emotions. Faculty Associate Christina Bethell is quoted.

Younger women are having fewer babies, but there is an increase in births among women in their late 30s and early 40s. Faculty Associate Donna Strobino is quoted.

Faculty Associate Gerard Anderson explains the role of Pharmacy Benefits Managers and whether they are to blame for the rising costs of prescriptions, as pharmaceutical companies and politicians are claiming.

If the U.S. wants a better deal on some medicines, the federal government could try pegging prices to what is paid by Japan, the U.K., and the Canadian province of Ontario. Faculty Associate Gerard Anderson is quoted.

Over the past decade, hospitals have been rapidly building outpatient clinics or purchasing existing independent ones. It was a lucrative business strategy because such clinics could charge higher rates, on the premise that they were part of a hospital. Medicare’s recent rule change puts a damper on all that. Faculty Associate Gerard Andersonis quoted.

Nurses spend 16 hours on the phone, medications take months to arrive, and patients suffer as they wait. Faculty Associate Gerard Anderson is quoted.

Like most prices in health care, what health plans pay for prescription drugs is cloaked in secrecy. Governor Tony Evers wants those prices to be at least a bit less secret. Faculty Associate Gerard Anderson is quoted.

In states that legalized medical marijuana, there was a 4.8 percent decrease in reported pain for conditions that qualified for pot treatment (cancer, arthritis, glaucoma and pain), compared to states without medical marijuana. Similarly, 6.6 percent more seniors reported very good or excellent health in states with medical pot. Faculty Associate Lauren Hersch Nicholas is quoted.

In states where medical marijuana is legal, researchers reported a reduction of pain and an increase in worked hours by residents older than 51 who use the alternative medicine. Faculty Associate Lauren Hersch Nicholas is quoted.