Politico: Freedom Caucus Opposes GOP's Obamacare Replacement Plan
The Republican congressman who made his name as the instigator of John Boehner’s ouster last year was set to take the reins of the House Freedom Caucus on Monday night. And first up on Rep. Mark Meadows’ to-do list: Torpedoing GOP leadership’s tentative plans to take as long as three years to replace Obamacare. (Bade, 12/5)

The Hill: Court Delays GOP's ObamaCare Suit Until Trump Is In Office
A federal judge on Monday agreed to hit pause until the start of the Trump administration on the House GOP’s long-standing legal challenge of ObamaCare payments.  The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Republican leaders, who had requested their case be considered after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Any actions on the case, known as House v. Burwell, are now postponed until Feb. 21. (Ferris, 12/5)

The Associated Press: Appeals Court Agrees To Delay GOP Lawsuit Over Health Law
A federal appeals court has agreed to delay consideration of a lawsuit from Republican lawmakers over the Obama health care law. President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress plan to repeal and replace the law. The three-judge panel in Washington on Monday gave both sides in the case until Feb. 21 to clarify their positions. House Republicans say a change in policy under the new administration could render the case moot. (12/5)

Morning Consult: Court Agrees To Temporary Delay Of GOP Obamacare Lawsuit
A federal appeals judge said House Republicans’ lawsuit challenging Affordable Care Act subsidies would be placed on hold until Feb. 21, 2017, a move that will give the Trump administration time to decide its next steps. (McIntire, 12/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ryan: Obamacare Phaseout Will Leave 'No One Worse Off'
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday he envisions an extended transition from Obamacare that ensures “no one is worse off” after Congress votes to repeal the program. The Speaker declined to say how long it would take Republicans to design a replacement so that the millions of people now covered by the Affordable Care Act can be transitioned off it. (Gilbert, 12/5)

The Hill: Ryan Aide: No Shift In Stance On Healthcare Assistance
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is not shifting his position on how the financial assistance in an ObamaCare replacement would be structured, according to a spokeswoman, after questions were raised by his comments in a “60 Minutes” interview. Ryan told the CBS News program that low-income people should receive more financial assistance to help them afford health insurance than higher-income people. (Sullivan, 12/5)

Morning Consult: McCarthy Says No Date For Obamacare Repeal, But Coming ‘Soon’
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the process for repealing Obamacare will likely start as the next Congress gets going. “I don’t want to set a date, but I would tell you very soon in the new Congress,” McCarthy told reporters Monday. His comments come as some Republicans are coalescing around a plan to repeal the law without a replacement drafted, with a transition period to allow current consumers to maintain coverage as the GOP works to implement a new system. But other Republicans are expressing apprehension with that plan. Sen. Susan Collins may not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a detailed replacement, the Maine Republican told the Portland Free Press on Friday. (McIntire, 12/ 5)

Portland (Maine) Press Herald: Sen. Collins Has ‘Reservations’ About Privatizing Medicare, Repealing Health Care Law Without Replacement
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Friday that she’s unlikely to support efforts to privatize Medicare and might not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, positions that would put her at odds with Republican party leaders. Though Collins opposed the Affordable Care Act and says it needs many fixes, she might not support repealing the law if a suitable, detailed replacement is not identified. However, Collins stressed in a brief interview Friday that she’s not sure how she would vote on the issue. (Lawlor, 12/3)

And in other news —

Modern Healthcare: What Will It Take To Keep Insurers From Fleeing After The ACA'S Repeal?
Health insurers and regulators are extremely nervous about congressional Republican leaders' announced plans to repeal most of the Affordable Care Act soon after Donald Trump takes over the presidency next month and wait several years to establish a new system. But some insiders say they are encouraged that GOP leaders are slowly recognizing they need to take steps to shore up the fragile individual insurance market that covers nearly 20 million Americans and avoid measures that drive health plans out of the market in 2018. Meanwhile, some state insurance officials are examining what tools they have to keep the insurance market functioning in the event of an ACA repeal early next year. (Meyer, 12/5)

Modern Healthcare: The State Of The ACA's Risk Corridors 
The Obama administration is now on the hook for more than $8 billion in payments to cover insurer losses on the health insurance exchanges, but industry experts are growing doubtful the full tab will ever be paid. At the same time, while Republican lawmakers are committed to sewing up the federal wallet to keep the current administration from paying insurers what they call a “bailout,” they don't want to see the insurance markets collapse under their watch. Any replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act—which President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have vowed to repeal and replace—would require private insurers to jump on board. And alienating them by refusing to pay promised funds would be bad for business, experts say. (Livingston, 12/5)

The New York Times: Life In Obamacare’s Dead Zone
“I tried to get Obamacare,” [Janet] Foy recalls. “I called the number, and when the woman told me what it would cost me, I just about dropped the phone. She told me I’d needed to make at least $12,000 a year for there to be any help to make it something I might be able to afford. Which still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, even now, that having no money meant I got no help when I really needed it.” She also learned that she could not expect any help from Medicaid, which in her home state remained available only if you fit the criteria sometimes known by the shorthand “poor and” — poor and pregnant, poor and disabled. As a single childless woman, she could forget about it. (Verzemnieks, 12/6)

In other news —

Kaiser Health News: Insurers’ Flawed Directories Leave Patients Scrambling For In-Network Doctors
As consumers review their coverage and shop for 2017 insurance through the federal health law’s online marketplaces during the annual open enrollment period, many of the directories they are using are outdated and inaccurate. Some doctors in the directories are not accepting new patients and some are not participating in the network, say experts, brokers and consumers. Still other physicians in the directories, who are listed as “in-plan,” charge patients thousands of dollars extra per year in “concierge fees” to join their practices. (Hancock, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Clears Path For Bill To Speed FDA Drug Approvals
The Senate Monday cleared the final hurdle to passage of broad legislation aimed at boosting federal funds for biomedical research and speeding up government approval of drug and medical-devices, a goal pursued by the pharmaceutical industry over the objections of some consumer advocates. The 85-13 vote cuts through the last remaining procedural obstacle before passage in the Senate, expected by Wednesday. (Hughes and Burton, 12/5)

The Associated Press: Bill Speeding Federal Drug Approvals Clears Senate Hurdle
A bipartisan bill to speed government drug approvals and bolster biomedical research cleared its last procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday in an emotional moment for outgoing Vice President Joe Biden. The overwhelming 85-13 vote put the measure on track for final legislative approval by the Senate as early as Tuesday. President Barack Obama has promised to sign the measure, one of the last for the president and the 114th Congress, whose leaders hope to adjourn by week's end after a two-year session that has seen them clash frequently with the president. (12/5)

Boston Globe: Markey Throws His Support Behind The Medical Bill Opposed By Warren 
Senator Edward Markey on Monday threw his support behind the latest version of the 21st Century Cures Act, federal legislation that includes $1 billion for opioid recovery and treatment programs. The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House last week, also promotes cancer research and pledges close to $5 billion for medical research over the next decade. (Gans, 12/6)

Boston Globe: Senate Committee Calls For Ban On Surgeons Doing Simultaneous Operations 
A powerful Senate committee wants all hospitals to explicitly ban surgeons from overseeing two simultaneous operations, weighing in on a controversy that has roiled Massachusetts General Hospital and spurred a national debate on patient safety. The new Finance Committee report, scheduled to be released Tuesday, follows a Spotlight Team series in 2015 on the issue. The committee will urge hospitals to clearly prohibit “concurrent surgeries,’’ which it defined as two operations, managed by the same surgeon, whose critical parts occur at the same time. (Saltzman and Abelson, 12/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Aetna And Humana Defend Merger, As Antitrust Trial Begins
The Justice Department and proposed merger partners Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. presented a judge Monday with starkly different visions of how the transaction would affect the marketplace, kicking off a second antitrust trial with major implications for the health insurance landscape. Opening statements launched the government’s second current court battle against consolidation among health insurers. (Kendall, 12/5)

Reuters: U.S. Attorneys Argue Aetna-Humana Deal Violates Antitrust Law
A U.S. Justice Department attorney told a federal judge on Monday that health insurer Aetna Inc's planned acquisition of Humana Inc would break antitrust law by reducing competition in Medicare Advantage and Obamacare exchange businesses, kicking off a trial expected to last weeks. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in July asking the court to stop Aetna's $34 billion deal for Humana, arguing it would lead to higher prices for seniors and the disabled on Medicare and for people who use the individual insurance program created under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. (Bartz and Humer, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Aetna’s Remedy To Salvage Humana Deal Draws Fire From U.S. 
Aetna Inc.’s proposal to salvage its $37 billion takeover of Humana Inc. by selling assets to a smaller company isn’t convincing the Justice Department, which told a federal judge that the remedy poses risks for seniors who depend on Medicare. The insurer that Aetna wants to sell assets to, Molina Healthcare Inc., is unlikely to replace the competition that would be lost from the merger, Justice Department lawyer Craig Conrath said Monday as a U.S. antitrust trial seeking to block Aetna’s acquisition of Humana kicked off in Washington. (Harris and McLaughlin, 12/5)

The CT Mirror: Aetna, Humana Defend Merger Plans In Court
Opening salvos were fired Monday in the antitrust case against the proposed merger of Aetna and Humana, with Justice Department attorneys arguing the tie-up would mean sharp price hikes for Medicare Advantage plans and a disintegration of choice for people purchasing insurance on Affordable Care Act exchanges. Attorneys for the insurers vigorously disputed that their $37 billion marriage would reduce competition in a growing Medicare Advantage market or on the ACA exchanges and promised their witnesses, including Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard and a slew of antitrust economists, would prove it. (Radelat, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Small Insurers’ Big Collapse Reflects Deep Industry Woes
A pair of small Pennsylvania insurers focused on long-term care could soon become one of the nation’s costliest insurance failures ever, highlighting the widespread problems that have plagued the industry niche for more than a decade. Two insurance units of Penn Treaty American Corp., which have combined assets of about $600 million and projected long-term-care claims liabilities topping $4 billion, are on track to be liquidated early next year, according to filings in a state court in Harrisburg. (Scism, 12/4)

Kaiser Health News: Doctors And Hospitals Say ‘Show Me The Money’ Before Treating Patients
Tai Boxley needs a hysterectomy. The 34-year-old single mother has uterine prolapse, a condition that occurs when the muscles and ligaments supporting the uterus weaken, causing severe pain, bleeding and urine leakage. Boxley and her 13-year-old son have health insurance through her job as an administrative assistant in Tulsa, Okla. But the plan has a deductible of $5,000 apiece, and Boxley’s doctor said he won’t do the surgery until she prepays her share of the cost. His office estimates that will be as much as $2,500. Boxley is worried that the hospital may demand its cut as well before the surgery can be performed. (Andrews, 12/6)

NPR: CRISPR In Court: Legal Battle Over Patent Rights Set To Begin
The high-stakes fight over who invented a technology that could revolutionize medicine and agriculture heads to a courtroom Tuesday. A gene-editing technology called CRISPR-cas9 could be worth billions of dollars. But it's not clear who owns the idea. U.S. patent judges will hear oral arguments to help untangle this issue, which has far more at stake than your garden-variety patent dispute. (Harris, 12/5)

WBUR: The Ali-Frazier Fight Of Biotech? Patent Court To Hear CRISPR Oral Arguments 
It's hard not to get hype-y about CRISPR, the gene-editing tool hailed as a revolution sweeping labs around the world. The same goes for the East Coast-West Coast patent fight over credit for CRISPR that some call the biotech battle of the century. (Goldberg, 12/5)

McClatchy: Tom Price Linked To Association Of American Physicians, Surgeons 
Rep. Tom Price, the Georgia Republican and physician picked by President-elect Donald Trump to oversee the health and availability of essential human services to all Americans, belongs to a medical association whose unconventional views are certain to raise questions during his confirmation hearings next year. Trump nominated Price, re-elected last month to a seventh term, to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.An orthopedic surgeon, he is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, whose 5,000 members consider the group a nonpartisan professional organization dedicated to “preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine.” (Goldstein and Clark, 12/5)

Stat: Trump's Team Begins Conferring With Federal Health Officials
The Trump transition team has begun conferring with the Department of Health and Human Services. So far, though, it’s steered clear of the Food and Drug Administration. Members of Trump’s health policy landing team held two introductory sessions on Friday with non-political staff at HHS, according to sources familiar with the meetings. (Kaplan, 12/6)

In other news —

Stat: Key FDA Official Who Fought To Uphold Agency Standards To Retire
Dr. John Jenkins, a key official at the US Food and Drug Administration known for striking a delicate balance between agency standards and industry interests, will retire next month. Jenkins has worked for the agency for much of the past 25 years, most recently as the director of the Office of New Drugs, where he has been responsible for overseeing a rising number of drug approvals. In 2015, for instance, the agency endorsed 45 novel new medicines, an output that has been rising in recent years even as industry applications remained fairly steady, according to an FDA report. (Silverman, 12/5)

Stateline: Fighting Opioid Abuse In Indian Country
Nationwide, Native Americans are at least twice as likely as the general population to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, and three times as likely to die of a drug overdose. In Washington state, Indians die of drug overdoses at a rate of 29 in 100,000, compared to a rate of 12 for whites, 11 for blacks, 3 for Hispanics and 2 for Asians, according to the state Health Department. Compounding the problem, the majority of the nation’s 2.9 million Indians living on and off reservations have little to no access to health care, much less mental health and addiction services. (Vestal, 12/6)

In other news on the opioid crisis —

Cleveland Enquirer: Heroin's Human Toll: A Month In The Life Of A Lyndhurst Addict Fighting To Live 
Bryan Smith's mother forced him into rehab at the age of 15 when she discovered that he smoked marijuana. That was not the drug that would put him on the path to heroin addiction. That drug was a muscle relaxer prescribed to him that same year by his doctor to treat his back problems. Now 32, Smith has been a heroin addict for nearly half his life. (Heisig, 12/6)

Health News Florida: Opioid Overdoses Continue To Rage In Delray Beach 
The epidemic of opioid overdoses continues to grip Delray Beach. The city saw 75 heroin overdoses last month, with 4 of them fatal. That’s a slight decrease from October, which brought an all-time high of 88 heroin overdoses resulting in 11 fatalities. Delray Beach emergency personnel attribute the spike in overdoses to synthetic opioids like fentanyl being added to heroin sold on the street. (Haden, 12/5)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Man With ‘Heart Of Gold’ Among 9 Dead From Apparent Drug ODs In 36 Hours In Kensington
The weekend's fatal ODs happened in a 36-hour period from 8:35 a.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. Sunday, and most were in the 24th Police District, which covers parts of Kensington, Juniata Park, and Port Richmond, said Lt. John Stanford, police spokesman. At this rate, Philadelphia is likely to reach 900 fatal drug overdoses this year, officials said. That would be more than triple the city's homicide rate. Until the Medical Examiner's Office officially rules on causes of death for the nine people who died this weekend, the cases are being handled as sudden-death investigations, although Stanford said they all appear to be "related to narcotics use." (Far and Avril, 12/5)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Mobile Lifeline: Manchester Crisis Recovery Team Is Ready To Hit The Streets 
On Monday, the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester officially launched MCRT, a team of professionals who will respond to people whose mental health or drug problem has reached a crisis level. More than a year in the making, the MCRT makes clinicians and peer counselors available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And they’re mobile, ready to respond to calls in the greater Manchester area from New Boston to Candia. (Hayward, 12/6)

Stat: First Look: How Clumping Proteins Might One Day Fight Cancer
Has science found a way to get villainous clumps of protein to cure instead of kill? Possibly, say European researchers whose early-stage findings might spur a new class of cancer therapeutics. The team created an artificial protein containing amyloids — sequences that under the right conditions, cause proteins to clump together. Those clumps are seen in the brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. (Samuel, 12/6)

NPR: Drowsy Driving Kills: Crash Rate Spikes With Each Hour Of Lost Sleep
Traffic safety officials regularly warn us of the risks of driving while drunk or distracted. But Americans still need to wake up to the dangers of getting behind the wheel when sleepy, according to a recent study of crash rates. A report released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests that drivers who sleep only five or six hours in a 24-hour period are twice as likely to crash as drivers who get seven hours of sleep or more. (Aubrey, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Forget Those Occasional Cigarettes: There Is No Safe Smoking Level
There's bad news for people who think it's safe to smoke a few cigarettes a day or even a week: They face a substantially higher risk of earlier death compared with people who don't smoke, according to a study published Monday. The National Cancer Institute study found that people who consistently smoked an average of less than one cigarette per day over their lifetimes had a 64 percent higher risk of earlier death. Those who smoked one to 10 cigarettes a day had an 87 percent greater risk. (McGinley, 12/5)

The New York Times: Many Kids’ Headphones Carry Risk Of Hearing Loss, Study Finds
These days, even 3-year-olds wear headphones, and as the holidays approach, retailers are well stocked with brands that claim to be “safe for young ears” or to deliver “100 percent safe listening.” The devices limit the volume at which sound can be played; parents rely on them to prevent children from blasting, say, Rihanna at hazardous levels that could lead to hearing loss. (Saint Louis, 12/6)

Sacramento Bee: Dysfunctional Stem Cells Helps Cause Pulmonary Fibrosis 
Pulmonary fibrosis is a mystifying, deadly lung disease that typically kills patients three to five years after diagnosis. In most cases, there’s no cure and no known cause. Now, a recent study by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has identified one major culprit: dysfunctional stem cells. Specifically, the problem occurs in special stem cells known as AEC2s that repair and regenerate lung cells damaged by viral infections, pollution or other injuries. (Buck, 12/5)

Kaiser Health News: Seniors Increasingly Getting High, Study Shows
Baby boomers are getting high in increasing numbers, reflecting growing acceptance of the drug as treatment for various medical conditions, according to a study published Monday in the journal Addiction. The findings reveal overall use among the 50-and-older study group increased “significantly” from 2006 to 2013. Marijuana users peaked between ages 50 to 64, then declined among the 65-and-over crowd. (Heredia Rodriquez, 12/6)

Los Angeles Times: Superbug Infections Must Be Listed On Death Certificate Under Proposed Bill
State Sen. Jerry Hill introduced a bill Monday that would require doctors to record antibiotic-resistant infections on death certificates if they played a role in the death. Currently many deaths from infections acquired in hospitals and nursing homes are not publicly recorded, leaving health officials to guess at their toll. “Today we have to estimate the number of deaths from infections and we have no idea if that is accurate,” said Hill (D-San Mateo). “We’re shooting in the dark.” (Petersen, 12/5)

Reuters: California Bill Would Require Reporting Of 'Superbug' Infections, Deaths
A California state senator introduced a bill on Monday that would mandate reporting of antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths and require doctors to record the infections on death certificates when they are a cause of death. The legislation also aims to establish the nation’s most comprehensive statewide surveillance system to track infections and deaths from drug-resistant pathogens. Data from death certificates would be used to help compile an annual state report on superbug infections and related deaths. (12/5)

Des Moines Register: Insurance Commissioner Gerhart Stepping Down
Iowa’s outspoken insurance commissioner is stepping down. Nick Gerhart has resigned effective Dec. 23, the governor’s office announced Monday. Gerhart was appointed to the four-year post on Feb. 1, 2013. He said in an interview Monday that he decided not to seek another term. His wife, Jessica, is expecting their fourth child in early January, which led him to decide on a career change, he said. Gerhart, 41, oversaw regulation of all kinds of insurance, but he gained the most attention for helping guide the state through health-insurance changes wrought by the Affordable Care Act. (Leys, 12/5)

Health News Florida: South Florida Leads Nation In New HIV Cases, CDC Says 
South Florida has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in new HIV cases. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks the South Florida metro area as number one for HIV diagnoses in 2015. According to the CDC report, the national average for HIV diagnoses is about 12 cases per 100,000 people. (Mack, 12/5)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Too Many Babies Are Dying In St. Louis And One Group Is Taking A Stand
A recent study commissioned by Generate Health found disturbing racial trends within infant mortality. African-American babies are three times as likely to die as white babies in St. Louis. Black women in Missouri are nearly 50 percent more likely to have a preterm baby than any other group, regardless of socioeconomic status. The study further found the majority of the region’s infant deaths occurred in the first month of life and correlated with significant incidents of high blood pressure among African-American mothers during pregnancy, nearly tripling their risk for babies with lower birth weights. And yet despite these pregnancy risks, more than a fifth of black mothers received inadequate prenatal care compared to just 5 percent of white mothers. Black mothers were 137 percent more likely to lose a baby in the first month of life than white mothers. (Cambria, 12/6)

The New York Times: Texas Releases Abortion Booklet Citing Refuted Cancer Links
A Texas state agency has released a new edition of a booklet for women considering an abortion that suggests there may be a link between terminating pregnancies and increased risks of breast cancer and depression. The Texas Department of State Health Services issued the new edition of "A Woman's Right to Know" on Monday. (12/5)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Embeds 'Violence Interrupter' In University Hospitals Emergency Room
The Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, an agency dedicated to quelling violence in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, soon will embed a "violence interrupter" in the emergency room at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center to counsel gunshot victims and deter retaliatory violence. The position will be funded by a $75,000 grant from the city of Cleveland. City Council approved the funding Monday night, and a number of members have pledged another $25,000 collectively for the program. (Atassi, 12/5)

Texas Tribune: Texas Lawmakers Push Bipartisan Effort For Tax-Free Tampons
Following the political lead of several northern states, six Texas lawmakers have filed bills to eliminate sales tax on feminine health products used for menstrual period hygiene, including tampons, sanitary napkins and menstrual cups. If passed during the 2017 legislative session, Texas would become the first southern state to implement tax cuts on tampons, joining New Jersey, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland. (Mejia Lutz, 12/6)

Boston Globe: PatientPing Raises $31 Million For Expansion
A Boston startup that makes patient-tracking software has raised $31 million from investors to help it expand nationally. PatientPing Inc. is set on Tuesday to disclose the new funding, led by Leerink Transformation Partners, a Boston-based fund, and Andreessen Horowitz of Menlo Park, Calif., which has invested in well-known companies such as Airbnb and Lyft. Chief executive Jay Desai said the infusion of cash will help PatientPing double its workforce of 50 and expand into new states. (Dayal McCluskey, 12/6)

Chicago Tribune: Northwestern, AbbVie Team Up On Cancer Research
Northwestern University and North Chicago-based pharmaceutical company AbbVie will spend the next five years working together researching ways to fight cancer, AbbVie announced Monday. AbbVie will fund research at Northwestern's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. The company will then get first pass on bringing resulting discoveries to market. Gary Gordon, AbbVie vice president of oncology development, said Monday he was not at liberty to disclose how much money AbbVie is giving to the cancer center. (Schencker, 12/5)

San Jose Mercury News: Hetch Hetchy Work Leaves Palo Alto With 'Musty' Water
Palo Alto residents were subject to drinking water in recent days that had “musty” or “earthy” overtones.City leaders said Monday the unpleasant smelling and tasting water is safe to drink and the city continues to conduct daily water testing. The noticeable difference resulted from a blending of the water supply that happens when the Hetch Hetchy water distribution system undergoes annual maintenance, City Manager James Keene said at the City Council meeting. (Lee, 12/5)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Swarthmore Borough Council Approves Group Home For Cancer Patients
Despite opposition from nearly two dozen residents, the Swarthmore Borough Council voted Monday night to allow a seven-bedroom home steps from Swarthmore College to be turned into a temporary residence for cancer patients in the region to receive treatment. The unanimous vote by the all-Democratic council came after weeks of objection from neighbors who suggested that the nonprofit HEADstrong Foundation was using a "backdoor" way to open a property opponents say would operate similarly to a hotel, but in a residential neighborhood. (McCabe, 12/6)

Orange County Register: Prop. 64: Legalized Marijuana In California May Generate Less Tax Than Planned
Many medical marijuana patients were worried that a ballot measure legalizing cannabis for recreational use in California would make the price of their medicine go up.Instead, for some of them, pot just got cheaper, though maybe not for long. The Board of Equalization recently sent notice that anyone who has both a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana and a county-issued ID card identifying them as a patient no longer has to pay state sales tax thanks to Proposition 64. (Edwards Staggs, 12/5)

WBUR: 3 Things To Watch For That Could Delay Or Alter The Marijuana Law 
Beacon Hill is abuzz over what changes might be made to the voter-passed law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Lawmakers, who opted not to take up legalization via legislation, are now considering how the law can be tweaked. Still to be determined is exactly what constitutes a tweak, and what would be a major change. (Brown, 12/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Aging SRO Hotels Raise Health, Safety Issues For Housing Homeless
Most of the 75 complexes, which cost the city $112 million annually to operate, are considered generally safe and well-run. But a San Francisco Chronicle investigation into health and safety issues in those residences found persistent problems among the oldest — the century-old single-room-occupancy hotels, or SROs, that house more than 60 percent of the people in supportive housing. The Chronicle’s probe found chronic maintenance issues, health code violations and frustrated residents at a handful of these city-funded SROs. (Fagan and Palomino, 12/5)

Forbes: How Trump Plan To Gut Obamacare Will Take Down Medicare
Although Trump said during the campaign that he wouldn't touch Medicare or Social Security -- he wouldn't have secured enough Electoral College votes if he had -- tearing apart Obamacare will almost certainly raise costs for Medicare beneficiaries and hasten its decline as a guaranteed, fee-for-service system. Embedded in the Affordable Care Act were a raft of pilot projects and provisions to make medical care for retirees less expensive. The drafters of the act wanted to make doctors more accountable, share in cost savings and cut hospital re-admissions. The Act even cracked down on fraud and abuse in Medicare. (John Wasik, 12/5)

The Hill: Medicaid As We Know It Is Over And Maybe That’s Not A Bad Thing
The selection of Rep. Tom Price (D-Ga.) to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Donald J. Trump administration seems to signal the President-elect is moving well beyond repealing ObamaCare. ... It’s questionable whether the new President really wants to exert the political energy it will take to convince elderly Americans that they are better off with private insurance rather than Medicare. That’s a tough sell. But he and Price will have less resistance on at least one other GOP dream. Medicaid, as we know it, is toast. (Mike King, 12/5)

The Washington Post: Some Of The Places That Put Trump Over The Top Could Be Most Harmed By Repealing Obamacare
With Donald Trump headed to the White House, Republicans on Capitol Hill are poised to move quickly on rolling back Obamacare. On "60 Minutes," House Speaker Paul Ryan said that changes to the Affordable Care Act will be "the first bill we're going to be working on" in the next Congress. Trump's headed to the White House thanks to 80,000 voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — the margins of victory in three states he flipped from blue to red. He flipped other states, too, including Iowa and Ohio. The counties that moved to the right the most relative to 2012 were heavily (but not exclusively) across Appalachia, the Rust Belt and the upper Midwest. The irony of Trump's victory is that many of those counties also had the biggest increases in insurance rates under Obamacare. (Philip Bump, 12/5)

Los Angeles Times: On Obamacare Repeal, GOP Ideology Is Colliding With Reality
If there weren’t so much at stake, one would be amused at the spectacle of Republican politicians writhing as they try to make good on their ideological promise to “repeal and replace” Obamacare without ruining the lives of millions of their own constituents. In the few short weeks since the GOP added control of the White House to its existing control of both houses of Congress, the GOP has been grappling with the recognition that taking potshots at the Affordable Care Act and weakening its consumer protection provisions is no longer just a parlor game, but actions that could have genuine consequences. (Michael Hiltzik, 12/5)

Bloomberg: The Allure Of 'Repeal And Delay' For Obamacare's Critics 
Obamacare’s implementation was delayed for almost four years, giving the Obama administration time to build the exchanges (well, almost) and make decisions about the trillion-and-one fiddling operational details that accompany any massive new policy change. Even then, they had a running head start; a national health system had been a major priority of Democratic wonks for decades. ... Unfortunately, repeal and delay has serious problems, for reasons that pundits on both the left and the right have elaborated. The most fundamental issue is what economists call “regime uncertainty”: when businesses don’t know the rules under which they will operate in the future, they are unwilling to invest in that future by taking risks or expanding operations. (Megan McArdle, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Maybe Republicans Don't Want To Kill Obamacare After All 
Republicans tentatively plan to hold a "repeal" vote soon after the new Congress convenes. But they have put off the effective date for carrying it out for up to three years, so they can come up with a workable replacement plan they can all agree on. The problems with the slow-motion "repeal and replace" plan are in part technical, as the experts describe. But the hurdles are also political. Republicans seem to believe that setting a concrete date for when the Affordable Care Act would just disappear would pressure Democrats into some bipartisan deal in 2020. Republicans might need the votes, since it's unclear they will ever come up with something their conference can agree on in both chambers of Congress (and in any case they'll need the cover if they retain the parts of the law that Americans really like). (Jonathan Bernstein, 12/5)

The Washington Post: A Lot Of People In Red States Are Set To Lose Obamacare
As Republicans barrel headlong towards repealing the Affordable Care Act, new factoids and data are slowly dribbling out to reveal just what a mess they are about to make, including for countless numbers of their own constituents. The latest: The Kaiser Family Foundation today released a new study breaking down how many people in each state are benefiting from the ACA’s subsidies to buy health insurance on the individual market — and how much money people in each state are getting. We’re talking about a lot of people in red states and in states with Republican legislators — and a lot of money. (Greg Sargent, 12/5)

Miami Herald: Continue To Close Americans’ Gap In Health Insurance
In January, Donald Trump will be sworn in as our next president. At the same time, we will welcome in new and returning legislators at the federal and state levels. With this change, there is promise and opportunity if we all share the same goal of providing access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. As a solutions-oriented company, Florida Blue complied with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — Obamacare — because it was the law of the land and because it made healthcare coverage available to many more Floridians. ... Now we are ready to work with the new administration to identify the funding, benefits and guidelines through which even more Americans are provided the opportunity to obtain healthcare coverage. (Pat Geraghty, 12/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why Aren’t Wisconsin’s Millennials Signing Up For Obamacare?
Why aren’t Wisconsin’s millennials signing up for the Affordable Care Act? That’s what the Obama administration is wondering now that open enrollment is underway in Wisconsin and across the nation. My generation is the key to the Affordable Care Act’s success, and yet, so far, we’ve steered clear for three straight years. (David Barnes, 12/5)

The New York Times: The Problem With One-Size-Fits-All Health Insurance
A co-worker struggling to make ends meet comes to you with a problem. The price of admission to a dear colleague’s retirement party at an upscale establishment is beyond her means, though not yours. You both feel obliged to attend. She’d rather bring some refreshments to a conference room than spend what she cannot afford on a lavish event. You like the idea of a grand send-off for your retiring colleague. There can be only one party. ... A similar, underrecognized conundrum arises in health insurance. (Nicholas Bagley and Austin Frakt, 12/5)

The Washington Post: Feds, Retirees Get Soaked In ‘Perfect Storm’ Of Rising Insurance Costs
Federal employees and retirees can be excused for feeling as though they’re getting soaked by what has been described as a “perfect storm” hitting their health benefits. This storm has been brewing for months, but its effects are especially noticeable now that the month-long “open season” to change selections for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) will end soon. (Joe Davidson, 12/5)

Los Angeles Times: The 21st Century Cures Act: A Huge Handout To The Drug Industry Disguised As A Pro-Research Bounty
The problem with bills in Congress that roar toward passage like juggernauts is that they’re especially worthy of close examination, and especially unlikely to get it. That’s the story with the 21st Century Cures Act, which reaches the Senate this week after achieving overwhelming bipartisan support in the House. ... The 21st Century Cures Act is a huge deregulatory giveaway to the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, papered over by new funding for those research initiatives. The punchline is that the regulatory rollback is real, but the funding may not be — it’s subject over the next decade to annual appropriations by Congress that might never come. (Michael Hiltzik, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Start Worrying About Long-Term Care 
When long-term care policies were introduced a few decades ago, they seemed like an attractive deal. As it turns out, that’s because they were underpricing the insurance. Insurers expected a significant portion of people to drop the insurance every year (meaning that their previously paid premiums would be all profit). Instead, only about 1 percent did. They also underestimated costs. And while typical health insurers don’t have to worry much about interest rates, because they generally pay this year’s health care costs out of this year’s premiums, long-term care insurers need to park the money between taking the premium in and paying the benefits out. The ultra-low interest rates of the last decade have made those investments less profitable, hurting them still further. And state regulators have proved resistant to efforts to raise premiums to make the insurance more actuarially sound. (Megan McArdle, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: The Dividends Of Funding Basic Science
President-elect Trump is calling for major reinvestment in public infrastructure—and any American can understand why. We all know from direct experience that much U.S. infrastructure is in rough condition, and most agree that renewing and advancing our infrastructure, from bridges and airports to the electrical grid, would support economic improvement and supply new jobs. But for the nation’s long-term security, prosperity, competitiveness and health, and for generations of lasting new jobs, we must also rebuild another kind of infrastructure now eroding—by renewing our national commitment to fundamental science. (L. Rafael Reif, 12/5)

Stat: It's Time To Overhaul The Secretive Peer Review Process
Communicating the results of basic science, clinical trials, observational studies, case reports, and the like is essential to the forward movement of science. The peer review system is at the core of this process. It works like this: a journal editor asks outside experts to critique a manuscript and assess its suitability for publication, with or without modifications. Editors use these peer reviews to help determine whether or not to publish a report. ... Two common features of the current peer review system subvert the goals of science, and should be changed: The product of peer reviews generally can’t be seen by the scientific community, and reviewers are almost always anonymous. Although the vast majority of scientists living today have known only this approach, there is no compelling reason to continue using it and many reasons to revise it. (Jeffrey Flier, 12/5)

The Columbus Dispatch: Miles To Go In Drug Battle
It’s no secret that Ohio is wrestling with a devastating plague of drug addiction and fatal overdoses, but still it was a shock to learn last week that Ohio led the nation in overdose deaths in 2014. The number of deaths has continued to escalate since then. One of every nine heroin deaths in the country happens in Ohio. (12/6)

Ohio.com: How To Treat The Heroin Crisis
A heroin epidemic plagues Ohio. The tragic stories of wasted lives are heartbreaking, and the death tolls staggering. In 2015 alone, a record 3,050 Ohioans died from a heroin overdose. In one 24-hour span, 27 people in Columbus died from heroin and fentanyl abuse. Ohio policymakers desperately need solutions. Incarceration and treatment are the two most common remedies proposed, but both are far from offering a simple cure. (Daniel Dew, 12/3)