The Wall Street Journal: Employers Shift Higher Health-Care Costs To Workers
Open enrollment season is under way, and when workers get their health-plan information, many of them can expect higher out-of-pocket costs. As employers cope with rising health costs, some are shifting more of the burden onto their workers, often in the form of health insurance plans that carry high deductibles. To help rein in expenses, businesses also will ask their employees to take part in cost-cutting drug programs and use new services that provide Skype-like video consultations with doctors, according to several studies tracking employer health care. (Silverman, 10/11)

The Fiscal Times: Millions Of Americans Skip Medical Care, Even Though They Have Insurance 
Americans are voicing growing discontent with the quality and cost of their health insurance coverage. Nearly one in three voters recently surveyed by Morning Consult said that their health insurance coverage has become worse in the past year, while just 15 percent said that it had improved. (Pianin, 10/11)

Kaiser Health News: Everything Californians Wanted To Know About Their Health Plan (But Were Afraid To Ask)
It can be well worth the effort to go up against your health plan if it denies you treatment you think you need. That’s just one of the many lessons California consumers can glean by using a new online tool unveiled last week by the state Department of Managed Health Care. It shows that last year, nearly two-thirds of Anthem Blue Cross enrollees who filed an appeal with the department to challenge a denial of care ended up getting the medical services they requested. (Ibarra, 10/12)

Politico: Two Years Later, Few Hobby Lobby Copycats Emerge
Obamacare supporters warned two years ago that if the Supreme Court allowed the owners of Hobby Lobby craft stores to eliminate birth control coverage because of their religious beliefs, others would rush to follow — and not just to eliminate contraceptives, but also, potentially, treatments like blood transfusions and vaccines. Those fears haven’t been borne out. (Haberkorn, 10/11)

In other news from the Supreme Court —

The Associated Press: Justices Won't Hear Dispute Over Access To Health Records
The Supreme Court won't hear a dispute between West Virginia health officials and a patient advocacy group over access to medical records. The justices on Tuesday let stand a state court ruling that said federal laws protecting health record privacy don't prevent Legal Aid of West Virginia from reviewing patient files at the state's two psychiatric hospitals. (10/11)

Stat: Medical Device Makers Rally To Save Their ‘Go-To Guy’ In Congress
With lawmakers bearing down on drug and device companies over prices, the industry can’t afford to lose any friends on Capitol Hill. And when it comes to medical devices, the industry might not have a better friend than Minnesota Congressman Erik Paulsen. (Scott, 10/12)

The Hill: GOP Senate Candidate: It's 'Not Practical' To Repeal ObamaCare
A Republican Senate candidate is breaking new ground by publicly bucking her party on its longtime call to repeal ObamaCare. Kathy Szeliga, who currently serves as a Maryland state legislator, said Friday that it is “not practical” to try to repeal the law more than six years after its passage. (Ferris, 10/11)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump’s Claim About Canadians Traveling To The United States For Medical Care
During the health-care policy portion of the debate, Trump attacked Hillary Clinton’s health-care plan and said it would end up in a “disaster, somewhat similar to Canada.” He called the Canadian health-care system “catastrophic,” and said that in “many cases,” Canadians are coming to the United States to receive operations because their system is so slow. We checked out whether this was accurate. (Lee, 10/11)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: ‘Whole Bunch’ Of Facts Don’t Support Obama’s Claim That Many VA Bosses Were Fired Over Scandal
The Obama administration seems set on misleading the public about the number of people held accountable for the wait-time scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Secretary Robert McDonald has twice received Four Pinocchio rulings for claims about how many people his agency fired or proposed disciplinary action against. (Lee, 10/12)

In other news —

The Houston Chronicle: New Ad Targets Gallego On Veteran Health Care
A new ad from a powerful Republican super PAC accuses Democrat Pete Gallego, who is locked in a tough race in Congressional District 23 against GOP U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, of neglecting veterans during Gallego’s one term in Congress. The 30-second spot from the Congressional Leadership Fund, titled “Waited,” features four veterans who say Gallego failed to address the health care scandal at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (Cervantes, 10/11)

Stateline: Preventing Vital Health Care Information From Being Lost In Translation
New federal rules requiring thousands of hospitals, doctors and dentists to provide free interpretation and translation services for people who don’t speak English aim to prevent tragedies like these, which were among those included in a study of interpretation-related malpractice cases in four states. (Ollove, 10/12)

In other news about the quality of health care services —

The Dallas Morning News: Are Medical Mistakes Really The Third Leading Cause Of Death In The U.S.?
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University said a quarter of a million Americans die each year because of medical errors. That put medical mistakes as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. second only to heart disease and cancer. The study generated some scary headlines. But before you put off that trip to the doctor, here are some problems with the study. (Yasmin, 10/11)

The Wall Street Journal: IBM Offering U.S. Employees Watson Technology To Identify Cancer Treatments
Navigating the labyrinth of cancer treatments can be so disorienting for patients that International Business Machines Corp. is enlisting its powerful supercomputer Watson to help. The computing giant today says it will offer its Watson artificial intelligence software to its U.S. employees to help them identify appropriate treatments and options for clinical trials. The benefit will be available beginning early next year to employees and their families who are covered under several of the company’s insurance plans. (Silverman, 10/11)

The CT Mirror: DSS’s Long-Awaited Computer Fix Finally Arrives, Starting Today
The computer system, known as EMS for “eligibility management system,” is older than some of the people working on the multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to replace it. The replacement, known as ImpaCT, will go live today for clients in the Middletown area, a test run designed to identify any issues before the system rolls out statewide next year. Department officials say the new eligibility system should bring significant improvements – but probably will start with growing pains, including delays as workers begin using the new system. (Levin Becker, 10/11)

Boston Globe: Job Requirement: Former Struggle With Substance Abuse 
Mass. General is one of the first US hospitals to embed recovery coaches on care teams. Drug treatment centers are increasingly hiring coaches as well, and cities hit hard by the opioid epidemic are sending these coaches out to the homes of residents who have overdosed and into police station holding cells. (Kowalczyk, 10/11)

Richmond Times Dispatch: AG Secures 80,000 Drug Disposal Kits To Curb Opioid Crisis 
Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced Tuesday that he has secured 80,000 drug disposal kits as part of his ongoing effort to ease the deadly toll of prescription painkillers and heroin in Virginia. Beginning Nov. 1, the attorney general’s office will distribute about 50,000 kits statewide with the help of the Virginia Department of Health. The rest of the kits will be available to hospitals, law enforcement agencies, pharmacies and nonprofits through an application process on the attorney general’s website. (Friedenberger, 10/11)

The Associated Press: Virginia To Hand Out Prescription Drug Disposal Kits
Virginia officials will be handing out thousands of drug disposal kits designed to allow residents to safely get rid of unused prescription opioids. Attorney General Mark Herring said 80,000 drug deactivation kits were recently donated by the Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. (10/12)

And in other news —

The New Orleans Times Picayune: Facing Opioid Crisis, New Orleans Doctor Helps People Get Their Lives Back
In July of this year, the Orleans Parish Coroner announced that heroin and opioid overdoses had already killed 65 people in New Orleans, eclipsing the city's murder rate and the overdose death toll for 2015. Such statistics shock Dr. Arwen Podesta, even as she confronts the city's opioid epidemic on a daily basis. (Lipinski, 10/11)

Columbus Dispatch: Community Forum Brings Hundreds To Discuss Heroin In Central Ohio
Drug addiction isn't just a bad habit. It's a complicated, chronic brain disease that requires treatment, according to public-health officials. But stigma and misunderstanding make addiction difficult for people to explain and understand, especially someone who hasn't experienced the effects of its ruthless grip, said Pickerington resident Heidi Riggs, who lost her 20-year-old daughter, Marin, to a heroin overdose in 2012. (Neese, 10/12)

Orlando Sentinel: Know The Types Of Addiction Recovery Treatment Options 
The addiction rehabilitation industry in the United States, including drugs, alcohol and other substances, is a $35 billion business. That’s what the more than 2.5 million people who receive treatment -- or their insurance companies -- spend on care each year. That doesn’t even count the 21 million or so other people who are addicted but don’t seek help, according to recent numbers from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (Candelaria, 10/11)

The New York Times: W.H.O. Urges Tax On Sugary Drinks To Fight Obesity
The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged countries to impose a tax on sugary drinks to battle the growing obesity epidemic and presented new data on the beneficial health effects of such a tax. A tax on sugary beverages raising their price 20 percent would result in a proportionate reduction in their consumption, the agency said. That would advance the fight against obesity, which has more than doubled since 1980. About half a billion adults were obese in 2014, roughly 11 percent of men and 15 percent of women. (Tavernise, 10/11)

Los Angeles Times: World Health Officials Want Super-Size Tax On Soda And Sugary Drinks, But Are Countries Ready To Swallow That?
The World Health Organization is backing a controversial remedy to reverse the global rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes — a 20% to 50% soda tax. The recommended tax should not be limited to soda, the WHO said Tuesday. It should apply to all sugar-sweetened beverages, a category that includes sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit punch, sweetened iced tea, vitamin waters and lemonade. (Kaplan, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Cautionary Tale Of 4-Year-Old Autistic Boy Rushed To ER After Treatment With Supplements
If you search for the words “autism” and “treatment” online, you'll find all kinds of suggestions outside of accepted medical practice for how to try to minimize or even cure the symptoms. Some of those ideas can be dangerous. Doctors recently described what happened to a 4-year-old boy who showed up in the emergency room after having been sick for three weeks. He was throwing up, had lost his appetite, was constipated and extremely thirsty, and had lost more than 6.5 pounds in two weeks. (Cha, 10/11)

Kaiser Health News: How Tiny Are Benefits From Many Tests And Pills? Researchers Paint A Picture
Mammograms are said to cut the risk of dying from breast cancer by as much as 20 percent, which sounds like an invincible argument for regular screening.Two Maryland researchers want people to question that kind of thinking. They want patients to reexamine the usefulness of cancer exams, cholesterol tests, osteoporosis pills, MRI scans and many other routinely prescribed procedures and medicines. (Hancock, 10/12)

The Pioneer Press: Allina, Nurse Negotiators Agree On Contract, Union Votes Thursday
After a 17-hour negotiating session, the Minnesota Nurses Association labor union and Allina Health reached a tentative contract Tuesday that could soon end a month-long strike at five area health facilities. (Cooney, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Anti-Tobacco Bills Advance In District, Would Raise Age To Buy Cigarettes To 21
The D.C. Council on Tuesday advanced a package of anti-tobacco bills that would increase the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21 and restrict the public use of tobacco products. The bills would extend the same restrictions against cigarette smoking in restaurants, schools and public buildings to electronic cigarettes. It would also ban chewing tobacco at sport facilities, including Nationals Park. (Nirappil, 10/11)

NPR: Colorado Ponders Ethics Of Vote To Legalize Aid-In-Dying
Last spring everything changed for Denver resident Matt Larson. "One day I was fine," says Larson. "The next I was being rushed by ambulance to Denver Health following two very massive and violent seizures. "The force of the seizures, from the sheer shaking, fractured and dislocated his shoulders and snapped two bones in his back. Soon his providers had life-altering test results. "They came back and shut the door and said 'you have mass on your brain,' which was tough to hear," says Larson. (Daley, 10/11)

Georgia Health News: Return Of Patients After Hurricane Matthew Going At Measured Pace
The return of medical evacuees from Hurricane Matthew is expected to last through the week and even beyond, a state Public Health official said Tuesday. This effort included 26 buses carrying about 500 people with medical needs Monday night from Augusta to Savannah, said Dr. Patrick O’Neal, director of health protection for the state Department of Public Health. These are people who live in homes but require certain aids to everyday living such as wheelchairs or an oxygen supply, he said. Many were able to return to their homes but some went to a Savannah shelter, O’Neal said. (Miller, 10/11)

Wyoming Public Radio: Chronic Illness Program Sets Out To Empower Rural Health Advocates
The Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) at the University of Wyoming adopted Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program and called the program “Healthy U.” Wyoming will be the fiftieth state to offer the program. WyCOA Associate Director Catherine Carrico said the state has higher than average rates of many chronic conditions, including arthritis and diabetes. (Mullen, 10/11)

The Associated Press: Abortion Doctor Charged With Manslaughter In Woman’s Death
A doctor accused of botching a woman’s abortion has been charged with manslaughter in her death, which came hours after she left his New York City office seeming disoriented, prosecutors said Tuesday. Dr. Robert Rho pleaded not guilty in the 30-year-old woman’s death. His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, called the death tragic, but not criminal. (10/11)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Madison Confirms Both Students Have Same Type Meningitis
No new cases of meningococcal disease have been reported at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since last week, when two students were hospitalized with the rare, potentially deadly bacterial illness. But the university confirmed Tuesday that the two cases now being treated involve the same serogroup of bacteria that most students are not vaccinated against. University Health Services is still awaiting genetic testing to determine if the bacteria are closely related, which would form the basis for any new vaccination recommendations.Both students are currently recovering. (Herzog, 10/12)

Health News Florida: State: 'Integrative Medicine' Doc Left Woman's Cancer Untreated
Stephanie Sofronsky was just 23, close to graduation from Florida Atlantic University, when she learned she had lymphoma.She didn’t want to believe it. So she sought a second opinion from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and a third opinion from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, state records show... But she never got the chemo.  And for that, state health officials blame Dr. Kenneth Woliner, an integrative medicine specialist in Boca Raton. (Gentry, 10/11)

The Star Tribune: St. Jude Warns That Batteries In Up To 350K Heart Devices Could Fail 
After studying the issue for nearly two years, St. Jude Medical alerted patients and doctors Tuesday that almost 350,000 of its implanted defibrillators have batteries that could fail with little warning. ... An implantable defibrillator can shock the heart back into rhythm if it stops beating normally, which means it needs a powerful battery. But doctors on Tuesday said the patients most affected by the alert are those who depend on their defibrillator to “pace” the heart to a normal rhythm. (Carlson, 10/11)

WABE: Blue Bell Cookie Dough Ice Cream Recall Affects Ga. 
Georgia is among the 16 states affected by a recall from Blue Bell Creameries. The company is voluntarily pulling all of its ice cream products that have cookie dough due to possible listeria contamination. Listeria can cause major and possibly fatal infections in children and elderly people as well as individuals with weak immune systems. (Lorinc, 10/11)

The Star Tribune: Alzheimer's Researchers At University Of Minnesota Reverse Memory Loss In Mice
Dr. Karen Ashe, a world-renowned expert on Alzheimer’s disease, said the research shows that it may be possible for the brain to repair itself, even after the signs of memory loss have appeared. In a study published this week in the journal Nature Medicine, Ashe and her team found that a natural enzyme called caspase-2 plays a key role in dementia. By lowering the enzyme level, they were able to reverse the memory loss in mice that were genetically altered to mimic the disease. (Lerner, 10/11)

The Baltimore Sun: With Little Money Or Oversight, Untrained Volunteers Set Up Maryland's Medical Marijuana Industry
When lawmakers first envisioned a medical marijuana commission, they created a panel of volunteers to look after what was supposed to be a limited program of academic centers dispensing the drug. Three years later, those same untrained volunteers have become closely watched regulators who have presided over the rocky launch of Maryland's multimillion-dollar medical marijuana industry. (Cox, 10/11)

Stat: Doctors Have Toxic Reaction To Valeant Pricing For A Lead Poisoning Drug
A drug used to treat lead poisoning is causing a toxic reaction among hospitals and poison control centers after Valeant Pharmaceuticals jacked up the price more than 2,700 percent in a single year. At issue is a decades-old, intravenous treatment for severe and life-threatening cases of lead poisoning, which occur infrequently, but generally require supplies to be on hand. Known as Calcium EDTA, Valeant acquired the drug in 2013 as part of a $2.6 billion deal to buy another company called Medicis. (Silverman, 10/11)

Stat: What Outrage? Ariad Raises Price Of Its Leukemia Drug Four Times So Far This Year
At a time when drug makers are under intense scrutiny for their pricing, Ariad Pharmaceuticals does not appear to have any concerns about continually raising the price of an already expensive medicine. Since the beginning of the year, the company raised the price of its Iclusig chronic myeloid leukemia treatment four times, which has amounted to a cumulative increase of 27 percent. As a result, the drug now has a list price of $16,560 a month, or almost $199,000 a year, before any rebates or discounts. And Ariad had also raised the price twice last year. (Silverman, 10/7)

The Hill: House Dem To Introduce Sweeping Drug Pricing Bill
Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-Conn.) is introducing a new measure to fight back against rising drug prices, an issue that has faced a growing uproar. The bill from DeLauro would create a new intergovernmental Price Review Board, which would have the power to impose penalties on drug companies that it determines “price gouge” consumers. (Sullivan, 10/11)

FiercePharma: How Drug Coupons 'Undermine' Payers' Efforts To Limit Healthcare Costs
Consumer drug vouchers for pricey pharmaceuticals--like Mylan’s EpiPen--may lead to market failures that dissolve the incentive for powerful pharmaceutical firms to reduce prescription drug prices, hurting payers' cost-control efforts. Medicare Part D spending on EpiPens grew more than 1,150 percent over a seven-year period from 2007 to 2014 while the number of beneficiaries receiving the treatment increased a disproportionate 164 percent. The ensuing public frustration resulted in CEO Heather Bresch to testifying at a Senate hearing to defend the 400 to 500 percent price hikes. (Ferowich, 10/11)

Bloomberg: Bay State Biotech Report: Paying Full Price For Drugs
Bloomberg biotech reporter Doni Bloomfield spoke with health reporter Robert Langreth about his story on the way U.S. patients are often forced to pay full price on expensive, life-saving drugs like insulin -- even when their insurers are getting a hefty discount. (10/6)

Forbes: Another Drug Company That Raises Prices Like Crazy
Starting in April, a little-known generic drug company in Philadelphia suddenly raised the price of fluphenazine, a medication used to treat symptoms of certain types of schizophrenia, by 1,650% over a three-month period. The evidence: Prescription tracking firm IMS Health discloses the number of times a medicine is prescribed and the medicine’s gross sales. IMS tracked 32,072 prescriptions of fluphenazine in in the first three months of 2016, generating $358,000 and yielding a net price of $11.17. Between April and June, there were 37,320 prescriptions at a net price of $195.53, generating $7.3 million in sales over the three-month period. (Vardi, 10/6)

FiercePharma: AbbVie Re-Ramps Humira TV Spending To Run Away With September's No. 1 Spot
As the FDA worked up to its approval of the first Humira biosimilar last month, AbbVie put the pedal to the floor on Humira TV ad spending. AbbVie spent $32.3 million in the month of September, marketing Humira across three indications, according to data from real-time TV ad tracker iSpot.tv. That’s $11 million more than the next most-promoted product on TV for the month, Pfizer’s Lyrica, on which the pharma giant doled out $21.4 million. (Bulik, 10/10)

The Associated Press: Big Pharma Spending Big Dollars To Defeat California Measure
The national furor over rising drug prices is moving to the ballot box in California, where voters will decide how the state negotiates for prescription medications. The stakes are high: How trendsetting California votes could spill over to other states. (Chang, 10/8)

Press Enterprise: Campaign 2016: How Drug-Price Measure Stacks Up In Polling
A closely watched California prescription drug-pricing initiative got off to an early lead in polls, but a third of those surveyed were undecided, setting the stage for a battle to the finish. The California Drug Price Relief Act would require the state to pay no more for prescription drugs than the Department of Veterans Affairs pays for the same medication. The federal agency negotiates drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, paying on average one-quarter less for drugs than other government agencies. (Seipel, 10/7)

The Mercury News: Ad Watch: Will Proposition 61 Hurt Veterans
This is one in a series of fact-checks of ads running this campaign season. ... [The ad] targets Proposition 61, which would require the state to pay no more for prescription drugs than is paid for the same medication by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The federal agency negotiates drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, paying on average one-quarter less for drugs than other government agencies do. (Seipel, 10/7)

LA Daily News: Mothers, Consumer Advocates Promote Proposition 61 To Stop Drug Price Gouging
Consumer advocates and concerned parents gathered Monday in Santa Monica to condemn the drug industry’s well-heeled campaign against Proposition 61, a measure designed to stop drug price gouging. The press conference was held in the wake of Friday’s announcement that Mylan will pay a $465 million penalty for overcharging Medicaid for its EpiPen injectable allergy treatment. The company raised the price for a pack of two EpiPens from about $100 in 2007 to more than $600 — a 500 percent increase. (Smith, 10/10)

Huffington Post: How To Cut Drug Prices? California Can Set A Model With Prop. 61
Despite all the disgust with pharmaceutical price gouging and the public shaming of CEOs like Heather Bresch of EpiPen infamy and “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, we’ve yet to see any concrete steps to actually cut drug prices. Now California voters can take matters, and their health, into their own hands - and set a national model by passing Proposition 61 in November. (Deborah Burger, 10/6)

Sacramento Bee: Prop. 61 Will Backfire, Especially Against Veterans 
Proposition 61 would prohibit the state from entering into contracts for prescription drugs unless the prices are the same or lower than the special discounts provided to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA found that Proposition 61 could increase costs to the VA by $3.8 billion a year. If that happens, there will be pressure to either cut services or pass the higher costs on to veterans. (Don Harper, 10/11)

Sacramento Bee: Proposition 61 Will Help Reduce Outrageous Prescription Drug Prices
As public outrage has erupted over a 500 percent price increase for life-saving EpiPens and a $1,000-per-pill cost for the most effective hepatitis C treatment, the pharmaceutical industry appears to be beyond shame. Even the price of generic drugs is skyrocketing; nearly 400 had increases of more than 1,000 percent the past seven years. Transparency is not enough. It’s long past time to cut drug prices to rein in an arrogant drug cartel that will always put its profits above public health and safety. (Kathy Dennis, 10/11)

Sacramento Bee: Drug Prices, Black Lives, Presidential Candidates, Recreational Pot
Big Pharma has proven itself to be interested more in profit than the public good. If drug companies are not willing to reduce their costs significantly, it may be time to nationalize the industry. Life-saving drugs should not be the purview of an industry that cares not whether patients live or die but is more interested in the almighty dollar. (Jack Ohman, 10/9)

Scranton Times-Tribune: California’s Gouging Cure
We all have read about Mylan hiking the price of its lifesaving epinephrine injector, EpiPen, by 400 percent, about “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli increasing a critical toxoplasmosis drug’s price 5,000 percent overnight, and about the prostate cancer medicine developed with U.S. taxpayer funds that was sold back to the Medicare program at $100,000 per patient. The pharmaceutical industry, the world’s top spender effectively has derailed nearly every attempt to reform its practices as proposed in state legislatures and Congress. California voters have a chance to change all that. (Suzanne Gordon and Fran Quigley, 10/10)

US News & World Report: The US Can Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable
List prices for all medicines are subject to various discounts and rebates often negotiated by insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers, and the actual cost can be lower. But a study by Bloomberg found that even after discounts, we pay more in the U.S. for common medicines like Crestor (high cholesterol), Lantus (insulin), Advair (asthma), Januvia (diabetes), Humira (rheumatoid arthritis) and Herceptin (breast cancer) than in most other countries in the study, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, India, Russia, Morocco and several European countries. The role of intermediaries like insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers in our health care system makes it very difficult for doctors and patients to know the true price of medicine. (Jonathan Fielding, 10/5)

Stat: This Federal Drug Discount Program Is Actually Increasing Cancer Care Costs
Given its name, you’d expect the federal 340B Drug Discount Program to save money for the American health system. When it comes to cancer, though, it’s actually a major driver increasing costs, according to a report from the Community Oncology Alliance. The program was created in 1992 to financially support so-called safety net hospitals that provide charity care to poor and underserved patients. ... But “creative uses” of 340B have contributed to increasing the cost of cancer care, boosted revenues for hospitals (which charge more for cancer care than community oncology practices), and expanded the use of hospital outpatient cancer services. (Debra Patt, 10/7)

Florida Times-Union: An Analysis Of High Prescription Drug Prices
Norway is an expensive place to live where a Big Mac costs $5.65 and a gallon of gasoline more than $6. But one thing is far cheaper than in the U.S.; prescription drugs. (Joseph B. Steinman, 10/11)

Health Affairs Blog: The Future Of The ACA’s Exchanges
Aetna’s decision to withdraw, in 2017, from 11 of the 15 states where it is currently offering plans on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges is another clear signal, coming as it does in the wake of many other insurer withdrawals, that the insurance marketplaces are financially unstable. Because of unworkable federal rules, the exchanges are increasingly unable to offer a choice of attractive, affordable health plans. (Joseph Antos and James Capretta, 10/11)

The Wall Street Journal: The Affordable Care Act’s Little-Noticed Success: Cutting The Uninsured Rate
Donald Trump derided the Affordable Care Act in the second presidential debate as a “total disaster.” One inarguable success of the 2010 health-care law has been to drive the rate of uninsured Americans to a historic low. That sizeable shift makes it significant that a plurality of the public thinks the uninsured rate is unchanged and that the number of people who know the uninsured rate is at its low point is nearly the same as the number of people who mistakenly think the rate is at an all-time high. (Drew Altman, 10/12)

Los Angeles Times: More On Mylan's EpiPen Profiteering: It Allegedly Ripped Off Medicaid Too
Very quietly, on the Friday before a long federal holiday weekend, Mylan last week paid $465 million to stifle government allegations that it had systematically overcharged Medicaid for its notorious EpiPen medical device. This sum is, amazingly, well more than twice the $185 million paid by Wells Fargo over charges that its bankers systematically ripped off and stole the identities of their clients, but it hasn’t received an iota of the attention of the Wells scandal. Let’s redress the balance just a bit. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/11)

Los Angeles Times: What We Don’t Know About Superbugs Could Kill Us
The United Nations General Assembly sounded the alarm last month on superbugs, antibiotic-resistant organisms that are cropping up with disturbing frequency around the world and rendering formerly tamed foes into new threats. Among them: a new strain of drug-resistant tuberculosis and an E.coli that’s impervious to the strongest medicine we’ve got. The bacteria that cause gonorrhea may soon be untreatable by all current antibiotics too. ... So good for the U.N. for making this a high-level international priority. And good for the Los Angeles County officials who announced plans last week to require hospitals to report when patients are infected with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. ... And good for Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) for reviving his effort to get hospitals to report drug-resistant microbes. (10/12)

Forbes: Hillary Said It: Medicare IS A Single-Payer System
Hillary Clinton, responding to Trump’s excoriations of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a.k.a. Obamacare, noted in a single line that Medicare is exactly the kind of “single-payer” system generally proffered by ACA opponents as the ultimate horror. But there’s a problem with the argument: there is no horror of Medicare. Even conservative Republicans with any hope of keeping their offices are champions of it. You cannot threaten much of anything about Medicare and hope to keep your job in the government. (David L. Katz, 10/11)

Boston Globe: Watchdog Overreaches On Children’s Hospital Expansion 
One of the iron laws of public policy is that regulatory agencies have an irresistible tendency to push the limits of their power and authority. ... We saw a classic example of that recently when the Health Policy Commission inserted itself into Boston Children’s Hospital’s determination of need application to upgrade its facilities. ... Children’s Hospital is one of the preeminent pediatric medical centers in the nation, drawing research dollars, patients, and talent from across the world. It is an integral part of the crown jewel of the Massachusetts economy .... The HPC has an important role to play as Massachusetts undergoes major changes in the health care marketplace, but its credibility depends on choosing wisely where it exercises its authority. (Mike Widmer, 10/12)

Stat: Lifting Restrictions On Nurses Can Help The VA Deliver Better Care For Veterans
Today, in 21 states and Washington, D.C., nurse practitioners can administer a wide range of care and prescribe drugs — services they are educated and trained to provide. The remaining states, though, require that physicians oversee the work of these nurses, and those laws extend to VA facilities. In those states, veterans and consumers alike endure longer waits to receive care. Access — getting health care when and where it is needed — has been our country’s main problem in giving veterans the excellent care they deserve. The need has been painfully obvious in the notoriously long times that some veterans must wait to receive health care, delays that have led to deaths. (Catherine Georges, 10/11)

The Chicago Sun-Times: Respect Personal Space Outside Planned Parenthood Clinic
Let’s start with a simple idea: Everyone is entitled to respect, especially when we disagree. It’s a concept that touches the bedrock of our freedom. (Michele Smith and Brian Hopkins, 10/11)

Arizona Republic: 4 Ways To Boost Social Connections, Improve Seniors' Health
One out of three adults over 65 years old lives alone, and social isolation is on the rise, right alongside other related statistics, such as depression, alcohol abuse and suicide. The numbers are staggering. Studies also directly link isolation and loneliness with poor health and early death, and they are major predictors of seniors needing long-term care and entering nursing homes, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Health research. (Jennifer Keiser, 10/11)

Stat: Survivorship Movement Helps People Learn To Live Well With Cancer
As cancer treatments improve, ... millions more will have to learn to live a life forever altered by cancer. As nurses trained to help cancer survivors, we see the challenges they face every day. Yet we draw hope in knowing that those challenges can be addressed. Living with cancer does not have to mean losing quality of life. As awareness grows, so will the ranks of those who learn to enjoy life after a cancer diagnosis. (Janet Snapp and Dori Klemanski, 10/11)

WBUR: 'Pinktober' Should Focus More On Incurable Breast Cancer -- Like Mine 
My goal is to raise awareness about metastatic breast cancer. Most people don’t know there’s no cure for it, and that misunderstanding creates a whole different set of challenges for the men and women living with it. We often feel exhausted and excluded from the conversation about breast cancer prevention and detection. We live every day knowing the cancer is still in us. (Carol Chaoui, 10/11)