First Edition: July 20, 2017

Kaiser Health News: Cruz Plan Gets Thumbs Up From HHS But Thumbs Down From Most Everyone Else
Contradicting the opinion of most policy experts, a draft report from the Trump administration forecasts better enrollment and lower premiums for everyone who buys their own health insurance if a controversial amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas were to become law. The draft surfaced just as Republican senators were lunching with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to talk about the next steps in the health care debate. (Appleby and Rovner, 7/19)

Kaiser Health News: Read CBO Score Of Repeal-Only Bill
On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office released its estimates on an amendment to H.R. 1628 that would repeal the Affordable Care Act outright. (7/19)

Kaiser Health News: These Preventive Measures Might Help Delay Dementia Or Cognitive Decline
In a landmark report, scientists have endorsed three strategies for preventing dementia and cognitive decline associated with normal aging — being physically active, engaging in cognitive training and controlling high blood pressure. This is the first time experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine have deemed scientific evidence strong enough to suggest that preventing dementia and age-related cognitive decline might be possible. (Graham, 7/20)

The New York Times: Republicans’ Push To Overturn Health Law Is Back From The Dead
The Republican health care push was declared dead Wednesday morning. By afternoon it had a breath of life. Legislation in Washington can assume Frankenstein-like qualities. On the cusp of a humiliating and politically disastrous defeat, President Trump and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, took extraordinary resuscitative measures on Wednesday to pump oxygen back into their badly fading effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act. They somehow managed to stave off its imminent demise. (Hulse, 7/19)

Reuters: Republicans Meet Late Into Night As Trump Demands New Healthcare Plan
Republicans struggling to agree on healthcare legislation to overhaul Obamacare obeyed U.S. President Donald Trump's orders to try to swiftly reach a deal but were unable to resolve their differences in a long, late-night meeting. (Abutaleb and Cowan, 7/20)

Politico: Senate Republicans Still At Impasse After Late-Night Health Care Meeting
The Republicans initially planned to bring in chiefs of staff and health care wonks to advance the negotiations. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was expected to join and help push the disagreeing GOP senators to yes. But as the senators kept talking, they reevaluated their plan and decided not to allow staff in and keep the room to members only. Priebus strolled out of Sen. John Barrasso’s office, as did White House legislative director Marc Short. The senators would keep talking amongst themselves. Talks “narrowed down to try to figure out what is causing members not to be able to vote in favor or problems they have with the bill,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who opposes the GOP’s latest repeal and replace draft. “It had merit and it’s something that should have been taking place.” (Everett, Kim and Haberkorn, 7/19)

USA Today: CBO: Obamacare Repeal Plan Would Increased Number Of Uninsured By 32 Million
A bill the Senate plans to vote on next week to repeal parts of Obamacare without a replacement would make the insurance market unstable, raise premiums and increase by 32 million the number of uninsured people, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. While repealing billions of dollars in taxes imposed under Obamacare to pay for expanding health coverage to millions more Americans, the legislation would still decrease deficits by $473 billion over 10 years because of the spending reductions. (Groppe, 7/19)

Politico: Senate 'Repeal Only' Bill Would Leave 32 Million More Uninsured, CBO Says
The nonpartisan scorekeeper’s report projects that 17 million people would lose insurance in the first year after a partial repeal that includes ending Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion and repealing most of the taxes tied to the law. Premiums would jump 25 percent over that same period as insurers grapple with the effective elimination of Obamacare’s requirement that everyone purchase coverage. (Cancryn, 7/19)

The Washington Post: Senate’s Latest ACA Repeal Strategy Would Leave 10 Million More Uninsured Than Its Last Bill, CBO Says
The analysis also estimates that premiums for individual policies would rise by 25 percent next year if the number of people buying such policies plummets and concentrates sicker people in that insurance pool. (Goldstein, 7/19)

The Wall Street Journal: CBO Says ACA Repeal Would Add 32 Million Uninsured By 2026, Lower Deficit By $473 Billion
The CBO report examines the effect of repealing most of the health law without a replacement system in place. Mr. McConnell has called for a vote early next week on a motion that would allow such a repeal bill to be debated, a tactic he and Mr. Trump pursued after at least four Republican Senators said they couldn’t support moving forward on a Senate bill that sought to repeal and replace much of the law, also known as Obamacare, at the same time. (Armour, 7/19)

NPR: Republicans Scramble For A Health Care Endgame Strategy
The CBO estimates that legislation that repeals key pillars of the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") would trim $473 billion off the federal deficit, but result in 32 million fewer insured Americans in the next decade. It would also see premiums rise, and likely force private insurers to abandon the individual market. And nearly every Republican has already voted for it. (Davis, 7/19)

Politico: Cruz Amendment Would Drive Down Premiums, HHS Says
A Health and Human Services analysis of Sen. Ted Cruz's proposal to let insurers sell plans that don't comply with Obamacare regulations appears to back up the Texas Republican's claim that the idea would lower premiums across the individual insurance market. But the internal report relies heavily on a so-called proprietary model that offers little insight into its calculations, raising immediate concerns about how the agency came to its conclusions. (Cancryn, 7/19)

The New York Times: Trump Demands That Senators Find A Way To Replace Obamacare
President Trump ordered senators back to the negotiating table on Wednesday for a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, just one day after angrily accepting the measure’s demise and vowing to allow President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement to crater. (Davis, Kaplan and Haberkorn, 7/19)

The Associated Press: Trump Exhorts Senate Anew To Rid US Of Obamacare
Lecturing fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump summoned GOP senators to the White House Wednesday and told them face-to-face they must not leave town for their August recess without sending him an "Obamacare" repeal bill to sign. Senators responded by vowing to revive legislative efforts left for dead twice already this week. (Werner and Fram, 7/19)

USA Today: Donald Trump Hosts Republicans For Lunch To Hash Out Health Care Plan
"I don't think we should leave town unless we have a health insurance plan," Trump said during a White House lunch attended by 49 of the 52 Republican senators. "We shouldn't leave town until this is complete, until this bill is on my desk." (Jackson, 7/19)

The Washington Post: Trump Threatens Electoral Consequences For Senators Who Oppose Health Bill
At the lunch, the president also threatened electoral consequences for senators who oppose him, suggesting that Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) could lose his reelection bid next year if he does not back the effort. The president also invited conservative opposition against anyone else who stands in the way.“ Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you’re fine with Obamacare,” Trump said. (Sullivan, Snell and Nakamura, 7/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Implores GOP Senators To Come Together Over Troubled Health Bill
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said after the White House lunch that a vote on that motion would happen next week, regardless of whether it was expected to pass, and that he had “every expectation” of trying to eke out a bill with majority support after that. “I want to disabuse any of you of the notion that we will not have that vote next week,” Mr. McConnell said. (Radnofsky, Peterson and Armour, 7/19)

Politico: Top Trump Campaign Aides Met With Lee On Health Care
Former Trump campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie met with Sen. Mike Lee to talk health care on Tuesday, a source familiar with the conversations confirmed. The two former top Trump campaign officials tried to convince the conservative Utah Republican to reverse course on his opposition to the latest Obamacare replacement bill written by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Everett, 7/19)

The New York Times: Inspiring Little Fear In Senators, Trump Struggles To Sell Health Bill
President Trump thought he could sell balky Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the Senate health care bill through pleasantries, cajoling and, ultimately, some Oval Office muscle. But Mr. Johnson could not be charmed. He could not be outbargained. And he could not be scared into supporting the measure for the sake of a president whose inability to bend fellow Republicans toward his political will has become a liability for his young presidency. (Thrush and Haberman, 7/20)

The New York Times: Trump’s Health Reform Pitch Includes Several Falsehoods
After efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed, President Trump pressed Republican lawmakers to keep their seven-year promise by demonstrating a sales pitch they could use: point out the flaws of the current law and “sell our plan.” Here’s an assessment. (Qiu, 7/19)

NPR: Fact Check: Trump's Misleading Health Care Remarks To Senate Republicans
President Trump did not do much to sell the Senate health care bill before its failure. But he gave the sale a shot Wednesday in the White House before cameras and a captive audience of nearly all the Republican senators. His comments were at times confusing, and in some cases, outright incorrect. It shows the challenge for a president who doesn't dive deeply into policy to sell his agenda. (Kurtzleben, 7/20)

The Associated Press: In Fallout Over Health Care Collapse, It's GOP Vs. GOP
GOP infighting intensified Wednesday as conservative leaders vowed to punish "traitorous" Republicans for abandoning promises on health care and activists lined up to run against the party's own congressmen across the nation. (7/19)

Politico: Freedom Caucus To Try To Force Vote On Obamacare Repeal
House conservatives are launching a late effort to force their colleagues to vote on an outright repeal of Obamacare. Leaders of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday evening will jump-start a process intended to force the measure — a mirror of the 2015 repeal proposal that President Barack Obama vetoed — to the floor as early as September. (Cheney and Bade, 7/19)

The Associated Press: AP-NORC Poll: Negotiate On 'Obamacare,' Don't Just Kill It
Americans overwhelmingly want lawmakers of both parties to work out health care changes, with only 13 percent supporting Republican moves to repeal "Obamacare" absent a replacement, according to a new poll. Although a deep partisan divide endures over the 2010 Affordable Care Act, people may be less far apart on what policymakers should try next, says the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey. (Swanson and Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/19)

The Associated Press: AP-NORC Poll: Most Say Feds Should Ensure Health Coverage
Americans aren't enthralled with "Obamacare" and they definitely don't like the Republican plans offered in Congress, so what does the public want the government to do about health care? A new poll suggests the country may be shifting toward the political left on the issue, with 62 percent saying it's the federal government's responsibility to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage, while 37 percent say it is not. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Kellman, 7/20)

NPR: Child Lobbyist: Working To Save Medicaid From Cuts
Tymia McCullough fidgets in front of a mirror in her hotel room as her mom, Susie Pitts, puts the final touches on her hair and nervously drills her on what she is going to say when she gets to Capitol Hill. "And this is where you let them know that Medicaid is what?" Pitts asks. "Health assurance," Tymia responds."Health insurance that does what?" "It pays for the need to see your doctor," Tymia says. (Kodjak, 7/19)

The Associated Press: Q&A: How Trump Could Help Sink Obama Health Law
Health insurance markets created by the Affordable Care Act may not be on the verge of collapse, but President Donald Trump could nudge them in that direction by following through on his plan to let the Obama-era law fail. (Murphy, 7/19)

The Associated Press: Rural Hospitals Face Uncertainty With Health Care Proposals
People who work at hundreds of rural hospitals are also watching [the national debate on a health care bill] closely. Those hospitals have struggling budgets that were propped up by the massive influx of poor people who gained taxpayer-funded health insurance. The transformation has been especially dramatic in Kentucky, where rural hospitals are not just a lifeline for patients who may not have the means to travel far for the help they need. They also sustain local economies, providing jobs and services that people there have come to see as indispensable in some of the nation's poorest and most isolated communities. (Beam, 7/19)

The New York Times: John McCain Has Brain Cancer, Senator’s Office Says
Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee known for his independent streak over more than three decades representing Arizona in the Senate, has brain cancer, his office disclosed Wednesday night in a statement from the Mayo Clinic. Mr. McCain, 80, has a glioblastoma, one of the most common but also one of the most malignant brain tumors. It can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, but medical experts said it almost always grows back. (Hulse, 7/19)

USA Today/Arizona Republic: Sen. John McCain Has Brain Tumor, Doctors Say
“It’s a very aggressive tumor,” said Dr. Joseph Zabramski, a neurosurgeon at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix not involved in McCain's treatment. “In general, it is a tumor that has relentless force. You can slow it down but not stop it.” (Nowicki, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: Sen. John McCain Diagnosed With Brain Tumor After Recent Surgery
“The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options,” the statement added, saying McCain’s “underlying health is excellent.” (Barabak, 7/19)

The Washington Post: John McCain, Republican Senator From Arizona, Diagnosed With Brain Tumor
McCain’s significance inside Congress is hard to overstate — and his absence, however long, will reverberate across the Capitol. The Arizonan’s illness leaves Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and by proxy President Trump, who has openly mocked the Arizona senator — with 51 votes, the barest of majorities at a time when Republicans are divided on such issues as health care, taxes and defense spending. (Sullivan, Demirjian and Kane, 7/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Sen. John McCain Diagnosed With Brain Cancer
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) issued a brief statement late Wednesday calling Mr. McCain, who was a POW during the Vietnam War, a hero to Senate Republicans and to the country. “He has never shied from a fight and I know that he will face this challenge with the same extraordinary courage that has characterized his life,” Mr. McConnell said. “We all look forward to seeing this American hero again soon.” (Hughes, 7/19)

The Washington Post: ‘Give It Hell’: Obama, Lawmakers React To John McCain’s Cancer Diagnosis
President Trump, former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, members of Congress and other Washington officials put aside bickering and partisan gridlock Wednesday night in a show of support for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who announced he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. (Horton, 7/19)

NPR: Senator John McCain Diagnosed With Glioblastoma, A Type Of Brain Tumor
President Trump released a statement saying, "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon." (Farrington, 7/19)

The Washington Post: What Is Glioblastoma, The Cancer With Which John McCain Has Been Diagnosed?
Glioblastoma, the cancer with which Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been diagnosed, is a highly lethal malignancy that killed Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Beau Biden, the son of former vice president Joseph Biden. Here is what you need to know. (McGinley, Sun and Bernstein, 7/19)

The Associated Press: AIDS Epidemic: For 1st Time, Over Half Taking HIV Drugs
The United Nations says that for the first time in the AIDS epidemic, more than half of all people with HIV are on drugs to treat the virus. AIDS deaths are also now close to half of what they were in 2005, according to the U.N. AIDS agency, although those figures are based on estimates and not actual counts from countries. (7/20)

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Researchers Are Trying A Series Of Life Hacks To Try To Ward Off Dementia
Facing a predicted tidal wave of dementia sufferers, researchers across the United States are launching an ambitious clinical trial to test whether a package of low-tech life hacks can do something no pill or therapy currently can: prevent or delay cognitive impairment in Americans. (Healy, 7/19)

Los Angeles Times: Alleged Conduct By Former USC Dean 'Horrible And Despicable,' Med School Head Tells Angry Students
Addressing scores of bewildered and at times angry students, the dean of USC’s medical school said Wednesday that the university had launched multiple internal investigations into the conduct of his predecessor after The Times reported that he associated with criminals and drug abusers who told of using methamphetamine and other drugs with him. (Parvini, Pringle, Hamilton and Elmahrek, 7/19)

The New York Times: A New Brooklyn Clinic For Hotel Workers Who Enjoy No-Cost Care
Tania Corchado was already quite happy with the health care promised her family for the next nine years, a plan that would be the envy of many Americans. But once she got a peek at where it would be delivered — with no paperwork or, even better, a promise of never having to wait for a doctor — she was itching to make some appointments. (McGeehan, 7/19)

The Associated Press: Court Filing Seeks 'Buffer Zone' Outside Abortion Clinic
Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to block abortion foes from impeding access to Kentucky's only abortion clinic in a pre-emptive move ahead of vigils against the facility. (7/19)

The Associated Press: Lawmakers Say Drug Monitoring Debate Isn't Over In Missouri
Key Missouri lawmakers say a prescription drug monitoring program that Republican Gov. Eric Greitens created through an executive order doesn't go far enough and that legislation is still needed. (7/19)

The Washington Post: Zion, The World’s Youngest Double Hand Transplant Recipient, Can Swing A Baseball Bat
In 2015, Zion Harvey became known to the public as the youngest person in the world to go through a successful bilateral hand transplant. Zion, who was 8 at the time, captured hearts with his upbeat attitude toward life and his wise-beyond-his-years expositions — on everything from losing both of his hands to an infection at age 2 to why he wanted to adopt a dog — in a widely shared video by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The film documented Zion's life before the surgery and the complicated, high-risk procedure he underwent to gain a pair of new hands. (Wang, 7/19)