The New York Times: With Roe In The Balance, Two Republicans Hold High Court In Their Hands
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement announcement was less than a day old when liberal activists rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court on Thursday, invoking the names of two Republican senators who, they believe, hold the future of Roe v. Wade in their hands. “Remember Susan Collins! Remember Lisa Murkowski!” Neera Tanden, president of the liberal Center for American Progress, exhorted the crowd. “If they claim to be pro-choice, choice is on the line with this decision.” (Stolberg, 6/28)

The Washington Post: ‘Everyone Is Focused On Lisa And Susan’: The Two Most Powerful Senators In The Fight To Replace Kennedy
“It’s been kind of interesting in this firestorm. Afterward, everyone is focused on Lisa and Susan,” Murkowski said in an interview Thursday. “If I were John or Jerry or Bill, I’d say, ‘Wait a minute. How come I’m not being viewed as an important voice in this process?’ ” But Murkowski and Collins are the rare elected Republicans in Washington who support abortion rights and voted against repealing the Obama-era Affordable Care Act — issues Democrats are using to frame the battle over the Supreme Court nominee. (Kim, 6/28)

The Hill: Collins, Murkowski To Play Pivotal Role In Supreme Court Abortion Battle
Collins told reporters immediate following Kennedy’s announcement that she would prefer a moderate nominee. “I view Roe v. Wade as being settled law,” she said. “It’s clearly precedent, and I always look for judges who respect precedent.” When asked if she had any concerns about the likelihood of the nominee being a swing vote in any abortion-related cases, Collins said it was impossible for her to have concerns now because she doesn't know who the nominee is. (Carney, 6/28)

The Washington Post: ‘Which Side Are You On?’: Liberals Pressure Centrist Democrats On Trump’s Court Pick
Three centrist Democrats fighting for their political lives faced growing pressure from liberal activists and some of their own Senate colleagues Thursday to oppose President Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana already were navigating tough politics five months before the midterms, seeking reelection in states Trump won by hefty double digits in 2016. Each is critical to Democratic chances of wresting control of the Senate in November. (Sullivan, 6/28)

The New York Times: Denied A Filibuster, Democrats Eye Other Tactics In Supreme Court Fight
This truly will be a Supreme Court confirmation like none before. It will be the first for a court vacancy that opened during the Trump administration. It will be the first in an election year since President Barack Obama’s nominee was blocked by Republicans in 2016. Most importantly, it will be the first time the process has begun with the threat of a filibuster off the table. (Hulse, 6/28)

The New York Times: Political War Over Replacing Kennedy On Supreme Court Is Underway
A political war over replacing Justice Anthony M. Kennedy roared to life on Thursday in Washington, the start of an election-season clash over a Supreme Court retirement that will reshape the country’s judicial future. Hours after Justice Kennedy’s announcement on Wednesday that he will step down July 31, conservative organizations were mobilizing to support the Republican-controlled Senate in a quick confirmation of a justice who would be expected to vote against the court’s liberal precedents. One group, the Judicial Crisis Network, has already started a $1 million ad campaign urging people to support the president’s choice. (Shear and Kaplan, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Both Parties Mobilize For Supreme Court Battle Over Kennedy’s Successor
The White House again has enlisted Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers network, to assist in a selection process that already is focusing on fewer than a half-dozen candidates. Within hours of Justice Kennedy’s retirement announcement Wednesday, Mr. Leo took a leave of absence from the Federalist Society to serve as Mr. Trump’s outside adviser on the nomination. (Radnofsky and Jamerson, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Abortion Foes Play Down Possibility Of Immediately Overturning Roe V. Wade
Leaders of the antiabortion movement said Thursday that they are in no hurry to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, saying they plan to stick with their long-standing strategy of pushing for incremental restrictions despite the tantalizing prospect of a more conservative Supreme Court. Even with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s announced retirement, these activists said they are not sure the time is ripe for a wholesale reconsideration of the 1973 ruling. (Gardner, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Abortion Foes To Take New Aim At Roe V. Wade
With Justice Kennedy’s retirement, President Donald Trump could replace him with a justice who is more likely to side with the court’s four conservative members on abortion issues. As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised to appoint “pro-life” justices with a “conservative bent” to the Supreme Court. His first appointee to the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch, has yet to review an abortion case. Justice Kennedy didn’t always side with the liberal bloc of the court on abortion cases, but he did in the 1992 ruling Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed the central holding of Roe—that women have a constitutional right to first-trimester abortions. He voted with the four left-leaning justices again in 2016 to strike down Texas restrictions on abortion providers, in a case that made it easier for women to argue that regulations placed an undue burden on their rights. (Palazzolo and Hong, 6/28)

NPR: What Justice Kennedy's Retirement Means For Abortion Rights
Almost as soon as Kennedy's retirement was announced, several anti-abortion rights groups seized on the moment."We're the closest we've ever been to overturning Roe v. Wade," a woman says in a video released online by the group Students for Life of America shortly after the news broke. In an interview with NPR, Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins called the retirement of the court's swing vote "a day that we've been waiting for." (McCammon, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: If A Reshaped Supreme Court Tosses Abortion Decisions Back To States, Several Would Move Fast To Outlaw The Procedures
President Trump’s ability to reshape the Supreme Court with a conservative nominee could quickly send the nation back to a reality that had seemed far in the past: Abortion would be illegal in a large swath of America, subjecting doctors and perhaps pregnant women to criminal prosecution and potentially upending the political landscape in many states. As many as 17 states are poised to effectively ban abortion should the Supreme Court overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. If the decision were overturned, each state could set its own rules on abortion. (Halper, 6/28)

The New York Times: Inside The White House’s Quiet Campaign To Create A Supreme Court Opening
President Trump singled him out for praise even while attacking other members of the Supreme Court. The White House nominated people close to him to important judicial posts. And members of the Trump family forged personal connections. Their goal was to assure Justice Anthony M. Kennedy that his judicial legacy would be in good hands should he step down at the end of the court’s term that ended this week, as he was rumored to be considering. (Liptak and Haberman, 6/28)

The Washington Post: ‘If It Wasn’t The Roberts Court Already, It Is The Roberts Court Now’
With the retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and the likelihood that President Trump will choose a more conservative replacement, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is poised to play a pivotal role on the court he has headed for 13 years. Roberts has been content to play the long game, moving the court to the right with incremental steps. But now, with more conservative colleagues on one side and liberals on the other, Roberts will have the ability to supply the deciding fifth vote and dictate the terms of the deal. (Barnes, 6/28)

Kaiser Health News: As Trump Eyes Next Supreme Court Pick, Poll Finds Most Americans Oppose Overturning Roe V. Wade
Trump will now get another opportunity to reshape the bench with this week’s retirement announcement by Justice Anthony Kennedy. But a Kaiser Family Foundation poll out early Friday suggests that’s not what most of the public wants. The foundation’s June tracking poll found that Americans oppose overturning Roe V. Wade by 38 percentage points — 67 vs. 29 percent. Among Democrats and independents, support for keeping the ruling intact is even stronger, 81 percent and 73 percent respectively, according to the poll. (Rovner, 6/29)

Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Podcast Turns 1. Justice Kennedy Retires. Now What?
The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has triggered a political earthquake in Washington, as Republicans see a chance to cement a conservative majority and Democrats fear a potential overturn of abortion rights and anti-discrimination laws, and even — possibly — challenges to the Affordable Care Act. Kennedy has been the deciding vote in dozens of cases over his long career on the high court, mostly siding with conservatives but crossing ideological lines often enough that liberals see him as the last bulwark against challenges from the right to many policies. (6/28)

Stat: Supreme Court To Review Merck Case With Implications For Consumers
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case that has significant implications for consumers and drug makers concerning lawsuits that are filed over product warnings. The case involves hundreds of lawsuits that were filed by women who claim they suffered bone fractures after taking Fosamax, a Merck (MRK) drug used to combat osteoporosis. Last year, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court and decided the lawsuits should proceed, and last month, the U.S. Solicitor General urged the Supreme Court to review the matter. (Silverman, 6/28)

In other news from the court —

The Associated Press: US Supreme Court Declines City’s Bid On Abortion-Notice Law
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear from a Maryland city that wants pregnancy centers opposed to abortion to notify patients they don’t provide such services. The Daily Record of Baltimore reports the high court declined Thursday to hear Baltimore’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down a city ordinance requiring notification. (6/28)

The New York Times: Amazon To Buy Online Pharmacy PillPack, Jumping Into The Drug Business
In the world of health care, PillPack, an online pharmacy, is a pretty small player. Its work force of 1,000 or so people pales in comparison with the 235,000 who work for Walgreens. But when Amazon announced on Thursday that it was buying PillPack, the deal immediately shook the industry. Shares of Walgreens and Rite Aid tumbled more than 9 percent, while CVS Health dropped 6.6 percent. That’s because with one move, Amazon answered the question about when — and how — it would grab a piece of the $560 billion prescription drug industry. (Ballentine and Thomas, 6/28)

Bloomberg: Amazon Makes $1 Billion Splash In Health Care, Buying PillPack
PillPack has mail-order pharmacy licenses in all 50 U.S. states, which could allow Amazon to expand quickly. PillPack also has relationships with most major drug-benefit managers, including Express Scripts and CVS, and says it works with most Medicare Part D drug plans. Those ties will give Amazon access to much of the prescription drug market in the U.S. PillPack sells pre-sorted packets of prescriptions drugs, delivering them to customers in their homes. The closely held firm has software that automates many tasks, such as verifying when a refill is due, determining co-pays, and confirming insurance. That eliminates much of the manual work that pharmacists often are saddled with now. (Langreth and Tracer, 6/28)

Reuters: Amazon To Buy PillPack In Potentially Disruptive Drug Retail Push
The deal's potential to disrupt major players across the drug supply chain nationwide prompted a sell-off in shares of possible rivals, while sending Amazon shares up 2.5 percent. PillPack supplies pre-sorted prescription drugs and other services to people who take multiple medications, a growing market as the U.S. population ages and requires treatment for multiple complex, chronic conditions. Amazon is vying for a share of what is a more than $450 billion total U.S. prescription drug market, according to research firm IQVIA. (Rai and Banerjee, 6/28)

Stat: Amazon’s Acquisition Of PillPack Not A Fatal Blow To The Pharmacy Industry
The announcement of this deal is the first step on a long and crooked path, and there is no guarantee that Amazon (AMZN), for all its size and success, will quickly become a major player in the nation’s $370 billion drug business. The acquisition of PillPack confirms Amazon’s intention to sell prescription drugs to consumers nationwide. With a primary pharmacy located in Manchester, N.H., PillPack has operations across the country and ships prescription drugs in pre-sorted packets to 49 states (the only exception being Hawaii). (Ross, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Amazon Buys Online Pharmacy PillPack For $1 Billion
But the health-care market may be challenging for Amazon to disrupt. It is highly regulated, and depends on a complex web of contracts, interconnected data systems and other relationships with health plans, drug-benefit managers and other health-care players that Amazon may not want to alienate if it wants its pharmacy business to prosper. Walgreens executives were holding a conference call with financial analysts when Amazon announced the deal. Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina said the company is “not particularly worried” about the move. (Terlep and Stevens, 6/28)

Stat: Amazon Is Taking On Health Care’s Most Vexing Challenge: The Chronically Ill
The company’s acquisition of the home delivery pharmacy PillPack is entirely separate from its venture with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to improve and lower the cost of care for the companies’ 1 million employees. But taken together, the two initiatives realize the worst fears of many of the health care industry’s entrenched incumbents — that Amazon is making an aggressive play in portions of the market that many consumers, investors, and health industry specialists see as ripe for disruption. (Ross, 6/29)

Chicago Tribune: Walgreens' Value Falls By $6 Billion As Amazon Shoulders Its Way Into The Pharmacy Sector 
Walgreens’ shares plummeted Thursday following news that Amazon is shouldering its way into the pharmacy business, a development that capped off an eventful few weeks for the Deerfield-based chain. Earlier this month, it announced plans to relocate 1,800 employees to Chicago’s former main post office, including 1,300 who will move from its Deerfield campus. On Tuesday, it became part of the Dow Jones industrial average. (Schencker, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Behind PillPack’s $1 Billion Sale, A Frustrated 32-Year-Old Pharmacist
TJ Parker grew up working the counter for his father’s pharmacy in Concord, N.H., where he became frustrated by how much customers struggled to keep track of their medications. He went to pharmacy school but rather than take up the family business, he and a friend set out to change it. In 2013, they launched an online pharmacy from Manchester, N.H. On Thursday, the 32-year-old CEO said he sold his startup to Amazon.com Inc. It was a roughly $1 billion deal, according to people familiar with the deal. Mr. Parker is expected to stay involved after the deal, said a person familiar with the matter. (Brown and Terlep, 6/28)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Amazon’s Shakeup Of The Pharmacy Industry Has Roots In New Hampshire
Parker holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. While there, he met the company’s eventual co-founder, Elliot Cohen, through MIT’s Hacking Medicine program, which seeks to help entrepreneurs in the medical services field. They founded PillPack in 2013 in Manchester. (Brooks, 6/28)

Marketplace: Amazon Acquires PillPack As It Muscles Its Way Into The Health Care Industry
Today the online retail giant snatched up PillPack, an online pharmacy that presorts prescription drugs and delivers them to your door. Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS all saw their stock prices take a dive in early trading on news of the deal. (Gorenstein, 6/28)

The New York Times: In Human Trafficking Report, State Dept. Warns Against Separating Children From Parents
The State Department warned in a report on Thursday that separating children from their parents can cause lasting psychological damage that leaves them vulnerable to trafficking, a cautionary tale that comes amid an uproar over a Trump administration immigration policy that has temporarily broken up migrant families as they enter the United States. (Harris, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: Ivanka Trump Helps Unveil Administration Report That Decries The Effect Of Separating Children From Parents
A new 68-page report on international human trafficking, unveiled by Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo during a ceremony with Ivanka Trump at the State Department, devotes two pages to withering condemnation of separating families. The harmful "physical and psychological effects of staying in residential institutions," it said, put children at additional risk of human trafficking. (Bierman, 6/28)

Bloomberg: State Department Report Cites Psychological Risks Of Separating Children From Families
“Removal of a child from the family should only be considered as a temporary, last resort,” according to the report. “The physical and psychological effects of staying in residential institutions, combined with societal isolation and often subpar regulatory oversight by governments, place these children in situations of heightened vulnerability to human trafficking.” (Green and Nadeem, 6/28)

Dallas Morning News: At The Border, Doctors, Advocates Worry Medical Care For Immigrants Is Lacking  
Doctors who have traveled to the Rio Grande Valley to check on the condition of immigrant children separated from their parents say children leaving Border Patrol processing centers are coming out ill and may not be getting the care they need while in federal custody. "I saw children malnourished, with respiratory infections and fevers. None of them received any antibiotics to treat bacterial infections," said Dr. Aaron Bodansky, a senior resident in Pediatrics at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. "Others had severe diaper rashes as it appears many hadn't have the diapers changed for a long time." (Manrique and Solis, 6/28)

Reuters: U.S. Charges Hundreds In Healthcare Fraud, Opioid Crackdown
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against 601 people including doctors for taking part in healthcare frauds that resulted in over $2 billion in losses and contributed to the nation's opioid epidemic in some cases. The arrests came in dozens of unrelated prosecutions the Justice Department announced together as part of an annual healthcare fraud takedown. (Raymond, 6/28)

Reuters: U.S. Fines CVS For Failing To Report Opioid Theft In New York
CVS Health Corp agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil fine to resolve U.S. charges that some of its pharmacies in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York failed to report in a timely manner the loss or theft of prescription drugs, including the opioid hydrocodone. Richard Donoghue, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, on Thursday said delays contribute to opioid abuse, and that CVS' failures impeded the ability of Drug Enforcement Administration agents to investigate, violating federal law. (Stempel, 6/28)

Denver Post: Golden Doctor Who Allegedly Sold Oxycodone Prescriptions For Cash Arrested
A 48-year-old Golden doctor has been indicted for allegedly committing a variety of billing scams including selling oxycodone for cash and billing insurance companies for office visits that never happened, including one in which his patient was in another country. John Van Wu was arrested Thursday after he was indicted for violations of the Controlled Substances Act, mail fraud and falsification of records, according to a news release by Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. (Mitchell, /28)

Miami Herald: After Sweep, South Florida Still No. 1 For Healthcare Fraud
On Thursday, the Department of Justice unveiled an array of new healthcare fraud cases accusing about 600 defendants nationwide of submitting $2 billion in false bills to the Medicare program for the elderly, the TRICARE system for military members and private insurance companies. Of that staggering total, about 125 defendants were charged in South Florida with filing nearly $340 million in fraudulent claims for opioid addiction treatment, home healthcare and prescription drugs covered by taxpayer-funded programs and other insurance plans. (Weaver, 6/28)

Houston Chronicle: Medicare Fraud Takedown Nets 48 Defendants In Southeast Texas 
Forty-eight people across the Southern District of Texas have been charged this month with falsely billing for nearly $300 million in medical expenses as part of the federal government’s yearly Medicare Fraud Takedown. Overall, authorities have charged 601 defendants in 58 federal districts in connection with $2 billion in losses to Medicare and Medicaid. (Banks, 6/28)

In other news on the national drug crisis —

The Washington Post: Some Good News In The Fight Against Opioid Overdose Deaths
Prisoners addicted to opioids are at an extremely high risk of overdose in the period right after their release. A bill that just passed the House is designed to help. Post-incarceration overdose risk is a consequence of how the body responds to the use and non-use of opioids. Long-term, regular use of opioids (e.g., OxyContin, heroin) results in physical tolerance, meaning that larger and larger doses are needed to get the same effect. Because obtaining a steady supply of drugs in prison is very difficult, opioid-addicted offenders generally lose tolerance while behind bars. The result: If they take their “usual dose” after leaving prison, the effects can be fatal. (Humphreys, 6/28)

St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis County Declares Opioid Addiction A Public Health Emergency
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger declared the opioid epidemic in the county a public health emergency and endorsed a plan to have public health officials work with other organizations to combat the addiction crisis. The declaration Stenger signed Thursday at the Department of Public Health in Berkeley endorsed an action plan that includes county health officials and other organizations, including the county's Justice Services department and the Missouri Hospital Association. (Fentem, 6/28)

The New York Times: How Long Can We Live? The Limit Hasn’t Been Reached, Study Finds
Since 1900, average life expectancy around the globe has more than doubled, thanks to better public health, sanitation and food supplies. But a new study of long-lived Italians indicates that we have yet to reach the upper bound of human longevity. “If there’s a fixed biological limit, we are not close to it,” said Elisabetta Barbi, a demographer at the University of Rome. Dr. Barbi and her colleagues published their research Thursday in the journal Science. (Zimmer, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Good News For Human Life Spans — At Age 105, Death Rates Suddenly Stop Going Up
Jeanne Louise Calment lived for 122 years and 164 days, the oldest verified age of any person, ever. Her interviews revealed a portrait of the centenarian in high spirits: “I've only ever had one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it,” she told reporters when she turned 110. Calment died in 1997 in Arles, France, where she spent much of her impressively long life. No one else, according to accurate records, has lived beyond 120 years. (Guarino, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: Can Humans Reach Even Older Age? We Haven't Maxed Out Yet, Some Scientists Say
For humankind in general, these findings hint at an intriguing, if largely theoretical, prospect: that the maximum possible human lifespan — essentially, the species’ design limit — has not yet been reached. It may even be extended by means as yet undiscovered. If the “oldest old” tell us how long we could live, then many centenarians could, in principle, get even older. And maybe older still with the right elixir. “This data suggest our genetic heritage is permissive,” Wachter said. “Our bodies are not put together so that at some point, everything goes wrong.” (Healy, 6/28)

Stat: New Study Suggests, At Certain Age, Risk Of Death No Longer Increases
Here’s what the Science paper found: A person’s risk of dying gets statistically higher with each passing year — until they hit 80. The idea is that those who were less fit, in a Darwinian sense, die out before they hit extreme old age. The survivors, who have proven their mettle as hardy stock, wind up less likely to die with each passing year. After 80, the death rates actually begin to decelerate — and after 105, the death rates plateau, according to the Science study. (Keshavan, 6/28)

And in news on end-of-life spending —

Stat: Study Challenges Widely Held View That We Spend Too Much On The Dying
Maybe you have heard the refrain before: The U.S. spends too much money on the dying. Every year, 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries die, but one-quarter of spending occurs in the last year of life. Side by side, these stats have fed a widely held belief that, in an exorbitantly expensive health care system, much of end-of-life care goes to waste. A new study, published in the journal Science, pushes back on this notion. The researchers, a team of three economists and one physician, used machine learning to predict mortality and re-examine spending. In their new estimate, patients with the highest one-year mortality risk account for less than 5 percent of spending, much less than the original one-quarter claim. (Farber, 6/28)

WBUR: Cut Spending In Final Year Of Life? MIT Study Finds Death Too Unpredictable
If health costs must be contained, the argument follows, why not cut that relatively futile end-of-life spending? The answer, according to a new study that used machine learning on a huge trove of more than 6 million Medicare medical records to train a computer algorithm to predict deaths, is this: In most cases, it's not clear that the treatments are futile at the time. Because even with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, it's much harder than you might think to predict who's going to die soon. (Goldberg, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Romaine Lettuce Outbreak Tied To Tainted Irrigation Canal
Tainted irrigation water appears to be the source of a national food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, health officials said Thursday. About 200 people were sickened in the E. coli outbreak and five people died. The outbreak, which started in the spring, is now over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. (6/28)

The Washington Post: Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak Is Over As New Evidence Points To Tainted Water
“More work needs to be done to determine just how and why this strain of E. coli 0157:H7 could have gotten into this body of water and how that led to contamination of romaine lettuce from multiple farms,” he said. FDA officials, who have been investigating the source of the outbreak since mid-March, are trying to determine whether canal water was used to irrigate the lettuce fields. The Yuma region — which includes farms across the Colorado River in southeastern California — grows the overwhelming majority of the lettuce and other leafy greens consumed in the United States in the winter months. (Sun, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: CDC To Research Coverage Gaps For Gay People Of Color
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to research whether gay and transgender people of color could receive better access to care and experience reduced HIV infection rates if they discuss insurance coverage with their providers earlier. The agency is seeking approval from the White House's Office of Management and Budget to launch the study in Chicago, focusing on black and Hispanic males who have sex with men and transgender persons. The CDC will work with community partners to help people connect to coverage. (Dickson, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Cyndi Lauper Unveils Report On LGBTQ Youth Homelessness
Years before reaching pop music stardom, Cyndi Lauper was down on her luck, broke and homeless. She was in her late teens and ready to move out of her family’s house, but her parents wouldn’t sign a lease for her own place. She found a job at a restaurant, but that didn’t pan out either and she ended up living on the streets and in a shelter in Vermont. “I felt like a failure because I couldn’t even be a good waitress,” the singer recounted Thursday morning to a small group of journalists in the courtyard of a luxury hotel off the Sunset Strip. (Pena, 6/28)

The Hill: Psychiatrists Ask APA To Change Rule Prohibiting Analysis Of Public Figures
A group of prominent psychiatrists are calling on the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to change a controversial rule that prohibits members from speculating about the mental state of public figures. In a letter sent to the APA Thursday, the psychiatrists said that the so-called Goldwater Rule can put the public in danger by denying trained professionals from addressing mental health issues demonstrated by public figures, such as an elected official. (Weixel, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Another US Diplomat Hurt In Mystery Incidents In Cuba
The State Department confirmed Thursday that another U.S. diplomat has been affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba, bringing the total of Americans suffering from such ailments to 26. Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the diplomat was "medically confirmed" to have experienced health effects similar to those reported by other members of the U.S. Havana diplomatic community. (6/28)

San Jose Mercury News: Can Exercise Battle Depression?
Just as suicide rates are spiking and a national conversation has begun on to how to fight depression, a disease that impacts 16 million adults in the U.S., a new study shows that exercise may be a key weapon in the battle. Published in JAMA Psychiatry, this new study shows that exercise combats depression, particularly in middle-age. (D'Souza, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Officials: Kentucky's Hepatitis A Outbreak Now Worst In US
The hepatitis A outbreak in Louisville and other parts of Kentucky is now the worst in the country. The Courier Journal reports state health officials confirmed Wednesday at least 969 people have contracted the liver disease. State Public Health department Commissioner Dr. Jeff Howard says the outbreak is the worst on record across the nation and in Kentucky. (6/28)

State House News Service: Mass. Senate Votes For Tobacco Purchase Age Of 21
The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday agreed to raise the tobacco-buying age to 21, ban e-cigarettes in places where smoking is already prohibited, and ban the sale of tobacco products at pharmacies. A similar bill cleared the House in May and if Gov. Charlie Baker signs the bill into law Massachusetts will become the sixth state in the country to refuse to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21, according to the American Lung Association. (Young, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Appeals Court: Infants, Preschoolers Must Get Flu Shot
New York City's requirement that infants and preschoolers in city-regulated child care or school-based programs must get yearly flu shots was upheld Thursday by the state's highest court. The Court of Appeals said that the city's Department of Health had the authority to require the shots, a rule the city first enacted in 2013 during Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration. (6/28)

The Washington Post: College Students Are Forming Mental-Health Clubs — And They’re Making A Difference
Mental-health problems among college students have been climbing since the 1990s, according to the American Psychological Association. And with services increasingly stretched at campus health centers, students have been taking action themselves through peer-run mental-health clubs and organizations. The approach appears to be paying off, a new study finds. (Nutt, 6/28)

The Associated Press: California Bows To Beverage Industry, Blocks Soda Taxes
A new push by the beverage industry is slowing the expansion of soda taxes in California and elsewhere. California cities pioneered soda taxes as a way to combat obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday bowed to pressure from beverage companies and reluctantly banned local taxes on soda for the next 12 years. (6/28)

Reuters: California Prohibits City Soda Taxes Through 2030
The law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown as a compromise in the face of a soda industry-backed ballot initiative, prevents any local government from imposing future taxes on groceries including carbonated and noncarbonated nonalcoholic beverages through 2030. So-called soda taxes gained traction in the San Francisco area in 2014 and 2016. (Prentice, 6/28)

California Healthline: Under Pressure, California Lawmakers Ban Soda Taxes For 12 Years
“The industry is aiming basically a nuclear weapon at government in California and saying, ‘If you don’t do what we want, we’re going to pull the trigger and you’re not going to be able to fund basic government services,'” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “This is a ‘pick your poison’ kind of a situation, a Sophie’s Choice, if you will.” (Young, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Mother: Girl At Center Of Debate Over Brain Death Dies
A girl at the center of the medical and religious debate over brain death has died after surgery in New Jersey, her mother said Thursday. Nailah Winkfield said doctors declared her daughter Jahi McMath dead on June 22 from excessive bleeding and liver failure after an operation to treat an intestinal issue. (6/28)

Los Angeles Times: Jahi McMath, Girl At Center Of Debate Over Brain Death, Dies, Mother Says
In the years since Jahi McMath was declared brain dead, she sometimes showed signs of life: a twitch of her finger, the wiggling of a toe. Those moments, and their Christian faith, invigorated Jahi’s family in their fight to keep the girl on life support. “Jahi wasn't brain dead or any kind of dead,” her mother, Nailah Winkfield, told the Associated Press. “She was a girl with a brain injury, and she deserved to be cared for like any other child who had a brain injury.” (Tchekmedyian, 6/28)

Denver Post: Legislature Working To Reduce Health Care Costs 
Health care costs continue to demand more from Coloradans’ pocketbooks and stretch the budgets of our state’s families and businesses. Just this year, the Center for Improving Value in Health Care found that health care costs in Colorado are 17 percent higher than those in similar states. Confusing practices and hidden pricing at many freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs) are some of the significant drivers of these increases. As Colorado legislators, we have listened to numerous constituent complaints about unfair FSED practices and seen surprisingly large bills sent by these facilities. In 2018, five legislators joined forces to pass bi-partisan legislation addressing this important issue. (Sias and Singer, 6/28)

Minnesota Public Radio: Has Anything Changed For Vulnerable Adults In Minnesota?
Last year, an investigation by a Star Tribune reporter Chris Serres revealed elder care abuse in several care facilities across Minnesota. Since then, care facilities and health organizations have promised change, but new reports from AARP suggests more action is needed. (Miller and Lillie, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Judge Temporarily Blocks Abortion Reporting Rule In Indiana
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a new Indiana law's requirement that medical providers report detailed patient information to the state if they treat women for complications arising from abortions. U.S. District Judge Richard Young granted the preliminary injunction sought by Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. The order blocks the provision in a state law taking effect Sunday. (6/28)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohioans Could See Costly Campaign Fight Over Dialysis Issue In November
Ohioans could vote in November to set new standards for dialysis treatment and cap what for-profit dialysis clinics can charge, through an amendment to the Ohio Constitution. Opponents say it will force clinics to close, reducing access to treatment and raising costs for nearly 20,000 Ohioans who depend on hemodialysis treatments. (Borchardt, 6/28)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Eyes Quick Timeline For New PFAS Limits In Drinking Water
The state says it wants to propose new limits on certain industrial chemicals in drinking water by the start of next year. It comes after this week's big regional summit on the chemicals, known collectively as PFAS. (Ropeik, 6/28)

Georgia Health News: Multimillion-Dollar Mistake: Medicare Says Providers Were Overpaid
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told GHN on Wednesday that the agency found 268,000 claims from hospitals, rural health clinics and other providers that were erroneously paid through the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program. ...The states affected are mainly Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Georgia providers owe $19.1 million, followed by $15.4 million in Tennessee, and $11.9 million in Alabama. Another $8.3 million comes from other states. (Miller, 6/28)

The CT Mirror: Advocates: DSS Call Center Wait Times Must Be Fixed
A group of Medicaid enrollees, providers and advocates demanded Thursday that the state Department of Social Services address the long wait times and dropped calls at its call center. The DSS system for handling clients’ calls has been under scrutiny since it was implemented five years ago to improve service. (Rigg, 6/28)

Denver Post: Colorado Was A Laggard In Childhood Vaccination Rates For Years. All That Appears To Be Changing.
Colorado could finally be shedding its reputation as a state that eschews childhood vaccinations. New figures from the health department show, for the second school year in a row, that more than 90 percent of students got their required shots. The shots are being administered at levels that officials say is needed to protect children against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B and polio. Prevention of the spread of viruses also is protecting kids who don’t get vaccinated. (Whaley, 6/28)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas House Panel Tackles Mental Health And School Safety
In the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting that killed 10 on May 18, state lawmakers have repeatedly heard the call for better mental health screening and services for students over the past few weeks as they discuss improving school safety. Gov. Greg Abbott’s 44-page school safety plan includes a large section that explores expanding existing mental health programs like training more teachers to notice mental health issues among students. (Chang, 6/28)

San Jose Mercury News: Right To Die: Who Uses California's End Of Life Options Act?
Two years after California enacted a right-to-die law, more residents are using it – but they tend to be white and well-educated. This suggests that more Californians are becoming aware of the law, but that it may not readily available to everyone. (Krieger, 6/28)

The Star Tribune: Blue Cross Taps Anthem Exec As New CEO
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has hired an executive from the for-profit health insurance giant Anthem, Inc. as its next CEO. Dr. Craig Samitt, who most recently served as executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Indianapolis-based Anthem, will take the top job as president and chief executive at Eagan-based Blue Cross effective July 30. (Snowbeck, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Atlantic Health System Partners With MedExpress To Bolster Urgent-Care Network
Integrated provider Atlantic Health System has partnered with MedExpress and its 11 urgent-care centers in New Jersey, the organizations announced Thursday. The jointly owned centers will allow MedExpress to refer patients to Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic if patients require more specialized care. Ideally, the partnership will facilitate more affordable, coordinated care as new payment models drive more care to lower-cost settings within an all-inclusive network. (Kacik, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Clinic Opens Hours After Oklahoma Approves Medical Marijuana
A clinic for prescribing medical marijuana opened in Tulsa just hours after Oklahoma voters approved the pot measure — and before election officials had even certified the vote. Tulsa Higher Care Clinic opened Wednesday morning, although it could be weeks before residents can apply for a license to possess marijuana for medical purposes. (6/28)

Sacramento Bee: UC Davis, Shriners Ranked Among Nation's Top Hospitals For Children
The UC Davis Children’s Hospital has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report for the eighth consecutive year in its annual ranking of Best Children’s Hospitals in the U.S. The 2018-19 list ranked the Children’s Hospital as one of the nation’s best 50 facilities in five categories, including in pediatric orthopedics, a collaborative effort with Shriners Hospitals. (Holzer, 6/28)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Ochsner Completes $20 Million Expansion To Clinic Near Covington 
Ochsner Health System has announced the completion of a $20 million expansion to its clinic near Covington, enhancing the medical provider's services in neurosciences, orthopedics, sports medicine and physical therapy on the North Shore, according to a news release issued Thursday (June 28). The facility, located near Interstate 12 and Louisiana 21 interchange, now encompasses 43,000 square feet and houses more than 36 specialties, Ochsner announced in the release. The expansion, which broke ground in June of 2016, increases the number of patient rooms from 152 to 206 and adds 3 operating rooms. (Chatelain, 6/28)

Sacramento Bee: Which City’s Health Workers Boast Highest Disposable Income? Hint: It’s A Capital
Sacramento's health care workers take home more of their pay than their peers living in the nation's 100 most populous cities, including Dallas-Fort Worth and San Jose, according to a cost-of-living analysis done by the online rental listing service RentCafe. ..The RentCafe analysis looked at wages for individuals that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies as health care practitioners and technical workers and those in the BLS category of health care support. (Anderson, 6/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Shelters, Hospitals 'Playing Ping Pong' With Philadelphia's Homeless, Sick Population
The problem of how to care for what Hinson calls “medically fragile” homeless people who have few appropriate places to go once they leave a health facility extends well beyond these cases. ... At a time when government funds for the poor are under assault, Philadelphia and other cities are grappling with how to keep the homeless, who tend to be heavy users of expensive hospital care, healthier as they age. (Burling, 6/28)

WBUR: First Recreational Cannabis License Could Go To Leicester Marijuana Dispensary
The Cannabis Control Commission on Monday will vote on whether Cultivate Holdings in Leicester will be the first company allowed to sell recreational cannabis products to anyone over the age of 21. Cultivate has been operating a medical marijuana dispensary in the town since late 2017. (Brown, 6/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Where The Weed Things Are: Marijuana Growers Eye Former Strawbridge's, U.S. Steel Plant
Seventeen aspiring growers have submitted applications to operate in the Philadelphia area with 74 more applications to cultivate tendered for the rest of the state. The Department of Health is expected to award a total of 13 permits to commercial growers to supply medical marijuana for Pennsylvania patients. (Wood, 6/29)

Health Affairs: TV Advertising Volumes Were Associated With Insurance Marketplace Shopping And Enrollment In 2014
This study combined survey data from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey on adults ages 18–64 with data on volumes of televised advertisements aired in respondents’ counties of residence during the 2013–14 open enrollment period. We found that people living in counties with higher numbers of ads sponsored by the federal government were significantly more likely to shop for and enroll in a Marketplace plan. (Gollust et al., 6/1)

JAMA: Differences in Obesity Prevalence by Demographic Characteristics and Urbanization Level Among Adults in the United States, 2013-2016
In this nationally representative survey of adults in the United States, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in 2013-2016 varied by level of urbanization, with significantly greater prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults living in nonmetropolitan statistical areas compared with adults living in large metropolitan statistical areas. (Hales, Fryar, Carroll, 6/19)

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: Implications Of A Medicaid Work Requirement: National Estimates Of Potential Coverage Losses
On January 11, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a State Medicaid Director Letter providing new guidance for Section 1115 waiver proposals that would impose work requirements (referred to as community engagement) in Medicaid as a condition of eligibility.  As of June 2018, CMS has approved such work requirements in 4 states: Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas and New Hampshire. A number of other states have waivers pending at CMS to impose work requirements or are considering such proposals. Not all states are interested in Medicaid work requirements, but Senate proposals and the House Budget Resolution passed by the House Budget Committee are calling for a federal requirement that all states implement work requirements in Medicaid. (Garfield, Rudowitz and Musumeci, 6/27)

NEJM: Growing Ranks of Advanced Practice Clinicians — Implications for the Physician Workforce
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are providing an increasing share of health care services, and education programs have proliferated. These dynamics will have lasting effects on the health care workforce and on relationships among health professionals. (Auerbach, Staiger and Buerhaus, 6/21)

The New York Times: The End Of Abortion
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to appoint justices who would overrule Roe v. Wade, and the actions of his administration confirm his hostility. With Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement, we are now at the moment of reckoning. The court of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. could reject Roe quickly and openly, allowing states to ban abortion at any point during pregnancy and to punish doctors and even their patients — as Mr. Trump discussed on the campaign trail. Some states like Iowa have already enacted laws banning early abortion to put test cases in the judicial pipeline. (Reva Siegel, 6/28)

Time: If Roe V. Wade Goes, No Woman's Body Will Be Her Own
In just a few years, scores of American women could lose their right to safe, legal abortion. President Donald Trump can now choose a nominee to fill the Supreme Court seat of outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy, a crucial defender of Roe v. Wade. Since being nominated to the Court by President Reagan in 1988, Kennedy served as an inconsistent but important bulwark against some of the court’s greater right-wing excesses. In 1992, when a case that could have overturned Roe v. Wade went to the Court, Kennedy signed on to a majority opinion upholding abortion rights. It became widely understood that he wouldn’t sign onto an opinion overturning Roe. He became a firewall — one that prompted anti-abortion activists to set about chipping away at access to abortion, instead of mounting a direct legal challenge. (Jill Filipovic, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: The Supreme Court Puts Religion-Based Dishonesty Above The Health And Welfare Of Vulnerable Pregnant Women
In 2014, a recent high school graduate named Dania Flores, posing as a pregnant teenager, visited 43 crisis pregnancy centers in California. What kind of care would they offer? How medically competent would they be? As Flores discovered, most crisis pregnancy centers are thinly disguised anti-abortion Christian ministries designed to steer women away from abortion. In the process they spew misinformation, if not downright lies. You will never hear in a crisis pregnancy center that a woman is far, far more likely to die of childbirth-related causes than abortion, which has an infinitesimal complication rate. (Robin Abcarian, 6/29)

The Washington Post: The Supreme Court’s Decision On Antiabortion Centers Could Have Dangerous Repercussions
Can the government require doctors to tell patients about alternative approaches to treating a medical condition? Can it insist that people unlicensed to offer medical care disclose that they lack licenses? According to the conservatives on the Supreme Court, if these people work in antiabortion crisis-pregnancy centers, the government’s interest in disclosure does not outweigh their First Amendment rights to say what they want about medicine or their qualifications. This is a dangerous precedent. The court repudiated two disclosure requirements that California placed on crisis pregnancy centers, which are antiabortion facilities that offer pregnancy services. Licensed clinics were required to post a notice informing customers that the state offers discounted or free pregnancy services, including abortion. Unlicensed facilities had to disclose that they lacked licenses to administer medicine. (6/28)

USA Today: Democrats Can't Surrender Senate And Supreme Court To Republicans
From abortion, guns and privacy to voting, gay and worker rights, from immigration to criminal justice to who gets to draw political maps and contribute to campaigns, the Supreme Court is in all of our lives and business. This should be a major voting issue for Democrats in every election. Even in 2016, however, it didn’t rise to the top. (Jill Lawrence, 6/27)

Real Clear Health: Trump's Refusal To Defend ACA Abandons Millions Of Americans
The recent decision not to defend critical components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in legal challenges brought by the state of Texas is the latest sign that Trump and his administration are willing to abandon millions of Americans living with chronic or pre-existing conditions. These Americans suffer from diagnoses including HIV, hepatitis, and other STDs, and they rely on the ACA for access to critical, affordable health care coverage. (Jesse Milan, Jr. and Paul Kawata, 6/28)

The Hill: Trump’s Health Plan Has No Goal Of Preserving Or Expanding Insurance Coverage
The Trump administration’s recent move to abandon its legal defense of protections for people with pre-existing conditions has launched the latest battle in the health-care war. The decision, which is already a 2018 midterm topic, signifies that the fight over the direction of the health system will undoubtedly continue into the 2020 presidential election. The latest action concerns a lawsuit claiming that, by lowering the tax for being uninsured to zero last December, Republicans in Congress have somehow taken away the choice to be uninsured. Doing so is unconstitutional, the argument goes, and so the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be struck down. Shockingly, Trump’s Department of Justice has agreed with this claim about the so-called individual mandate, asserting that pre-existing condition protections are illegal as well. (Jeanne Lambrew, 6/28)

The Hill: Democrats Created The ObamaCare Disaster We Are Still Dealing With
Democrats are planning to use looming health insurance premium increases against Republicans in the midterm elections. This is, of course, a chapter right out of the Republican playbook, and Republicans’ failure to pass health insurance reform, let alone repeal of ObamaCare, could make them vulnerable on healthcare issues. (Jason Pye, 6/28)

Stat: We Can't Ignore Those Seeking Asylum For Domestic Abuse, Gang Violence
Our clients — many of whom are victims of domestic abuse and gang violence in their countries of origin — entered the United States legally, and seeking asylum is their human right. It is impossible not to be moved by the physical and mental scars they carry from the trauma they survived, and to ignore the desperation that stems from their injuries. (Allison Bond, Katherine Crabtree and Rashmi Jasrasaria, 6/29)

Chicago Tribune: Pulling The Plug On Video Games? Slow Your Roll 
As a college freshman, I was big and muscular, confident, goal-oriented, and I frequently led small and large groups of diverse people. I was involved in many complex activities and I was proud of my accomplishments. I belonged. I mattered. I felt connected to my friends. I was happy. As long as my Xbox or PC was on, anyway. (Ryan M. Earl, 6/28)