Politico: Labor's Civil War Over 'Medicare For All' Threatens Its 2020 Clout
"Medicare for All" is roiling labor unions across the country, threatening to divide a critical part of the Democratic base ahead of several major presidential primaries. In union-heavy primary states like California, New York, and Michigan, the fight over single-payer health care is fracturing organized labor, sometimes pitting unions against Democratic candidates that vie for their support. (Kullgren and Ollstein, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Sanders Rejects Ocasio-Cortez’s Suggestion On Health-Care Compromise
Sen. Bernie Sanders distanced himself Tuesday from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recent suggestion that compromising on health care would be acceptable, arguing that his Medicare-for-all plan is "already a compromise." The comments, coming in a televised town hall hosted by CNN, highlighted a rare difference between the senator and the congresswoman (D-N.Y.), one of his most prominent supporters — notably, over one of the central planks of his presidential campaign platform. (Sullivan, 2/18)

Politico: Sanders Disagrees With AOC Over Medicare For All
The Vermont senator told CNN’s Anderson Cooper at a Las Vegas town hall that he loves Ocasio-Cortez and credited her for transforming politics and getting young people involved. “But my view is that Medicare for All, the bill that we wrote, is in a sense already a compromise,” Sanders said. He added that the proposal has a four-year transition period that would bring down the age required for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55 to 45 to 35. (McCaskill, 2/18)

Politico: Sanders Condemns Supporters’ Attacks On Culinary Union
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night said he condemns any of his supporters who make “vicious attacks” against others. Sanders’ supporters came under fire last week after Nevada’s powerful Culinary Union offered criticism of his Medicare for All proposal. According to the Nevada Independent, two top union officials received threatening messages over the phone, email and Twitter from Sanders’ supporters. The union announced Friday that it would not endorse a political candidate ahead of the Nevada caucuses this Saturday. (McCaskill, 2/18)

Other election news focuses on South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's health stances, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's criticism of the Democrats' health plans, the abortion divide, and more —

The New York Times: Fact-Checking Pete Buttigieg Before The Nevada Caucuses
Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., has had strong showings in the first two Democratic presidential nominating contests. As he seeks to build support ahead of Nevada’s vote on Saturday, Mr. Buttigieg has sought to explain his record with black residents of South Bend, distinguish himself from his competitors on health care, and parry attacks on the issue of campaign finance. Here’s a fact check. (Qiu, 2/18)

The Associated Press: McConnell Takes Aim At Democratic Presidential Candidates
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that health insurance proposals from the Democratic candidates for president would hurt business owners. During a speech in Louisville at a conference for the Distilled Spirits Council, McConnell said he's “never seen a Democratic party like we’re confronted with today.” He said even the centrist Democrat candidates who propose a public option for health insurance over Medicare for all are supporting government-based insurance. (2/18)

The Associated Press: Democrats Diverge On Outreach To Anti-Abortion Swing Voters
In a party that’s shifted leftward on abortion rights, Democratic presidential hopefuls are offering different approaches to a central challenge: how to talk to voters without a clear home in the polarizing debate over the government’s role in the decision to end a pregnancy. While Bernie Sanders said this month that “being pro-choice is an absolutely essential part of being a Democrat,” his presidential primary opponent Amy Klobuchar took a more open stance last week in saying that anti-abortion Democrats “are part of our party.” Klobuchar's perfect voting score from major abortion-rights groups makes her an unlikely ally, but some abortion opponents nonetheless lauded the Minnesota senator for extending a hand to those on the other side of an issue that’s especially important for Catholics and other devout voters. (Schor, 2/18)

Politico: POLITICO-Harvard Poll: Health Care Costs Are Top Priority Heading Into Elections
Americans have a clear message for President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidates vying to replace him: Lower health care costs. The vast majority of Americans rank cutting health care and prescription drug costs as their top priorities heading into election season, regardless of party affiliation, according to a new POLITICO-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health survey. (Cancryn, 2/19)

Roll Call: Bloomberg's New Marijuana Policy Is Short On Details 
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg formalized his stance on marijuana Tuesday, calling for decriminalization as part of a broader criminal justice platform. But the paragraph-long marijuana policy leaves a lot of questions about what federal marijuana policy would look like under a Bloomberg administration. (Kopp, 2/18)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Epidemic Keeps Growing, But Spread In China Slows
Chinese officials hailed recent figures as evidence that the spread of the coronavirus epidemic has slowed, and World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday that China’s strict limits on its people’s movements have helped. But the outbreak and its death toll continue to grow. The picture outside China has grown steadily more alarming. And experts caution against excessive optimism about the crisis peaking. “It could be unwise for anybody in China, or outside China, to be complacent that this is coming under control at this point in time,” said Prof. Malik Peiris, chief of virology at the University of Hong Kong. (Wang, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: China Touts Fall In New Coronavirus Infections, Deaths
On Tuesday, China’s National Health Commission reported 1,886 new confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China on Monday, the first time the daily tally has fallen below 2,000 since the beginning of the month. The daily number of confirmed cases outside Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, also fell to below 100 for the first time this month, while the number of new deaths across mainland China—98 on Monday, all but five of them in Hubei—fell to less than 100 for the first time in nearly a week. (Cheng, 2/18)

The Associated Press: China's Virus Center Vows No Patient Unchecked As Cases Fall
Protective suit-clad inspectors in the epicenter of China's viral outbreak went door-to-door Wednesday to find every infected person in the central city suffering most from an epidemic that is showing signs of waning as new cases fell for a second day. Wuhan, where the new form of coronavirus emerged, is on the final day of a campaign to root out anyone with symptoms whom authorities may have missed so far. (Wang, 2/18)

The New York Times: In Coronavirus Fight, China Sidelines An Ally: Its Own People
Hospitals in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province have been making urgent pleas to the Chinese people for three weeks as the new coronavirus ripples through the country: Send more protective gear. Supplies are close — and yet frustratingly out of reach. Medical supplies donated to the Red Cross Society of China’s Wuhan branch sit in warehouses. Individuals who try to organize relief supplies face violating the country’s strict charity law. (Yuan, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: China Turns To Health-Rating Apps To Control Movements During Coronavirus Outbreak
China’s technology titans are deploying health-rating systems to help authorities track the movement of millions of Chinese who are preparing to resume work at factories and other businesses, adding a new and controversial tool in the country’s battle to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported this week that the country’s cabinet, the State Council, had instructed Alibaba Group Ltd. affiliate Ant Financial Services Group to explore the nationwide rollout of a rating app to help governments control which people can travel into and around the city during the Covid-19 outbreak. (Lin, 2/18)

The New York Times: How A Pharmacy Handles Mask Hoarders And Coronavirus Fears
“It’s like World War III,” said May Tang, an employee at the Kit Pharm Dispensary Ltd. in Hong Kong. As panic over the coronavirus outbreak has swept across the city, residents have taken to waiting in line for hours to buy face masks, disinfectant and even toilet paper from places like Kit Pharm in North Point. And Ms. Tang, a friendly woman with tinted hair, has witnessed the hysteria first hand. (Kwai, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Amid Coronavirus, The World Closes Its Doors To China: ‘I Feel So Isolated’
To celebrate Christmas one year, Jing Sun trekked to the North Pole to see reindeer. For another holiday, the Shenzhen native flew to Marrakesh, and she was recently in Cleveland for work. Los Angeles, New York and Barcelona were on her spring itinerary, while her maiden Australia voyage was penciled in. Suddenly, the 29-year-old is grounded in Beijing. (Areddy, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: China Expels Three Wall Street Journal Reporters
China revoked the press credentials of three Wall Street Journal reporters based in Beijing, the first time in the post-Mao era that the Chinese government has expelled multiple journalists from one international news organization at the same time. China’s Foreign Ministry said the move Wednesday was punishment for a recent opinion piece published by the Journal. (2/19)

The Washington Post: China Expels Three Wall Street Journal Reporters Over Opinion Article Written By Academic
Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Chin and reporter Chao Deng, both American citizens, as well as reporter Philip Wen, an Australian national, have been ordered to leave the country within five days, the Journal reported. The paper did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The Foreign Ministry has been repeatedly criticizing the Journal since it published a coronavirus-related column on Feb 3. by Walter Russell Mead, a professor at Bard College, under the headline “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia.” The title is a reference to the time at the beginning of the 20th century when a weak China was carved up by colonial powers. (Fifield, 2/19)

CNN: Beijing Expels Three Wall Street Journal Journalists 
Chinese authorities have increasingly used visa restrictions to show displeasure with or exert pressure over foreign media in China. Numerous foreign journalists have been placed on short-term visas instead of the standard one-year visa. But it is highly unusual for an international journalist to be expelled from the country. (Westcott and Jiang, 2/19)

The New York Times: First Ebola, Now Coronavirus. Why An Omaha Hospital Gets The Toughest Cases.
In the years after the Sept. 11 attacks, officials at Nebraska Medical Center envisioned a time when the nation would need a large, secure treatment center to guard against the threats of bioterrorism and infectious diseases. They spent $1 million to transform an empty wing of the hospital into a 10-bed biocontainment unit, complete with concrete walls, filtered air and video links to the nursing station. Then they waited. The beds sat empty for years, until an Ebola outbreak in 2014. The unit became a central player in treating Americans returning from West Africa with the lethal disease. Nurses wearing face shields, water-resistant gowns and three pairs of surgical gloves treated three Ebola patients. When that threat subsided, the unit returned to being a quiet ward used only for training and planning. (Mervosh, 2/18)

The Associated Press: Why Treat People Exposed To Virus In Omaha? Why Not?
Of all places, why are 13 people potentially exposed to a viral outbreak being treated and observed in Omaha, Nebraska? Because nearly 20 years ago, a few doctors, public health experts and officials realized that nearly no one was meeting a national need for such specialized care and figured, why not Omaha? “We all wanted to build a better mousetrap,” said Dr. Phil Smith, an infectious disease expert who led the effort to create the biocontainment unit at Nebraska Medical Center. (McFetridge, 2/18)

In other coronavirus news from the states —

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Has U.S. Cities Stretching To Monitor Self-Quarantined Americans
Public-health officials in the U.S. are striving to keep tabs on thousands of Americans who have quarantined themselves at home after returning from mainland China to curtail the new coronavirus, adding to an epidemic response that is straining already-stretched local departments. More than 5,400 people had been asked to self-quarantine in California alone as of Feb. 14, according to the California Department of Public Health. Hundreds more are self-quarantining in Georgia, Washington state, Illinois, New York and other states. (Abbott, 2/19)

ABC News: Private, Charter Jet Companies Report Uptick In Business Amid Coronavirus Outbreak 
With many commercial flights to and from mainland China suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, charter and private jet operators say it's been "all systems go" for them amid the global health emergency. Once thought to be reserved for ultra-wealthy jetsetters, these planes have also been recruited by governments to repatriate foreigners within China or to send medical supplies to the impacted region. (Thorbecke, 2/18)

USA Today: Coronavirus Halts FDA Inspections In China, Might Disrupt Drug Supply
The Food and Drug Administration has pulled inspectors from China amid the rapidly-spreading coronavirus and has warned Americans might face shortages of “critical medical products” if the outbreak persists. The federal agency halted inspections of drug and device factories due to the State Department warning against travel to China. The FDA has faced Congressional scrutiny for its oversight of overseas factories following high-profile recalls of blood pressure-lowering medications and reports revealing fewer overseas inspections in recent years. (Alltucker and O'Donnell, 2/18)

CNN: Nebraska Doctors Are Providing Coronavirus Patients With Chicken Soup And Tylenol 
University of Nebraska Medical Center doctors aren't just providing top tier medical care to coronavirus patients, they're also supporting them as they battle the symptoms. It's why Dr. Mark Rupp, UNMC's division of infectious diseases chief, told CNN Tuesday the hospital is providing patients with chicken soup and antipyretics, or anti-fever medicine like Tylenol or Motrin. (Vera and Watt, 2/19)

California Healthline: School Districts Grapple With Quarantines, Face Masks And Fear
In one school district, families are pulling their kids out of school. In others, students show up in face masks.Educators in one Southern California community agreed to suspend an exchange program to keep visiting Chinese students out of quarantine. School districts across the U.S., particularly those with large Asian American populations, have scrambled to respond to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 1,800 people and sickened tens of thousands more, almost all in China. (Almendrala, 2/18)

The Associated Press: Is The New Virus More 'Deadly' Than Flu? Not Exactly
What's more deadly — the flu, SARS or the new coronavirus discovered in China? There are different ways to look at it and even knowledgeable folks sometimes say "deadly" when they may mean "lethal." Lethality means the capacity to cause death, or how often a disease proves fatal. (2/18)

CNN: Chinese CDC Study Finds Covid-19 Virus To Be More Contagious Than SARS Or MERS 
A comprehensive study of more than 72,000 confirmed and suspected cases of the novel coronavirus by Chinese scientists has revealed new information about the deadly infection which has brought much of the country to a halt. Carried out by a group of experts at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology on Monday, the study is the largest and most comprehensive examination of coronavirus cases so far. It found that the novel coronavirus is more contagious than the related viruses which cause SARS and MERS. While the resulting disease, Covid-19, is not as fatal on a case-by-case basis, its greater spread has already led to more deaths than its related coronaviruses. (Griffiths and Gan, 2/19)

Los Angeles Times: SARS Killed Hundreds And Then Disappeared. Could This Coronavirus Die Out?
The mysterious virus first emerged in the winter in eastern China, a never-before-seen pathogen that would rattle the world’s sense of safety and ignite a global panic. In the months that followed, hundreds of people began seeking medical treatment because they were coughing, struggling to breathe and, in some cases, approaching death. Scientists racing to quell the outbreak determined the source was a novel strain of coronavirus. The World Health Organization called for immediate action to prevent the global health threat from sweeping across multiple continents and killing thousands. (Karlamangla, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: New Report Highlights Limits Of Coronavirus Screening Tests
Two German citizens who appeared healthy when they were evacuated from Wuhan, China, in early February were in fact infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and might have been capable of spreading it to others, according to a medical report released Tuesday. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscore the limitations of health screenings that have been implemented around the world in hopes of containing the novel virus. (Kaplan, 2/18)

Bloomberg: When Will The Coronavirus Outbreak End? Experts Give Predictions
It’s already spread wider than SARS in 2003. It may not sweep the globe as swine flu did in 2009, but is more dangerous. It doesn’t kill at anywhere near the terrifying pace of Ebola in 2014, but it can be passed through the air. Even as the number of new coronavirus cases in China appears to ebb, experts say they’re preparing for a future with a disease that past pandemics have only hinted at. (Langreth and Cortez, 2/18)

CBS News: Wall Street's Growing Fear: Coronavirus "To Get Worse Before It Gets Better" 
Concerns are growing on Wall Street that the coronavirus could cause serious economic damage beyond China, with analysts warning that the deadly outbreak is unlikely to recede anytime soon. "Consensus is that this coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) is going to get worse before it gets better," Raymond James analysts said Tuesday in note to investors. "It seems as though the market is under-appreciating the potential dangers and what the key government leaders on the virus are saying." (Gibson, 2/18)

The Hill: US Partnering With Drugmakers On Coronavirus Vaccine
The Trump administration is working with two pharmaceutical companies to develop a treatment for the coronavirus. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday said it would provide funding to French drugmaker Sanofi to produce a coronavirus vaccine candidate. (Weixel, 2/18)

CNN: A Deadly Virus Is Spreading From State To State And Has Infected 26 Million Americans So Far. It's The Flu 
The novel coronavirus that's sickening thousands globally -- and at least 15 people in the US -- is inspiring countries to close their borders and Americans to buy up surgical masks quicker than major retailers can restock them. There's another virus that has infected at least 26 million Americans across the country and killed at least 14,000 people this season alone. It's not a new pandemic -- it's influenza. (Andrew, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘I Was So Scared’: Infectious Disease Doctor’s Day On Japan’s Coronavirus Cruise Ship
A Kobe University doctor touched off a furor with a firsthand account of a virus-stricken cruise ship in which he accused Japan of doing a worse job protecting people than African nations and China. Kentaro Iwata, who made the allegations in widely circulated YouTube videos after spending Tuesday aboard the Diamond Princess, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the crew should be removed as soon as possible because of the danger of catching the novel coronavirus on the ship. (Bhattacharya, 2/19)

The Associated Press: US Tells Remaining Cruise Passengers: Stay Out For 2 Weeks
The U.S. government made good on its warning to Americans who chose to remain on board a quarantined cruise ship in Japan, telling them they cannot return home for at least two weeks after they come ashore. U.S. officials notified the passengers Tuesday of the travel restriction, citing their possible exposure to the new virus while on board the Diamond Princess. More than 100 U.S. citizens are still on the ship or in Japanese hospitals. (Johnson, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Experts Ponder Why Cruise Ship Quarantine Failed In Japan
As an extraordinary two-week quarantine of a cruise ship ends Wednesday in Japan, many scientists say it was a failed experiment: The ship seemed to serve as an incubator for the new virus from China instead of an isolation facility meant to prevent the worsening of an outbreak. Since the virus was identified late last year in central China, it has sickened tens of thousands of people and killed more than 1,800. (Cheng and Yamaguchi, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cruise Quarantine Draws Criticism After More Passengers Infected
After decades as a primary-care doctor in Elizabethton, Tenn., Arnold Hopland thought he knew something about preventing infections. And the way they were doing a virus quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship didn’t look right. Dr. Hopland, a passenger, counted as many as 10 interactions a day with staff coming to deliver meals, toiletries and chocolate to keep up spirits. Passengers were drying laundry on their balconies without wearing face masks. Some leaned over to talk to their next-door neighbors. (Bhattacharya and Inada, 2/18)

Reuters: With Stricken Cruise Ship, Japan Draws Criticism Over Coronavirus Response
As the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship is evacuated, Japan faces deepening criticism over its response to the outbreak, tarnishing what was supposed to be a triumphant Olympic year for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. More than 540 people onboard have been infected with the coronavirus, the most outside of China. The United States evacuated more than 300 citizens from the ship on Monday, and more countries are following suit. (Swift and Lies, 2/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Patient Under Isolation In Napa Hospital
A person diagnosed with the new coronavirus has been isolated in a Napa County hospital, public health officials said Tuesday. The individual tested positive for coronavirus in Japan, where he or she was quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship before being flown to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, according to a news release from Napa County officials. The patient, who has not experienced symptoms, is under isolation in Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. (Bauman, 2/18)

The Oregonian: ‘This Is Unacceptable’: Oregon Woman With Coronavirus In Japan Says U.S. Abandoned Her
A Forest Grove woman says the United States deserted her and her husband by not taking them home while evacuating hundreds of other Americans from a cruise ship quarantined in Japan since Feb. 5 with a major coronavirus outbreak. “All right people,” Rebecca Frasure wrote Monday in an email to the U.S. Embassy in Japan. “Enough is enough! I know you evacuated most Americans last night, but you ABANDONED the rest of us here with nowhere to go!” (Zarkhin, 2/18)

NBC News: Passengers Quarantined Because Of Coronavirus Begin Leaving Diamond Princess Ship In Japan
Some passengers from a cruise ship quarantined in Japan because of the novel coronavirus began leaving the vessel Wednesday after being kept on board for around two weeks. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said that a few hundred are expected to leave each day for the next three days. Only those who have tested negative are being allowed to leave. Princess Cruises, the operator of the ship, said Wednesday that the disembark process is expected to take several days because passengers will be tested, which can take two to three days. "A certificate that indicates a negative COVID-19 test result is expected to be granted by Japanese health authorities to exit the ship," Princess Cruises said in a statement. (2/19)

The Associated Press: Virologist: Tokyo Olympics Probably Couldn’t Be Held Now
A respected Japanese virologist on Wednesday said if the Tokyo Olympics were tomorrow, the games probably couldn't be held because of the fast-spreading coronavirus from Wuhan, China. “We need to find the best way to have a safe Olympics," Dr. Hitoshi Oshitani said, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. “Right now we don't have an effective strategy, and I think it may be difficult to have the Olympics (now). But by the end of July we may be in a different situation.” (Wade, 2/19)

The Associated Press: New Virus Has Infected More Than 75,000 People Globally
A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 75,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. (2/18)

The Associated Press: AP Interview: UN Chief Says New Virus Poses ‘Enormous’ Risks
The U.N. secretary-general said Tuesday the virus outbreak that began in China poses “a very dangerous situation” for the world, but “is not out of control.” Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, Antonio Guterres said that “the risks are enormous and we need to be prepared worldwide for that.” Guterres said his greatest worry was a spread of the virus to areas with “less capacity in their health service,” particularly some African countries. The World Health Organization is looking into how to help handle such a development, he added. (Gannon, 2/18)

Reuters: WHO Says No Indication Of Coronavirus Cases In North Korea
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it had no indications the new coronavirus had spread to North Korea, after South Korean media suggested there were cases and deaths there that were being covered up by the Pyongyang authorities. An outbreak of the disease which has killed more than 2,000 people in neighbouring China could be devastating for the under-resourced health system in North Korea. (Nebehay and Smith, 2/19)

Sacramento Bee: Covered California Health Insurance Sign-Ups Rise In 2020
New numbers released Tuesday show many more Californians signed up for health insurance this year than last year, even as state officials are extending the deadline for people to enroll in coverage. California’s marketplace saw a 41 percent jump in new sign-ups from last year, from nearly 300,000 to more than 418,000. In total, over 1.5 million people signed up for or renewed insurance plans through the marketplace, known as Covered California. (Bollag, 2/18)

CNN: California's Obamacare Signups Rise After State Requires Coverage, Enhances Subsidies 
"It's absolutely clear the penalty provided motivation to shop. So it made a big difference," said Peter Lee, Covered California's executive director. "It's also clear that the federal and state subsidies helped people buy." Bolstering the Affordable Care Act has been a priority of several blue states, as well as moderate presidential candidates, after the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress moved to weaken it. Defending the landmark health reform law has also allowed Democratic governors, particularly California's Gavin Newsom, to draw contrasts between themselves and President Donald Trump. The two have tangled in recent years over abortion, immigration, auto emissions, homelessness and presidential tax returns. (Luhby, 2/18)

California Healthline: Surge In Enrollment As Californians Avoid Penalty, Receive State Aid
While California officials invest in the exchange and expand opportunities for state residents to enroll in coverage, the Trump administration has taken the opposite approach with the federally run exchange, healthcare.gov: it has cut funding for marketing and outreach, eliminated the federal penalty for not having insurance and shortened the open enrollment window. (Bluth and Young, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: California Loosens Its Individual Mandate For Health Insurance
The state will also keep enrollment open for consumers insured directly through private health plans who did not realize they qualified for state subsidies through Covered California. An estimated 280,000 residents are likely eligible for new state subsidies or existing federal ones but opted to keep their existing coverage. Lee said the extended deadline to obtain coverage or switch to a plan that includes a state subsidy comes after Covered California surveyed insurance agents this month and found many reporting that consumers were still unaware that they would face a penalty if they did not have insurance. (Gutierrez, 2/18)

The San Francisco Chronicle: Covered California Enrollment Grows Slightly Amid Nationwide Obamacare Decline
The California figures are in sharp contrast to declining enrollment in Obamacare exchanges nationally, and offer one window into how new policies enacted by state legislators can result in California bucking nationwide trends. California has recently adopted a mandate requiring people to buy health insurance, and is providing new state-funded financial assistance to help middle-income earners pay for premiums. (Ho, 2/18)

In other news —

Stateline: The Youngest Children Are Falling Out Of Health Insurance
The first years of life play an outsize role in human health. They are foundational to the development of the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. Early childhood is when medical interventions to correct problems in any of those areas are most likely to succeed. So, for many health experts, the most troubling aspect of a recent increase in the number of children without health insurance is a spike in the number of uninsured kids under 6. That figure has climbed above a million for the first time since most of the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2014, according to a recent analysis of census data by researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. (Ollove, 2/19)

Politico: Trump's Next Health Care Move: Giving Silicon Valley Your Medical Data
The Trump administration's push to give patients more control over their health records could turn over a massive trove of very personal data to giant tech companies, app designers and data brokers. If proposed policy changes go through, patients would be able to download their health records on to their smartphones and direct it to apps of their choice. But there’s a major privacy pitfall: As soon as those records leave the software system of the doctor or hospital, they are no longer protected by HIPAA, the landmark medical privacy law. (Tahir and Cancryn, 2/19)

In other news from the administration's health and technology efforts —

The Associated Press: Veterans Group: Pentagon Broke Agreement To Reopen Database
The Pentagon has reneged on its agreement to reopen a vast records database that helps service members who are appealing a less-than-honorable discharge, a veterans group said Tuesday. The National Veterans Legal Services Program said the Defense Department has failed to make public the “vast majority” of decisions made by military review boards over the last several years. (2/18)

The New York Times: Payout From A National Opioids Settlement Won’t Be As Big As Hoped
As talks escalate to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits nationwide, a harsh reality is emerging: The money the pharmaceutical industry will pay to compensate ravaged communities will likely be far less than once envisioned. Lawyers on all sides have been stepping up efforts to reach a national agreement before the start of a New York trial next month. But even plaintiff lawyers now believe the payout from dozens of opioid makers, distributors and retailers is likely to be less than half of what the four Big Tobacco companies agreed to pay more than 20 years ago in a landmark settlement with states over costs associated with millions of smoking-related deaths. (Hoffman, 2/17)

In other news from the epidemic —

The CT Mirror: Connecticut Drug Overdose Deaths Up, With Fentanyl Leading Fatalities
The number of people who died in Connecticut from drug overdoses in 2019 was the most the state has recorded in a single year, even after a dip in deaths in 2018. New state data show that 1,200 people died, an 18% jump from the previous year, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Opioids continue to drive fatal overdoses — different kinds like heroin, morphine and prescription drugs were involved in 94% of all cases. But Dr. James Gill, the state’s chief medical examiner, said the stronger synthetic opioid fentanyl remains a constant presence in deadly outcomes. (Leonard, 2/17)

The Washington Post: A Guatemalan Family Was Separated In 2017. They're Still Apart.
She tries to avoid the word. What she says is that her mom is in Guatemala. Or that her mom has been deported and will try to come back soon. But when her teacher, or her social worker, or her best friend Ashley asks, Adelaida sounds it out — one of the first words she learned in English. “They separated us.” Adelaida Reynoso and her mother, María, were among the first migrant families broken up by the Trump administration, on July 31, 2017, long before the government acknowledged it was separating parents and children at the border. (Sieff, 2/17)

In other immigration news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Worker, Student Visa Renewals Add Questions About Using Public Benefits
People seeking to renew or switch temporary visas, such as those for workers and students, have to jump through new hoops starting Feb. 24, answering questions about their use of public benefits during their time in the U.S. — even though they are not eligible for benefits such as Medicare and food stamps, and so could not have used them. But the new policy has already sowed fear and confusion, leading some people on temporary visas to eschew services they are entitled to, such as campus health care for students. (Said, 2/18)

The New York Times: Vape Shops Face A Choice: Close Or Rebrand?
Adam Mitrani opened his first Darth Vapor e-cigarette shop six years ago after his carwash business collapsed. Before long, Mr. Mitrani, 48, had a second store in New Jersey and one in New York. Business was brisk, he said, and he was optimistic that offering smokers an alternative to tobacco would help him coast into retirement within 10 years. (Tully, 2/19)

The CT Mirror: Advocates Say Proposal To Ban Flavored Vaping Products Doesn't Go Far Enough
In a bid to curb vaping among young adults, Gov. Ned Lamont has moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes – including menthol – and cap the level of nicotine that vaping products sold in Connecticut may contain. But anti-tobacco advocates say the proposal doesn’t go far enough. Absent from the plan is a broader prohibition on flavored tobacco goods, including menthol cigarettes and fruit flavored cigars, that could become a bigger draw if the vaping ban goes into effect. (Carlesso, 2/18)

The Associated Press: Secret Service Goes On The Road To Help Curb School Violence
The U.S. Secret Service is taking its effort to curb school violence on the road to help thousands of educators, law enforcement personnel, mental health professionals and others learn how to identify people who may be threats. The latest stop in the Secret Service tour is this week in Miami, where officials say about 700 people will attend a session Wednesday by the agency's National Threat Assessment Center. Similar events have been held in Los Angeles and Chicago since the November 2019 release of the latest analysis of school violence. (Anderson, 2/18)

Reuters: Sexual And Gender Identity May Be Risk Factors For Skin Cancer
Skin cancer risk may vary according to sexual orientation and gender identity, two new studies suggest. An analysis of survey data from more than 800,000 U.S. adults found skin cancer may be more common among gay and bisexual men and people who are gender non-conforming, researchers report in JAMA Dermatology. (Carroll, 2/18)

Reuters: Rates Of Melanoma Tied To UV Exposure Vary Widely State To State
Rates of melanoma caused by exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays vary widely from state to state, a new U.S. study suggests. Researchers found the highest rates in Hawaii and on the East and West coasts, but also in a few landlocked states, such as Vermont and Minnesota, according to the results published in the International Journal of Cancer. (Carroll, 2/18)

Reuters: Home Cleaning Products May Up Risk Of Childhood Asthma
New parents who obsessively clean their homes to protect babies from germs might want to relax a bit, suggests a new study linking high exposure to cleaning products with an increased risk of childhood asthma. Researchers surveyed parents about how often they used 26 common household cleaners over babies' first three to four months of life. By the time the kids were 3 years old, children with the highest exposure to cleaning products were 37% more likely to have been diagnosed with asthma than those with the least exposure. (2/18)

CNN: Medieval 'Black Death' Mass Grave Uncovered In The English Countryside 
The sweeping scourge of the Black Death in 14th century England was so great it forced city-dwelling victims out to countryside hospitals, based on the tragic findings in a mass grave in Lincolnshire, England. The remains of 48 people, including 21 children, were found at a previously unknown Black Death mass grave site at Thornton Abbey, according to a new study. (Strickland, 2/18)

The New York Times: How To Build Healthy Habits
We’re all creatures of habit. We tend to wake up at the same time each day, brush our teeth, have morning coffee and commute to work, following the same patterns every day. So why is it so hard to form new healthy habits? (Parker-Pope, 2/18)

Reuters: Inactive Teens May Be More Prone To Depression
Sedentary teens may be more likely than their active peers to be depressed, and a new study suggests even light exercise like walking might help reduce this risk. Following more than 4,000 young people from age 12 to age 18, researchers found physical activity levels declined as kids got older. But those who were the most sedentary at ages 12 through 16 were the most likely to have symptoms of depression at 18. (2/18)

The New York Times: Super Cushioned Running Shoes Are All The Rage, But Aren’t Foolproof
Anyone who runs or spectates at races has probably noticed that stacked, generously cushioned running shoes have become almost ubiquitous. But running in those thickly cushioned shoes could affect a runner’s form in sometimes surprising ways, according to a series of new studies of maximalist running shoes and recreational athletes. The studies, among the first to examine the biomechanics of ordinary runners wearing super-cushy shoes, find that some of them pound harder and pronate more than in standard shoes. (Reynolds, 2/19)

The Oregonian: Oregon House Democrats Pass Universal Health Care Proposal 
A proposal to ask Oregon voters if access to health care is a fundamental right cleared the first of three major hurdles in the Legislature on Monday, with a majority “yes” vote propelling the referendum proposal out of the House and into the Senate. If House Joint Resolution 202 makes it out of the Senate in early March, then Oregonians voting in the Nov. 3 election will decide if the state owes every resident “access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care.” (Zarkhin, 2/17)

ProPublica/Sacramento Bee: California Takes A First Step Toward Improving Its Failing County Jails
California’s county jails would face greater scrutiny and potentially tougher consequences for poor conditions inside their cells under a series of proposed changes unveiled by a state oversight agency last week. Specifically, the Board of State and Community Corrections plans to publicize details about uncorrected violations in jails and summon elected county sheriffs who delay reforms or rebuff the oversight agency. (Pohl and Gabrielson, 2/18)

Reuters: A Nervous Wait At Louisiana Abortion Clinic At Center Of U.S. Supreme Court Fight
A 27-year-old woman from southern Arkansas waited nervously at the Hope Medical Group for Women after traveling two hours for a medical procedure that is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in certain parts of the United States: an abortion. Four weeks pregnant, the woman felt she had no option but to seek an abortion because she suffered serious medical complications during her last pregnancy, which ended in stillbirth. "I'm incredibly thankful for this place," the woman told Reuters. "I don't want to die." (2/18)

ProPublica/Chicago Tribune: Illinois Adopts Stricter Rules Against Secluding And Physically Restraining Students In Schools
The Illinois State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt rules that prohibit the use of locked seclusion rooms and stop schools from using prone restraint, making Illinois’ permanent regulations more restrictive than they’ve ever been. But under pressure from a group of special-education schools, the board stopped short of enacting a ban on involuntary, solitary seclusion in the state’s schools as it had planned after a Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois investigation in November revealed widespread misuse of isolated timeout and restraint in schools. (Richards and Cohen, 2/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Panel Backs Georgia Bill Aimed At One Type Of Surprise Medical Billing
A narrowly divided Georgia House committee on Tuesday passed House Bill 888, which aims to reduce surprise medical bills for people with individual insurance plans. HB 888 wouldn’t stop all types of unexpected large medical bills. But it would land a solid blow against cases when a patient goes to a hospital that is in his or her network and is treated by someone within that hospital who is out of network. (Hart, 2/18)

Des Moines Register: Medicaid, Food Stamps: Iowa Bill Puts Work Requirements On Recipients
Republican lawmakers in the Senate are advancing legislation that would require Iowa Medicaid recipients to work in order to receive health care benefits, despite opposition from numerous social services agencies. The bill, similar to efforts last year, also includes changes to food stamp eligibility requirements. The bill passed through a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday and is set for a committee vote Wednesday morning. (Richardson, 2/18)

The Associated Press: LA Adopts New 'War Room' Strategy For Tackling Homelessness
Los Angeles city and county officials on Tuesday announced a new strategy to speed the process of getting homeless people into permanent housing that is modeled on the federal government’s response to natural disasters. The creation of a “Housing Central Command” marks an overhaul of how agencies work together in addressing the growing number of people living on the street, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. (2/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Health Companies Apply To Open Free-Standing ERs In Georgia
Free-standing emergency rooms may be coming to Georgia patients. Four hospitals — three owned by a private company and one nonprofit hospital — have told the state Department of Community Health that they’d like to set up one or more of the facilities. They would place free-standing emergency rooms in five sites, all in metro areas in Georgia with above-average incomes. (Hart, 2/18)

The CT Mirror: Cases Of Lead-Poisoned Children Drop 17%
A total of 1,665 Connecticut children under age 6 had lead poisoning in 2017, a drop of almost 17% from the year before and the largest one-year decrease in five years, according to a just-released report from the state Department of Public Health (DPH). But more children showed higher levels of the toxin in their blood than in 2016, the report says. In 2016, there were 105 children whose blood lead level was 20 micrograms per deciliter of blood or higher, at least four times the measure at which they’re considered poisoned. In 2017, the number had risen to 120 children. DPH epidemiologist Tsui-Min Hung said the improved overall numbers were at least partially due to the department’s more aggressive prevention activities, which 42 local health departments took advantage of, as well a social media campaign. (Frank, 2/16)

The Hill: Hospital Workers Launch Protests For Higher Wages, Say They Can't Afford Health Care
Hospital and health care workers are launching union drives and protests across the country to demand higher wages and improved working conditions. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chapter covering Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas told The Guardian that it is putting together a campaign to organize workers advocating to extend a $15 minimum wage beyond Chicago. (Axelrod, 2/18)

The Associated Press: Florida Woman In Fraud Case Among Those With Trump Clemency
A Florida woman convicted in a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme is among the 11 federal inmates around the nation on whose behalf President Donald Trump has taken clemency actions. Trump commuted 48-year-old Judith Negron's sentence Tuesday. (2/18)

Tampa Bay Times: Miami Woman Doing 35 Years In Prison For Bilking Medicare Gets Sentence Commuted By Trump
A Hialeah woman convicted in a massive Medicare fraud scheme a decade ago had her 35-year prison sentence commuted Tuesday by President Donald Trump as he announced 11 pardons and commutations in high-profile cases. Judith Negron, now 48 years old, was sent to prison for aiding in a $200 million fraud case in what was then the country’s biggest mental health billing racket. Negron was the only defendant in the case to refuse a plea deal and go to trial. She was convicted by a jury in August 2011 on 24 counts of conspiracy, fraud, paying kickbacks and money laundering in collaboration with the owners of a Miami-based company. (Conarck, 2/18)

Kaiser Health News: Five Years Later, HIV-Hit Town Rebounds. But The Nation Is Slow To Heed Lessons.
Ethan Howard cradled his prized Martin-brand guitar, strumming gently as he sang of happiness he thought he’d never find. With support from his family and community, the 26-year-old is making his way as a musician after emerging from the hell of addiction, disease and stigma. The former intravenous drug user was among the first of 235 people in this southern Indiana community to be diagnosed in the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak ever to hit rural America. (Ungar, 2/19)

Georgia Health News: 34 Years With A New Heart — And Counting 
Harry Wuest was the third patient to receive a heart transplant at Emory University Hospital in 1985. Today, as researchers are looking into alternatives to donated human hearts, he’s the longest-surviving heart transplant recipient in Georgia, and one of the longest-surviving anywhere. (Ridderbusch, 2/18)

Texas Tribune: Support For Background Checks On All Gun Sales Is High, UT/TT Poll Finds
A large majority of Texans favor mental health and criminal background checks on all gun sales, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.Such checks, “including at gun shows and for private sales,” have the support of 79% of Texas voters; 61% said they “strongly support” background checks. Democrats (91%) were more likely than Republicans (68%) to favor more scrutiny of gun buyers. Voters were split, however, on whether the country would be safer if more people carried guns — and the partisan differences were striking. Overall, 37% said more guns would make the country more safe, 39% said it would be less safe, and 16% said more guns would have no impact on safety. (Ramsey, 2/18)

The Oregonian: Flu Kills Coos Bay High School Student
A 16-year-old Marshfield High School student died Monday from Influenza B complications, the Coos Bay School District said. The student, a boy who played football and baseball, first showed flu symptoms Friday, high school Principal Travis Howard said. The boy’s condition kept deteriorating and by Sunday the family cut short a mini-vacation to the Ashland area and took him to the Bay Area Hospital ER in Coos Bay, Howard said. He died the following morning. ...As of Feb. 8, one other child has died in Oregon from the flu or complications associated with the flu this season, according to the Oregon Health Authority. (Zarkhin, 2/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly Passes Bills Aimed At Improving Water Quality
Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday passed a $10 million package of legislation aimed at improving water quality across Wisconsin. Lawmakers approved 13 bills that would reduce bacteria, nitrates, poisonous lead and long-lasting chemicals in Wisconsin's groundwater. Rep. Todd Novak, a Republican from Dodgeville who worked on the legislation, called the proposals a good start. (Beck, 2/18)

North Carolina Health News: Some Senior Services Left In The Dust In State Budget Feud 
Advocates for older people in North Carolina were looking forward to some long-sought victories in funding for aging services. But a budget standoff nixed some of those priorities. (Goldsmith, 2/19)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: New CEO Takes The Lead At St. Alexius Hospital
ST. LOUIS — After months of supplier lawsuits and problems paying bills, St. Alexius Hospital is shaking up its leadership: The head of the emergency department will take the helm, officials said Tuesday. The move comes weeks after St. Alexius and its owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Hospital leaders gathered employees Tuesday and announced that emergency room director Sonny Saggar had been appointed chief executive officer. Saggar takes over the role from Dr. Russell Kraeger, who has been serving as interim CEO. Kraeger said he will stay on as chief medical officer, chief of surgery and chief of the intensive care unit. (Merrilees, 2/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gender Identification: Parents Sue Madison Schools Over Gender Policy
Some parents who fear their children might be using a different gender identity at school, with staff support but without notice to them, have sued the Madison Metropolitan School District. The 14 parents, identified only as John and Jane Does, want a judge to order the school district to change its rules and tell parents if and when students express or show signs of gender dysphoria, a range of conditions in those who identify as a gender other than the one assigned at birth. (Vielmetti, 2/18)

North Carolina Health News: Troubled Eastern NC Hospital Has Not Yet Sold 
An eastern North Carolina hospital that’s entangled in bankruptcy proceedings remains in limbo, despite plans to have it sold by the end of January, court documents show. A draft purchase agreement for Washington Regional Medical Center, a 25-bed facility in Plymouth, spells out that Affinity Health Partners, the company that currently manages the hospital, would buy the rural facility for $3.5 million. The agreement, filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court at the Eastern District of North Carolina, also stipulates that the Texas-based firm will invest more than $1 million in the hospital and make plans to replace Washington Regional’s aging facility following the purchase. (Engel-Smith, 2/18)

NPR: Tornado Shelters Often Can't Accommodate People Who Have Disabilities
John High has diabetes, which led to his leg being amputated below the knee two years ago. He's been using a wheelchair since then, and hasn't gotten used to having to work out solutions to everyday problems — such as getting in and out of the shower in the small rental house he shares with his son in Norman, Okla. But when he hears a tornado siren blaring out its high-pitched warning he feels a spasm of fear and dread. In this situation, he's on his own. "I just pray. That's all I can do," High says. "They expect people to 'shelter in place,' but I don't have anywhere safe to go." (Fortier, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Support For Bipartisan Senate Drug Pricing Bill May Not Be Enough To Push It Into Law
A Senate bill to control prescription drug prices seemed to have everything it needed: bipartisan backing, President Trump’s endorsement and broad public support. But its status on legislative life support reveals the perils of tackling one of the nation’s most hot-button topics just months before a presidential election. Even though Trump has said he supports the measure, he has stopped far short of trying to ensure its passage. Complicating matters further, the top Senate Republican and Democrat have yet to embrace the legislation, though for opposite reasons. (Abutaleb and Werner, 2/18)

Reuters: Unregulated Sales Of Insulin Common On Craigslist
Unregulated and deeply discounted sales of insulin are common on Craigslist, a new study finds. During a two-week period, researchers turned up 327 ads from private parties selling insulin at a fraction of the retail price, according to a report in JAMA Internal Medicine. "The take home message from this study is that patients (with diabetes) should not have to go to Craigslist to find affordable insulin," said coauthor, Dr. Jennifer Goldstein of ChristianaCare Hospitalist Partners in Newark, Delaware and The Value Institute at Christiana Care. (Carroll, 2/17)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Marietta Sues Drug Company Over Medicine That Went From $40 To $39,000
The city of Marietta has filed a class action lawsuit against a drug company after the price of a decades-old medicine went from $40 a vial to more than $39,000. The city, which covers health care costs for employees and their families, says it has already spent more than $2 million on the drug for a single patient. (Lutz, 2/17)

Stat: After A New Version Of An Old Drug Gets Orphan Status, The Price Skyrockets
For years, hospitals and clinics have used an injectable medicine called dehydrated alcohol to treat such maladies as chronic pain or to prevent infections in patients who must receive nutrients intravenously. Yet after a small company won a monopoly to sell its version for use with a specific heart procedure, the cost for a pack of 10 vials is about to spike from about $1,300 to nearly $10,000. Not surprisingly, the sudden jump in price has outraged medical facilities, which now expect to pay untold millions of dollars more each year for a medication that has been available for decades. (Silverman, 2/12)

Stat: Consumer Groups And Unions Try Again To Block AbbVie-Allergan Merger
A coalition of consumer groups and unions hopes to convince the Federal Trade Commission to alter the terms of AbbVie’s (ABBV) proposed $63 billion acquisition of Allergan (AGN) by arguing the deal — as currently conceived — would thwart competition and unfairly maintain higher drug prices for consumers. In a letter to the agency Tuesday, the coalition contends that allowing Allergan to divest an experimental medicine for treating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to AstraZeneca (AZN) would fail to ensure the market for such medicines would be fully competitive. The companies last month proposed to divest the drug, brazikumab, and one other in a bid to satisfy regulatory concerns about the acquisition. (Silverman, 2/18)

CNN: Drugmakers Could Be Hit By The Coronavirus. India Is Especially Vulnerable 
Drugmakers in India are bracing for potential disruption from the coronavirus. If they're hit, the impact could be felt around the world. Indian pharmaceutical companies, which produce 20% of the world's drugs supply by volume, are warning that the outbreak threatens to disrupt the supply of raw materials from China. The drugmakers say they have enough supplies on hand to continue production for now. But their operations could be endangered if the coronavirus continues to cause disruption in China. (McSweeney, 2/19)

WBUR: Utah Funds Public Employees Traveling To Mexico, Canada To Save Money On Costly Prescription Drugs
The Pharmacy Tourism Program, a part of the Utah Public Employees Health Program (PEHP), allows certain members with high-cost medicines to fill their prescription in Vancouver, Canada, and Tijuana, Mexico, where medication comes at a much lower cost. The initiative even pays for members’ flights. (O'Dowd, 2/14)

Reuters: 'Cancer Does Not Wait': Children's Medicine Shortage Stokes Anger In Mexico
Hermes Soto, who turned 5 on Monday, will not be celebrating his birthday with friends. Instead, he is bracing for his 15th chemotherapy session to tackle a rare but aggressive form of cancer that threatens to kill him. For his mother, Esperanza Paz, the ordeal is compounded by fears of another round of shortages in the supply of the life-saving vincristine drug needed to treat the soft-tissue cancer in her son's forearm. (Oré, 2/17)

Modern Healthcare: OIG: Some Pharmacies Misusing Medicare Part D Eligibility Data
Lack of CMS monitoring allowed some pharmacies to use beneficiaries' Medicare Part D eligibility information for inappropriate reasons, including for marketing purposes, HHS' Office of Inspector General said Friday. Pharmacy providers in question were taking advantage of "gaps" in a system to verify Part D eligibility, according to the OIG report. (Cohen, 2/14)

Stat: A Longtime Health Care Investor Recalls The Insulin Bong, Praises Discipline In Valuations, And Looks To South America
Les Funtleyder is a longtime health care investor who started his professional investing career just over two decades ago. Today, he is a health care portfolio manager at E Squared Capital Management in New York. He’s also an author of the book called “Health Care Investing.” He was in Boston recently to give a guest lecture at Tufts University and he stopped by STAT’s offices for a chat about the current and future state of health care investing. (Feuerstein, Garde and Robbins, 2/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Bill Seeks Lower Drug Prices By Focusing On Middlemen
In an effort to attack high drug prices, Georgia lawmakers are focusing on powerful middlemen who negotiate on behalf of insurance companies.State Sen. Dean Burke, R-Bainbridge, has introduced a bill that aims to shed light on prices that pharmacy benefits managers negotiate with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, and to ensure that patients are able to get the drugs when they need them. The legislation is Senate Bill 313. (Hart, 2/16)

Stat: FDA Calls States' Bluffs On Drug Importation
For decades, critics of the U.S. drug pricing system have advocated importing drugs from Canada as a convenient shortcut to lower prices. The Food and Drug Administration’s recent release of a proposed regulation to create a process for approving state-sponsored importation plans is one step closer to that goal. A closer look shows that it’s actually a false step. Career FDA staff, supported by previous FDA commissioners and Health and Human Services secretaries, have long maintained that there is no way to open a drug import channel into the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain without violating the 2003 law authorizing Canadian drug imports that required the FDA to certify that importation would create no safety risk to the public. (Ian D. Spatz, 2/18)

Bloomberg: In Fighting Outbreaks, Big Pharma Struggles To Get Out Front
Sanofi joined the race to combat the coronavirus as the outbreak kindles fears of a pandemic. The question is whether its effort will prove more effective than some of Big Pharma’s past attempts to tackle dangerous new pathogens. The French drugmaker said Tuesday it will team up with a U.S. agency to develop a vaccine against the virus that has killed more than 1,800 people. Sanofi is betting its earlier work to develop a SARS vaccine will speed the effort. (James Paton and Marthe Fourcade, 2/18)

Stat: Coronavirus Outbreak Exposes A Weak Link In The U.S. Drug Supply
In the 21st century, Americans have found it far too easy to be complacent about public health emergencies like the ongoing coronavirus outbreak of the newly named Covid-19 that began in China and has since spread to other countries, including the U.S. To be fair, it has been more than 50 years since the last federal quarantine was issued, to control a deadly smallpox outbreak. A half-century gap is bound to instill a false sense of security, even when taking more recent threats into consideration. (Sen. Marsha Blackburn, 2/14)

Journal Times Editorial: Congress Must Act Now On Prescription Drug Prices
"I am calling for bipartisan legislation that achieves the goal of dramatically lowering prescription drug prices. Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay.” President Trump’s call in his State of the Union address got the attention of many Americans dealing with escalating insulin costs and other prescription drug prices. They need help. (2/18)

The Washington Post: Years Of Coronavirus Warnings Got Us Nowhere. Here’s How To Fix That.
Nature is teaching us a heavy lesson with this latest coronavirus outbreak. It warned us first with SARS and then with MERS, but we didn’t heed the warnings. If we willfully ignore nature this third time, our global community risks paying an unimaginable price. In 2003, when SARS was first reported, the origins of the virus were a mystery. Scientists suspected it may have come from bats, but it wasn’t until 2012, when the second major coronavirus outbreak was spreading across borders, that researchers confirmed its provenance. At the time of their discovery, they warned us of the outbreak potential of coronaviruses, urging the global community “to learn from our past to help us prepare.” (Haseltine, 2/18)

The New York Times: We’re Reading The Coronavirus Numbers Wrong
Numbers have a certain mystique: They seem precise, exact, sometimes even beyond doubt. But outside the field of pure mathematics, this reputation rarely is deserved. And when it comes to the coronavirus epidemic, buying into that can be downright dangerous. Naturally, everyone wants to know how deadly COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is. The technical term for that is the case fatality rate — which is, put simply, the number of people who have died from the disease (D) divided by the total number of people who were infected with it (I), or D/I. As of Tuesday morning, at least 1,873 people were thought to have died from the disease worldwide and 72,869 people to have been infected. (John Allen Paulos, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Is Africa Ready For COVID-19?
The number of cases of covid-19 — the newly named coronavirus — has topped 70,000 globally, with over 1,800 deaths. The World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan. 30, citing the lack of scientific knowledge about the new virus, as well as the need to increase preparation in “vulnerable countries and regions.” As of mid-February, 29 countries have reported cases, including Egypt — with the first confirmed case on the African continent. Trade and migration between Africa and China, as well as the presence of roughly 1 million Chinese nationals on the continent, mean it is possible that other covid-19 cases will appear. (Amy S. Patterson, 2/18)

The New York Times: My Father In Syria Needed Pills
My father had dementia. He also had Parkinson’s disease. He died at age 85, a week after the Parkinson’s pills arrived, their having taken more than 5,000 miles and two weeks to get to Syria. I am not sure that the lack of medicine is what caused his death, but it might as well have. Until eight years ago, my father was a pharmacist in Homs, Syria. During the war, his pharmacy was destroyed, as was the town center. My father and his wife were forced to stay mostly at home for almost two years to avoid the shelling and gunfire exchanged by the Syrian government and the rebels. (Sammar Atassi, 2/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Takes A Stand For The Mentally Ill
Hundreds of thousands of Americans with serious mental illness sleep in jails, shelters and prisons on any given night. Fewer than 40,000 are in state psychiatric hospitals. This is largely due to a federal policy, the Institutions for Mental Disease Exclusion, which created a financial incentive for states to kick the mentally ill out of hospitals. The White House’s new budget proposes easing the exclusion. It’s the most important thing federal government could do to improve care for the seriously mentally ill. (D.J. Jaffe, 2/18)

Los Angeles Times: We Don't Know Enough About Latinos And Alzheimer's, And That's A Huge Problem
The Alzheimer’s disease tsunami is coming our way, and it is being propelled by the demographics of the baby boomers — the oldest of them turned 75 in 2019. Today, there are nearly 6 million Americans with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Assn., a number expected to nearly triple by 2050. The significant increase in the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will be a looming public health crisis as society deals with their diminished quality of life, the potentially extraordinary costs of caregiving and the economic demands made on younger generations. (Hector M. Gonzalez, 2/19)

The New York Times: My $145,000 Surprise Medical Bill
“Well,” I said to my wife. “We’re wiped out.” She’d called me late in the day to let me know she’d received a bill for our child’s hospital stay. The bill was for $145,000. “What are we going to do?” she asked. “I’m sure it’s just a mistake,” I said. “But Jenny,” she said, “what if it’s not?” (Jennifer Finney Boylan, 2/19)

The Hill: Obtaining Health Care In The Appropriate Setting Is Crucial For Older Patients
Through the next decade, 10,000 members of the Baby Boomer generation will turn 65 years of age every day. Recently, I took care of Paul, a 78-year-old man with mild cognitive impairment and gait instability, who had fallen. His X-rays were standard, but he still had significant difficulty walking. His caregiver was overwhelmed, and my ability to discharge him home safely was brought into question. Would he "bounce back" after a worse fall next time? Or could he benefit from a short-stay at a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) to regain his strength? As a geriatrics researcher and emergency medicine physician, I see patients similar to Paul every day. (Dr. Cameron Gettel, 2/18)

The Washington Post: Bogus Poll Respondents May Boost Trump’s Approval Rating
Bogus respondents make up between four percent and seven percent of participants in opt-in online surveys in the United States, according to a major study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. The Pew study used a variety of methods to identify online poll respondents who are giving disingenuous or illegitimate responses. They found bogus online poll-takers tend to approve of everything, with 78 percent approving of President Trump’s job performance and 84 percent approving of the 2010 health care law passed by President Barack Obama and Congress, which Trump fought to repeal. (Scott Clement, 2/18)

WBUR: How To Persuade ‘Medicare For All’ Skeptics
Economists at UMass Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute estimate that universal single-payer health insurance would save almost 10% over current costs — over $300 billion per year nationwide, savings that would increase over 10 years to $5.1 trillion -- even while adding benefits for 117 million individuals, the almost 30 million people uninsured and 87 million under-insured. When you consider that tens of thousands of Americans die every year because of lack of access to care, this is an extraordinary expansion. (Nancy Grossman, 2/19)

Stat: We Need To Take Steps Toward Building A Consensus Definition Of Biological Aging
I’ve been committed to understanding the biology of aging since I was a teenager, and my education and career took aim at this problem from many angles. One aspect that still perplexes me is that there isn’t a good, easily communicable answer to this simple question: What is biological aging?When it comes to biological aging research or, to use a fancier term, translational geroscience, scientists finally have a pretty good understanding of the major components of aging. But there’s no consensus definition of it that consolidates the existing framework. (Attila Csordas, 2/19)

Stat: Why Don’t Ads For New Medical Scrubs Reflect All Physician Bodies?
Last year I treated a young patient struggling with body image issues. This child’s parents feared that being fat was a harbinger of a horrible future. Their fear was not uncommon, as we live in a culture that idolizes thinness and equates fatness with moral failing. I, too, internalized these cultural messages, and as a result developed a complicated relationship with my body that I am working hard to repair. Despite my own journey toward achieving health at every size, I worried about my ability to help my young patient become more resilient and find peace in theirs. (Okwerekwu, 2/18)

The New York Times: Hidden Beneath The Hospital Gown
“Here is your gown,” the nurse had said as she handed over a cotton frock. After hours in the hectic emergency room, we arrived in my mother’s hospital room. My mother quickly assured her that she would not be needing it. She knew she was sick; she did not need the gown to confirm it. My mother unfortunately was not new to life in the hospital; she had come prepared. Before we had left for the emergency room, suspecting she would be admitted to the hospital for at least a few days, she had meticulously instructed me on what clothing to pack: comfortably fitted but loose T-shirts, sweatpants and patterned pajama bottoms. For good measure, we had also brought perfume and deodorant. (Ersilia M. DeFilippis, 2/18)

Philadelphia Inquirer: 40 Years Ago, Radiation Was A Cancer Cure. How Can Doctors Detect Late Side Effects Of New Treatments?
Medical students and residents swarm to our subspecialty because of the legitimate excitement surrounding new cancer therapies. We hope short- and long-term side effects from treatment will be fewer in the future. But will they? Based on what evidence? Rational therapeutics are barely beyond adolescence. The number of cases of autoimmune diseases caused by targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis of immune checkpoint proteins in cancer patients may already be in the tens of thousands in the United States alone. And it is in the early days — it has been less than five years since the Food and Drug Administration approved Keytruda for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. (Roger Cohen, 2/18)

The Hill: Congress Should Consider The Harms Of Competitive Bidding For Life-Sustaining Devices
In the United States, fifteen people will be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) today. Ninety minutes from now, someone will either be told they have ALS—or they will die from it. Thousands of Americans are living with ALS — each hoping for a cure. But for now, there is no cure. ALS affects each patient differently, but those with ALS can expect progressive weakness and the eventual loss of everyday functions like walking, speaking, swallowing — and even breathing. Unfortunately, ALS can also significantly shorten someone’s life. According to the ALS Association, only half of those with ALS live three or more years after diagnosis. (J. Brady Scott, 2/18)

NBC News: Maternal Mortality Is Worse In Washington, D.C. Than Syria. Abortion Access Is One Reason Why.
From 2007 to 2015, Syria's maternal mortality rate rose from 26 deaths per 100,000 live births to 31 deaths per 100,000 live births, a result of the country's war and a crumbling health care system. In Washington, D.C., where politicians make decisions about both what the United States will do about the war in Syria and American women's access to reproductive health care, the average maternal mortality rate across the same eight-year period was 33 deaths per 100,000 live births. And that is for woman of all races: The rate of maternal mortality for African American women living in our nation's capital is 59.7 deaths per 100,000 live births — worse than Panama (52) or Ecuador (59). (Hawkins, 2/18)

The New York Times: Why Teenagers Reject Parents’ Solutions To Their Problems
Parents of adolescents are often confronted by a puzzling sequence of events. First, teenagers bring us their problems; second, we earnestly offer suggestions and solutions; and third, teenagers dismiss our ideas as irritating, irrelevant or both. These moments feel ripe for connection. Why do they so often turn sour? Almost always, it’s because we’re not giving teenagers what they’re really looking for. Consciously or not, here’s what they most likely want. (Lisa Damour, 2/18)

Kaiser Health News: Who Profits From Steep Medical Bills? The People Tasked With Fixing Them.
Every politician condemns the phenomenon of “surprise” medical bills. Last week, two committees in the House were marking up new surprise billing legislation. One of the few policy proposals President Donald Trump brought up in this year’s State of the Union address was his 2019 executive order targeting “balance bills.” In the Democratic debates, candidates have railed against such medical bills, and during commercial breaks, back-to-back ads from groups representing doctors and insurers proclaimed how much the health care sector also abhors this uniquely American form of patient extortion. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 2/19)

Stat: Why We Need Mandatory Labeling Of GMO Products
The conversation around genetic engineering and food is undermined by a lack of information that breeds confusion and distrust. Consumers feel misled. Scientists feel misunderstood. Public officials make flailing attempts to navigate the interests of both. Meanwhile, the companies that choose to play both sides take advantage of everyone — quietly adding genetically modified organisms (GMO) or ingredients made from them to some products and non-GMO labels to others.If we’re ever going to move past the polarized state we find ourselves in, it’s going to be the result of transparency. (Stephen Lamb, 2/19)

The New York Times: It’s Your Baby’s First Shot. Take It.
Accounts of healthy babies developing serious, even fatal bleeding in the days and weeks following birth can be found going back centuries. Hemorrhagic disease of the newborn was a widely recognized but poorly understood phenomenon until the mid-20th century, when doctors demonstrated that such bleeding — now termed vitamin K deficiency bleeding — could be prevented by giving newborns a single dose of vitamin K. Since the early 1960s, it has been standard-of-care for newborns to receive an intramuscular injection of vitamin K shortly after delivery. (Phoebe Danziger, 2/19)

Georgia Health News: It’s Time For Tort Reform In Georgia
There hasn’t been any shortage of media reports highlighting the number of Georgians who don’t have health insurance. But one key point that tends to get lost in the shuffle is that health insurance and access to care are separate and distinct issues. The most recent “County Health Rankings and Roadmaps” program report determined that among states, Georgia has the ninth-fewest doctors for its population. Knowing that fact, it is imperative for our legislators to address the state’s rapidly declining tort climate with a great sense of urgency. Failing to do so will mean that a lot of Georgians won’t have access to the physicians they need. (Andrew Reisman, 2/18)