Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014 - OCTOBER 26, 2014
belmontbeacon.com
Egg freezing now a female employee benefit at Facebook and Apple by jennifer schlueter
cal procedures the two tech giants, both dominated by about 70% of male employees, want to attract and keep female talent to increase diversity. Forbes quotes a spokesperson for Apple: “We continue to expand our benefits for women, with a new extended maternity leave policy, along with cy-
the flu, including people ages 60 and older, pregnant women, caregivers of seniors or infants, and anyone with an underlying chronic medical condition (such as heart or lung condition) or who are immune compromised such as persons with HIV/AIDS, on dialysis, or receiving cancer treatment. Please see page 4
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ropreservation and egg storage as part of our extensive support for infertility treatments.” In the same statement, Apple also said that they “want to empower women […] to do the best work of their lives as they care for loved ones and raise their Please see page 2
Prepare for flu season with annual shot The change in seasons and cooler weather is a reminder that it’s time for residents to get their annual flu shot. While winter is the typical time for flu activity, outbreaks can occur as early as October, so it’s not too early to get a flu shot now. “Everyone age 6 months and older should get the flu vaccine each year, especially those with a health condition
that may increase their risk of serious complications from the flu,” said Dr. Mitchell Kushner, Long Beach City Health Officer. “By getting the vaccine, people can protect themselves from seasonal flu and may also avoid spreading the flu to others.” Flu shots are especially important for people at high risk for serious complications from
California only state to see progress covering uninsured children Alex Johnson, Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund - California, released the following statement on the U.S. Census Bureau’s State Health Insurance Coverage Estimates: “Today’s health insurance numbers show more than a 6 percent drop in the number of uninsured children in California between 2012 and 2013 – which means 56,884 more children now have health coverage. Significant progress increasing the number of covered children nationwide has decreased the number of uninsured children to historic lows. These gains are mostly due to the strong coverage guarantees in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which last year provided comprehensive health and mental health coverage to more than 44 million children across the country, and more than half of California’s children. “Since 2011, CDF-CA in partnership with AASA, the School Superintendent’s Association in California has increased the capacity of school districts to identify uninsured children and link them to health coverage. California was the only state in the country to see a statistically significant decrease in the number of uninsured children in 2013. “However, even as we
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg -Photo by Niall Kennedy
Last Tuesday, NBC announced that Apple will soon follow Facebook’s example of financially supporting their female US employees who want to freeze their eggs. This would allow ambitious women to put family planning on hold in order to pursue their career. By covering up to $20,000 in medi-
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