What to Know
The fun, innovative, newsy stuff happening right around you.
Money for what?: Spending on health care in Massachusetts surpassed the $60 billion mark in 2017 for the first time ever, growing 1.6% between 2016 and 2017. While that’s good news for the state, consumers aren’t reaping benefits — the report also stated that out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles and co-pays, increased at a rate of 5.7 percent last year. “Twelve years after leading the country in expanding health care access, Massachusetts is now leading the country again in lowering health care cost growth,” said an exec with the Health Policy Commission. The question still begs, what’s in it for the consumers? Read: State spent over $60B on health care in 2017 — and that’s the good news .
Bleed free: “If the College can provide free condoms, why can they not provide free tampons?” asked Arnav Agrawal, who was running for a seat at the Undergraduate Council at Harvard. That was two years ago. Two years later, after a pilot program, campus-wide survey, town hall and multiple meetings with administrators, the undergraduate council and a menstrual hygiene advocacy group convinced the College to finally make that platform a reality — Harvard worked with House building managers to install a dispenser in each upperclassman House and freshman yard that will provide tampons and pads. The dispensers, which custodial staff will fill regularly, are mostly located in gender-neutral restrooms in order to reach students who may not be comfortable in a women’s bathroom.
Bird is back: The Cambridge City Council met on Wednesday to discuss a plan to roll out electric scooter rental services Lime and Birdin Cambridge and surrounding municipalities as early as January. This isn’t the first time these zippy urban chariots have landed in the streets of Cambridge — in July, the city impounded a flock of Bird scooters that were released without a license to operate, following up on a cease-and-desist letter. Currently, the scooters do not comply with state law, which requires the vehicles to have turn signals and a brake light. Read: Electric Scooters Could Come to Cambridge as Early as January—This Time, Legally. |
