The Associated Press: Trump To Finalize Small Business Health Insurance Option
The Trump administration is close to finalizing a health insurance option for small firms and self-employed people that would cost less but could cover fewer benefits than current plans, congressional officials and business groups said Monday. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the pending announcement. The Labor Department scheduled an announcement Tuesday morning. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/18)

The New York Times: Trump Clears Way For Health Plans With Lower Costs And Fewer Benefits
President Trump has said millions of people could get cheaper coverage from the new “association health plans.” But consumer groups and many state officials are opposed, saying the new plans will siphon healthy people out of the Affordable Care Act marketplace, driving up costs for those who need comprehensive insurance. The new entities would be exempt from many of the consumer protections mandated by the Affordable Care Act. They may, for example, not have to provide certain “essential health benefits” like mental health care, emergency services, maternity and newborn care and prescription drugs. (Pear, 6/18)

Meanwhile, a conservative group has proposed another plan to repeal the health law —

The Wall Street Journal: Conservatives Make New Push To Repeal Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act should be repealed in August and replaced with a new system that lifts national consumer protections and gives control of health care to the states, according to a proposal by a conservative group set to be released Tuesday. The proposal risks irking centrist Republicans who want to focus on other subjects. Republican leaders have said they have no appetite for another push to repeal the ACA before the November midterm elections unless such a bill clearly has the votes to pass. Republicans faced a series of obstacles—including internal division and unified Democratic opposition—as their effort to repeal the ACA collapsed last year. There is little evidence those dynamics in Congress have changed. (Armour, 6/19)

The Associated Press: GOP, Dem Governors Back Benefits For Pre-Existing Conditions
A bipartisan group of governors is speaking out against a Trump administration decision that could narrow access to health insurance benefits for those with pre-existing conditions. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and the governors of Alaska, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Montana, Washington and Maryland issued a joint statement Monday. They said the administration’s move would hurt families in their states, add uncertainty to insurance markets and go against American values. (6/18)

The Hill: Bipartisan Group Of Governors Denounces Trump Move On Pre-Existing Conditions 
“The administration’s disappointing decision to no longer defend this provision of federal law threatens health care coverage for many in our states with pre-existing conditions and adds uncertainty and higher costs for Americans who purchase their own health insurance,” the governors said. The statement was signed by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I), Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D). (Sullivan, 6/18)

Meanwhile, in news from the states —

Dallas Morning News: Fewer Texas Children Are Uninsured, But Some Fear The Momentum Could Be Lost
The number of uninsured children in Texas dropped 23.1 percent between 2013 and 2016, says a new report that links the decline to a booming state economy and to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. As more adults gained access to health insurance, either through an employer or on the ACA marketplace, that benefit trickled down to kids, say researchers from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center. (Rice, 6/18)

The CT Mirror: Murphy Blames Higher Health Insurance Costs On Trump
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Monday that the continuing attacks on the Affordable Care Act by President Trump and congressional Republicans are leading to higher insurance rates and jeopardizing care of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. At a press conference in Hartford, the senator was joined by three advocates in criticizing the Trump administration for refusing to defend provisions of the Affordable Care Act that required most Americans to carry health insurance and protect consumers with pre-existing conditions. (Pazniokas, 6/18)

Georgia Health News: Number Of Uninsured Kids In Georgia Down Sharply Under ACA
The state has seen a decrease of more than 85,000 in its number of uninsured children since the Affordable Care Act was implemented, a new report says. Georgia had the fourth-highest such decrease among states from 2013 to 2016, said the report from the University of Minnesota’s State Health Access Data Assistance Center. (Miller, 6/18)

The New York Times: A Troubling Prognosis For Migrant Children In Detention: ‘The Earlier They’re Out, The Better’
Some youngsters retreat entirely, their eyes empty, bodies limp, their isolation a wall of defiance. Others cannot sit still: watchful, hyperactive, ever uncertain. Some compulsively jump into the laps of strangers, or grab their legs and hold on for life. And some children, somehow, move past a sudden separation from their parents, tapping a well of resilience. The Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents has alarmed child psychologists and experts who study human development. (Carey, 6/18)

The Associated Press: Immigrant Kids Seen Held In Fenced Cages At Border Facility
Inside an old warehouse in South Texas, hundreds of immigrant children wait in a series of cages created by metal fencing. One cage had 20 children inside. Scattered about are bottles of water, bags of chips and large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets. One teenager told an advocate who visited that she was helping care for a young child she didn't know because the child's aunt was somewhere else in the facility. She said she had to show others in her cell how to change the girl's diaper. (Merchant, 6/18)

The Washington Post: What Separation From Parents Does To Children: ‘The Effect Is Catastrophic’
This is what happens inside children when they are forcibly separated from their parents. Their heart rate goes up. Their body releases a flood of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Those stress hormones can start killing off dendrites — the little branches in brain cells that transmit mes­sages. In time, the stress can start killing off neurons and — especially in young children — wreaking dramatic and long-term damage, both psychologically and to the physical structure of the brain. (Wan, 6/18)

The Hill: American Academy Of Pediatrics President: Trump Family Separation Policy Is 'Child Abuse' 
The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday said President Trump's “zero tolerance” policy separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border “amounts to child abuse.” Dr. Colleen Kraft in an appearance on CNN described the many ways Trump’s policy emotionally harms children and laid out in detail what she witnessed when she toured an immigration detention center. (Wise, 6/18)

The New York Times: It Was Supposed To Be An Unbiased Study Of Drinking. They Wanted To Call It ‘Cheers.’
The director of the nation’s top health research agency pulled the plug on a study of alcohol’s health effects without hesitation on Friday, saying a Harvard scientist and some of his agency’s own staff had crossed “so many lines” in pursuit of alcohol industry funding that “people were frankly shocked.” A 165-page internal investigation prepared for Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, concluded that Kenneth J. Mukamal, the lead investigator of the trial, was in close, frequent contact with beer and liquor executives while designing the study. (Rabin, 6/18)

Bloomberg: Most Under-35s OK With Insurers Digital Spying If It Cuts Prices
The majority of people between 18 and 34 would be willing to let insurance companies dig through their digital data from social media to health devices if it meant lowering their premiums, a survey shows. In the younger group, 62 percent said they’d be happy for insurers to use third-party data from the likes of Facebook, fitness apps and smart-home devices to lower prices, according to a survey of more than 8,000 consumers globally by Salesforce.com Inc.’s MuleSoft Inc. That drops to 44 percent when the older generations are included. (Edde, 6/19)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Ascension Ramps Up Automation Subsidiary 
Ascension launched a subsidiary Monday that aims to help other organizations automate administrative tasks as it commercializes another business line. The St. Louis-based health system's Agilify subsidiary looks to replace labor-intensive, repetitive tasks with software automation for organizations across all industries. The software offers a single platform that streamlines processes related to billing, finances, human resources, logistics, patient services and other sectors. (Kacik, 6/18)

Stat: 7 Questions To Watch After Criminal Charges Filed In The Theranos Saga 
Federal prosecutors on Friday filed criminal charges against Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and the company’s former president Sunny Balwani — marking a pivotal turning point in a scandal that has rocked the business world and captivated the public imagination. So, what’s next for the Silicon Valley villains of the moment? Here are seven questions to watch as the case moves forward. (Robbins and Garde, 6/18)

The New York Times: What’s Next For Elizabeth Holmes In The Theranos Fraud Case?
Once celebrated as a Silicon Valley unicorn, Theranos has become the latest tale of corporate hubris and investor myopia. The indictment of Elizabeth Holmes, the company’s founder, and Ramesh Balwani, its former president and her erstwhile boyfriend, on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud can be viewed as evidence that the company was built on little more than a pack of lies. But proving a criminal case, despite the current narrative, is not always as easy as it first appears. (Henning, 6/18)

Stat: Boundary-Breaking Neurologist Treats Patients Other Doctors Give Up On
Her neurology work at Massachusetts General Hospital involves plenty of gadgetry — she heads up the deep brain stimulation unit, and sometimes uses electroconvulsive therapy to help patients with depression or mania — but these days, that’s not the kind of tinkering that’s at the front of her mind. Instead, she has been toying with the boundaries of illness itself. She likes seeing patients other doctors have given up on. Many have faced questions about whether they’re really as sick as they say. For all of them, getting the proper treatment — pills or infusions or electrical currents — depends on a kind of collaboration with [Dr. Alice] Flaherty, a workshop in which motivations are re-examined, stories reshaped, turns of phrase redefined. (Boodman, 6/19)

The Associated Press: Smoking Hits New Low; About 14 Percent Of US Adults Light Up
Smoking in the U.S. has hit another all-time low. About 14 percent of U.S adults were smokers last year, down from about 16 percent the year before, government figures show. There hadn't been much change the previous two years, but it's been clear there's been a general decline and the new figures show it's continuing, said K. Michael Cummings of the tobacco research program at Medical University of South Carolina. (Stobbe, 6/19)

Los Angeles Times: World Health Organization Says Video Game Addiction Is A Disease. Why American Psychiatrists Don't
The World Health Organization has made it official: digital games can be addictive, and those addicted to them need help. In the latest edition of its International Classification of Diseases, released Monday, the United Nations agency concluded that people whose jobs, educations, family or social lives have been upended by video games probably meet the criteria for a new form of addiction called “gaming disorder.” (Healy, 6/19)

NPR: Brain Balance's Approach To Autism, ADHD: High Hopes, High Costs And Slim Science
Some parents see it coming. Natalie was not that kind of parent. Even after the director and a teacher at her older son's day care sat her down one afternoon in 2011 to detail the 3-year-old's difficulty socializing and his tendency to chatter endlessly about topics his peers showed no interest in, she still didn't get the message. Her son, the two educators eventually spelled out, might be on the autism spectrum. (Benderev, 6/18)

Los Angeles Times: Foods That Are Both Fatty And Sweet Can Hijack The Part Of The Brain That Regulates Food Consumption
It may have taken thousands of generations of hunting, gathering, farming and cooking to get here. But in the end, the genius of humankind has combined fats and carbohydrates to produce such crowning culinary glories as the doughnut, fettuccine Alfredo, nachos and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. It goes without saying that these delectables do not exist in nature. It turns out combinations of carbohydrates and fats generally do not exist in the landscape in which man evolved. (Healy, 6/18)

The Washington Post: Ticks Cause Disease But You Can Avoid Them
Cases of vector-borne disease have more than tripled in the United States since 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported, with mosquitoes and ticks bearing most of the blame. Mosquitoes, long spreaders of malaria and yellow fever, have more recently spread dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses, and caused epidemic outbreaks, mainly in U.S. territories. The insects are also largely responsible for making West Nile virus endemic in the continental United States. (Sakamoto and Whitehead, 6/18)

The New York Times: ‘Incredibles 2’ Moviegoers Warned About Possible Seizures
Marcos Gardiana, a self-proclaimed Disney fanatic with five tattoos of Disney characters on his body to prove it, was excited to see the company’s latest blockbuster, “Incredibles 2,” on Sunday, and took his girlfriend along with him. He never got to see the end of it. Mr. Gardiana, 27, who has epilepsy as a result of a brain injury from a 2011 car accident, said he started getting lightheaded and dizzy in the theater. He had a “small” seizure at first, he said, and then a “blackout seizure, a full-on shaking seizure.” (Svachula, 6/18)

St. Louis Public Radio: Family Caregivers Feel The Strain As More People Choose To Age At Home
Unlike previous generations, an increasing number of older Americans are choosing to continue living in their own homes, rather than moving to nursing facilities. Meanwhile, the high cost of in-home care means that the burden of caring for elderly adults often falls on family members. (Farzan, 6/19)

The New York Times: A Third Of Children Use Alternative Medicines
A third of children under 19 are regular users of dietary supplements or alternative medicines. Using data from a large national health survey, researchers found that multivitamins were the most common supplements, followed by vitamin C, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and melatonin. Three percent of male teenagers took bodybuilding supplements, and so did 1.3 percent of teenage girls. Omega-3 fatty acids were used by 2.3 percent of children under 19. Melatonin and other sleep aids were used by 1.6 percent of adolescents and by 1.2 percent of children under 5. (Bakalar, 6/18)

Boston Globe: Startup Aims To Make Allies Of Human Gut’s Microbes
Vedanta is one of dozens of startups across the globe that hope to make medicines based on the latest insights about the trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that live inside and on our bodies. ...A growing body of research suggests that this invisible world plays an important and overlooked role in maintaining our health — so important, in fact, that collectively it might even be considered another organ. (Saltzman, 6/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Deaths Classified As Cardiac Arrest Often Aren’t, UCSF Study Finds
Many San Francisco fatalities attributed to sudden cardiac arrest were actually from other causes, according to a study that reviewed nearly every death in the city over a three-year period. And of those that were correctly classified, nearly half were not arrhythmic — involving an irregular heartbeat — meaning that defibrillators or CPR would not have saved the person, the study found. (Veklerov, 6/18)

The New York Times: Nearly Eradicated In Humans, The Guinea Worm Finds New Victims: Dogs
Martoussia, the celebrity of the moment in this remote fishing village, pants heavily under the awning where he lies chained. Still, he remains calm and sweet-tempered as the crowd presses in. Children gawk as volunteers in white surgical gloves ease a foot-long Guinea worm from the dog’s leg and American scientists quiz his owner, a fisherman, about how many worms Martoussia has had. The village chief, Moussa Kaye, 87, is asked the last time one of his people had a worm. “Not since 40 years ago,” he says. (McNeil, 6/18)

Kaiser Health News: If You’ve Got Hep C, Spitting Can Be A Felony
Last week, an Ohio man who has the hepatitis C virus was sentenced to 18 months in prison for spitting at Cleveland police and medics. Matthew Wenzler, 27, was reportedly lying on a Cleveland street across from a downtown casino in January. When police and emergency medical technicians tried to put him on a stretcher to take him to a hospital, he spit saliva mixed with blood repeatedly at them, hitting an officer in the eye. (Andrews, 6/19)

NPR: Babies Born To Opioid-Addicted Moms Avoid Foster Care With The Right Support
For most of her childhood, growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania, Kelly Zimmerman felt alone and anxious. She despaired when her mother was depressed or working late shifts; when her parents fought nonstop; when her friends wanted to come over, and she felt too ashamed to let them see her home's buckling floor, the lack of running water. (Chatterjee and Davis, 6/19)

In other news on the crisis —

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Newborns In Opioid Withdrawal May Do Better On Methadone Than Morphine, Major Study Finds
A rigorous new government-funded study has found that methadone has a slight advantage over morphine, modestly reducing babies’ length of treatment and hospitalization. But the study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, further complicates the question of how to safely and effectively treat babies going through withdrawal, called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). (McCullough, 6/18)

Kaiser Health News: After Opioid Overdose, Only 30 Percent Get Medicine To Treat Addiction
More than 115 Americans die every day of opioid overdose. Many more survive thanks to the antidote medication, naloxone. But a study out Monday finds that just 3 in 10 patients revived by an EMT or in an emergency room received the follow-up medication known to avoid another life-threatening event. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, followed 17,568 patients who overdosed on opioids between 2012 and 2014 in Massachusetts. It looked at survival rates over time and whether patients received medicines that treat addiction. (Bebinger, 6/19)

The Associated Press: Overtime Pay For Prison Nurses Costs Millions Of Tax Dollars
Thousands of hours of overtime worked by Ohio prison nurses in recent years have cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The Plain Dealer reports overtime for registered nurses in the prison system has increased by nearly 60 percent since 2012. The newspaper says its analysis of payroll records show some prison hospital nurses have earned over $100,000 in overtime in one year. (6/18)

State News House Service: Nurse Staffing Initiative Petition Survives Court Challeng
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that the initiative petition seeking to impose limits on the number of patients a nurse can be assigned to care for at a time can go to voters on the November ballot. The SJC rejected a challenge brought by a hospital-backed group, which argued that Attorney General Maura Healey should not have certified the ballot initiative supported by a major nurses union because it contained two provisions that did not relate closely enough to each other. (Young, 6/18)

Boston Globe: Reinstated Whittier Workers Say They Were Blocked From Center
A group of Whittier Street Health Center workers who were laid off suddenly late last week, then apparently reinstated on Sunday, said they were kicked off the property when they tried to attend a staff meeting at the Roxbury clinic on Monday. The center has not communicated directly with the 20 workers who were let go, they said, many of whom supported a union campaign that they believe is behind the layoffs. (Johnston, 6/18)

US News & World Report: The Growing 'Guerrilla’ Movement In Paramedicine
Shirley worked in nursing for a quarter-century, but her professional expertise hasn't kept her healthy. In October, the 63-year-old native of Raleigh, North Carolina, was hospitalized for a fall and learned she was at risk of congestive heart failure – her blood pressure was "in the roof," she says. She stayed in the hospital about two weeks."I was in bad shape," says Shirley, who also has diabetes, vision problems and weighed about 225 pounds at the time. She asked that U.S. News not divulge her last name to protect her privacy. "I couldn't hardly walk, couldn't hardly do nothing, couldn't hardly think." (Galvin and Cline, 6/19)

Boston Globe: Mass. House Seeks $450 Million To Prop Up Struggling Community Hospitals
The Massachusetts House of Representatives on Tuesday will take up legislation that would slap $450 million in new assessments on the health care industry to prop up struggling community hospitals but largely avoids tackling the rising costs of care. (Dayal McCluskey, 6/18)

The Associated Press: Federal Judge Again Blocks Arkansas Medication Abortion Law
A federal judge on Monday again blocked Arkansas from enforcing a law that critics say makes the state the first in the nation to effectively ban abortion pills. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted a 14-day temporary restraining order preventing Arkansas from enforcing the restriction on how abortion pills are administered. The law says doctors who provide the pills must hold a contract with a physician with admitting privileges at a hospital who agrees to handle any complications. (Kissel, 6/18)

The Associated Press: VA Launches Investigation Into Impaired Arkansas Pathologist
Federal officials said Monday a pathologist fired from an Arkansas veterans hospital for being "impaired on duty" misdiagnosed seven cases and that more than 30,000 additional cases are being reviewed. The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville said one error may have led to a death. Spokeswoman Wanda Shull said the seven errors were found among 911 cases already reviewed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Office of the Inspector General. (Grabentstein, 6/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Singular Needs Of LGBT Seniors: San Francisco Funds Training For Workers
The city of San Francisco, through its Department of Aging and Adult Services, is funding a $400,000 effort to train hundreds of workers at companies and public agencies on how to better communicate with aging LGBT adults. Primarily aimed at home care aides and staffers at senior centers, it is also offered to organizations that interact with seniors regularly, like Meals on Wheels and public transit employees. (Ho, 6/18)

The Star Tribune: Blue Cross, Mayo Clinic Agree To New Contract
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic have come to terms on a new five-year contract that includes a pledge for "collaborative governance" to provide a better way for deciding when new health care technologies get coverage. Contracts between insurers and hospitals usually make headlines only if the parties can't come to an agreement. But in the case of Blue Cross and Mayo, officials said the contract is noteworthy because of the aspiration for shared decisionmaking on emerging technologies plus a contract duration that spans more years than most agreements. (Snowbeck, 6/18)

Pioneer Press: M Health Fairview Deal Would Create ‘Real Partnership’ With UMN, Doctors 
Fairview Health Services is close to striking a new partnership agreement with the University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Physicians. The governing boards for each have unanimously approved a nonbinding letter of intent to replace the expiring 2013 M Health agreement. The details of an eight-year deal with a 10-year extension option in 2023 are to be worked out by Sept. 1. (Verges, 6/18)

Georgia Health News: Georgia Tech Creating Haven For Health Tech Entrepreneurs
Georgia Tech’s startup incubator is targeting health technology entrepreneurs, thanks to a contribution from a Blue Cross-owned health IT company. Atlanta-based NASCO, which is owned by several Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is donating funding for Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) for its HealthTech initiative. (Miller, 6/18)

The Star Tribune: Fairview, University Of Minnesota Plan Eight-Year Partnership 
Two years after failing to pull off a high-profile merger, the University of Minnesota and Fairview Health announced plans Monday for an eight-year partnership to share their expertise and generate more money for academic medicine and research. Leaders of the organizations lauded the plans to expand their existing partnership, which provides the U and its physicians with a broad referral network of Fairview patients — as well as financial support for its medical school — and provides Fairview with the U’s expertise in rare and difficult-to-treat conditions. (Olson, 6/18)

Nashville Tennessean: Two Reasons Why TriStar Health Is Investing Big In Orthopedics
Earlier this month, local hospital network TriStar Health announced a big expansion plan for its midtown campus, TriStar Centennial. Included in the project is a $123.7 million plan to add four floors and a joint replacement center to the HCA Healthcare-owned hospital, expected to open early next year. In announcing the project, TriStar representatives said the investments will allow the hospital network to meet the needs of the growing communities its hospitals serve. (Tolbert, 6/18)

California Healthline: New Hospital Leader Fights Price Controls Despite Reputation As A Reformer
In Maryland, Carmela Coyle is known as a reformer. During her tenure as president of the Maryland Hospital Association, she helped establish a first-of-its kind state program that capped hospitals’ yearly revenue — a counterintuitive move for a leader in an industry anxious to defend its bottom line. But here in California, just eight months into her new job as president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, Coyle, 57, has already helped defeat a legislative effort to cap the amount hospitals are paid for medical procedures. And she did so with “scorched earth” vigor, said Anthony Wright, executive director Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group. (Bartolone, 6/18)

Austin American-Statesman: AISD Board Approves Plan That Leaves Some Schools Without Nurses
The Austin school board Monday night approved a $7.1 million student health services plan that will continue to leave some campuses without a school nurse and others with a part-time nurse on site. Seton Healthcare Family, which has provided the district’s student medical services for nearly 25 years, will provide 75 nurses and 48 clinical assistants to the district’s 130 campuses, as well as behavioral health services. (Taboada, 6/18)

The Washington Post: Fairfax Students To Learn About HIV Prevention Pill In Health Classes
High school students in Virginia’s largest school system will learn about daily medication used to prevent HIV as part of their health education. The Fairfax County School Board voted last week to include information about pre-exposure prophylaxis — PrEP — in the district’s family life education curriculum, which includes lessons on sexual health and sexuality. It was one of several vigorously contested updates to the family life curriculum that culminated in a boisterous board meeting that devolved frequently into jeers. (Truong, 6/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What Stops A Bullet? Milwaukee Can Look To Innovative LA Jobs Program
Nothing stops a bullet like a job. As a slogan, those seven words were potent enough to power the creation of Homeboy Industries, which began three decades ago in Los Angeles as a nonprofit jobs placement agency for former gang members and men and women transitioning out of prison. (Schmid, 6/18)

Seattle Times: Affordable Care Act Is Worth Saving
The Affordable Care Act has been difficult to kill. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been weakened by the Trump administration’s repeated efforts to sabotage the program that made health care available and somewhat affordable for millions of Americans. This month, the Justice Department announced it would stop defending the ACA’s pre-existing conditions protections in court. Insurance companies may start refusing to insure people who have already been diagnosed with cancer or diabetes, for example, and not worry about facing government legal action. The Trump administration also wants to allow insurance companies to sell cheaper plans with less coverage than now required under Obamacare. Unfortunately, each attack pushes the ACA further onto shaky ground — and for no good reason. (6/18)

The Wall Street Journal: A Health Fix For Mom And Pop Shops 
Small-business owners and their employees often struggle to find affordable health-care options. A major reason is that ObamaCare, among other laws, makes coverage more expensive for small businesses than large companies. That’s why the Trump administration is expanding access to association health plans, or AHPs, beginning Tuesday. ObamaCare imposes starkly different rules on large companies and small businesses. (Alexander Acosta 6/18)

The New York Times: An Obamacare Case So Wrong It Has Provoked A Bipartisan Outcry
The legal and policy battles over the Affordable Care Act have divided the nation along predictable partisan lines. As legal academics, we were on opposite sides when the Supreme Court considered constitutional challenges to the so-called individual mandate and again when the court considered whether tax credits would be available in federally created health insurance exchanges. The latest A.C.A. challenge, however, has brought us together — an unholy alliance that conveys an enormous amount about the weakness and dangerousness of the newest legal challenge to a statute that continues to be a political and legal flash point. (Jonathan H. Adler and Abbe R. Cluck, 6/19)

Gainesville Sun: Fight Efforts To Sabotage Health Care
In the upcoming federal and state elections, voters should cast their ballots like their health care depends on it. For those with preexisting conditions, that certainly is the case. The Trump administration is now arguing in court that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurers cover preexisting conditions is invalid, along with other parts of the law.It is the latest move by the administration to sabotage the ACA, following the repeal of the individual mandate in last year’s tax-cut legislation. The repeal and other changes approved by the administration are driving up insurance costs, threatening the health coverage of the 1.7 million Floridians and others who have obtained coverage through the federal marketplaces. (6/17)

Newsday: Save Provisions Of Health Law
The Affordable Care Act is one of the more controversial laws ever enacted in the United States, but for all the furor that accompanied its debate and passage in 2010, there were a few provisions in it that practically everyone supported. The law made it illegal to refuse health insurance to customers with pre-existing conditions, a boon to people for whom such refusals meant not receiving needed medical care or enduring bankruptcy. And it barred using people’s health history or those pre-existing chronic conditions as a justification to charge exorbitant amounts for coverage. It’s hard to imagine anyone fighting to return to a system that left many people with pre-existing conditions unable to buy health insurance, and many sicker and older Americans paying staggering rates, but that’s exactly what many Republican-led states and the Trump administration are doing. (6/17)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Trying To Protect Pre-Existing Conditions
The ACA has a provision that bans insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions like Bailey’s amputation, my asthma, her friend’s diabetes, or my aunt’s cancer. It’s arguably the most popular component of the 2010 health care law and is the key to our family’s ability to afford our monthly insurance premiums. The Trump administration’s attack on its constitutionality was only made possible by the purely partisan vote by my congressman, Steve Chabot, and my senator, Rob Portman, to eliminate the individual mandate on health insurance. They did this while in the same piece of legislation they passed a massive tax cut that gives 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. So we might not be able to afford health insurance, or even have access to it, but Chabot’s biggest donors in his district – my district – will get a tax cut of over $47,500. The average family living here only makes around $55,700 per year. These are the priorities of those who are supposed to be representing my family. (Michaela Rawsthorn, 6/18)

Seattle Times: Health-Care System Needs Reboot To Solve Pain And Opioid Crises
America’s problematic health-care system must share some of the blame for its opioid and pain crises. The twinned problems of improperly treated pain and overused opioids require a transformation in management strategies to facilitate better ownership by patients themselves of their pain and overall well-being, and lead to less reliance on passive handouts from doctors, especially when those handouts consist only of risky drugs. We have prescribed so many opioids that the mussels in Puget Sound contain detectable levels of oxycodone. And it is not an opioid problem alone: Many municipal water supplies are contaminated with traces of antibiotics, hormones, antidepressants and most major drug classes. This situation cries out for the inclusion of effective, evidence-based nonpharmacologic treatments that offer significant benefits when used as an integral part of comprehensive pain treatment. (Heather Tick and Jane Ballantyne, 6/17)

The Hill: Stop Labeling Babies As 'Born Addicted' — It Stigmatizes Them And Is Inaccurate
On June 12, 2018, the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, passed the Helping to End Addiction and Lessen (HEAL) Substance Use Disorder Act. As U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) explains on his web site, this act will be included as part of an opioid-related package of bills that are aimed at combating substance use disorder. It is essential to provide patients of all ages with access to affordable treatment for opioid addiction and withdrawal without prejudice. That is a key to preventing overdoses and to helping patients escape the grip of the destructive disease. Destigmatizing the disease of addiction is important, because stigma contributes to cultural attitudes that make it difficult for people with the disease of addiction to seek treatment. The fear of judgment and untoward consequences inhibit some of those who would otherwise ask for help. (Lynn Webster, 6/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: How About Harm Reduction For The Poor?
As the opioid epidemic has progressed, the policy of harm reduction – strategies to reduce the harm of drugs rather than demonizing the users — has been at the center of debates about how to address the crisis. We wish that lawmakers would start applying the concept of harm reduction to their approach to their low-income constituents. (6/19)

The Hill: PTSD Awareness Month — An Average Of 20 Veterans Per Day Commit Suicide
In the wake of the suicides of celebrity designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain nearly two weeks ago, there was an outpouring of news stories, tweets and hashtags regarding suicide awareness. Most often, the crux of these messages was to encourage those with suicidal thoughts to seek help, and included the sharing of information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and website. ...However, with June being PTSD awareness month, it is also an important reminder that suicide awareness and prevention require a year-round focus from the media and the public in order to prevent future tragedies. (Rory E. Riley-Topping, 6/19)

USA Today: Make Schools As Safe As Congress When It Comes To Preventing Shootings
As I go to work at the U.S. Capitol, I pass vehicle barricades, armed guards, metal detectors and police dogs. Yet, while my colleagues and I go to work every day without any fear of attacks, our teachers and students go to school hoping that nothing happens to them. It’s embarrassing and unacceptable. If we as government officials can protect ourselves, we can do the same for our students. (Rep. Lou Barletta, 6/18)

The New York Times: Actually, I’m Not Fine
My stepfather’s voice came loud and clear over the whir of the wood splitter he was working 50 feet away. “What in the hell is all that wailing?” Only a moment before, I’d run into a rock with my bike and been tossed to the ground. I let out a shriek as I landed on the sharp gravel of the driveway. Splayed out on the stones now, I could hear the irritation in his voice. It was a Saturday; he had wood to stack for the long Northern New York winter ahead. (Sunny Fitzgerald, 6/18)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Staggering Lack Of Information About Foster Kids Could Have Devastating Consequences
If we can save our caseworkers’ time and provide more efficient ways to record and share data, our children will be better served and turnover may decline. The cost to develop this tool may be high – but the cost of missing key information and poorly servicing our children is infinitely higher. (Samuel Heidorn, 6/18)

Los Angeles Times: Coffee Isn't Going To Kill Anyone. California Needs A Smarter System To Let Us Know What's Dangerous
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle ruled in March that coffee should carry the warning labels mandated by California’s Proposition 65 because the brew contains acrylamide, a chemical that some studies found increases the incidence of cancer in rats. It was an unfortunate outcome of a ridiculous lawsuit by an opportunistic attorney that never should have been filed. Acrylamide is a naturally occurring chemical formed when coffee is roasted (and when starchy foods such as potatoes are cooked at high heat). But the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which reviewed 1,000 studies, reported last week that there is just no proof that coffee causes cancer. Furthermore, there’s a wealth of scientific data indicating that coffee consumption has health benefits and may even ward off premature death, perhaps because of the other chemicals present in the average cup of joe. (6/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: What’s Ignored In The Debate Over Aid In Dying
The controversial 2015 legalization of medical aid in dying was in effect for almost two years before it was ruled unconstitutional on May 25 by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia. Friday’s reinstatement of the law, while the appeals process plays out, is another twist in the increasingly dramatic fight that goes to the core of what Californians want when it comes to choices at the end of life. (Nutik Zitter, 6/18)