First Edition: July 9, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
State Prisons Fail To Offer Cure To 144,000 Inmates With Deadly Hepatitis C
State prisons across the U.S. are failing to treat at least 144,000 inmates who have hepatitis C, a curable but potentially fatal liver disease, according to a recent survey and subsequent interviews of state corrections departments. Many of the 49 states that responded to questions about inmates with hepatitis C cited high drug prices as the reason for denying treatment. The drugs can cost up to $90,000 for a course of treatment. Nationwide, roughly 97 percent of inmates with hepatitis C are not getting the cure, according to the survey conducted for a master’s project at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. (Thanthong-Knight, 7/9)
Kaiser Health News:
Feel Like The Last Friend Standing? Here’s How To Cultivate New Buds As You Age.
Donn Trenner, 91, estimates that two-thirds of his friends are dead.“That’s a hard one for me,” he said. “I’ve lost a lot of people.” As baby boomers age, more and more folks will reach their 80s, 90s — and beyond. They will not only lose friends but face the daunting task of making new friends at an advanced age.Friendship in old age plays a critical role in health and well-being, according to recent findings from the Stanford Center on Longevity’s Sightlines Project. Socially isolated individuals face health risks comparable to those of smokers, and their mortality risk is twice that of obese individuals, the study notes. (Horovitz, 7/9)
The New York Times:
Health Insurers Warn Of Market Turmoil As Trump Suspends Billions In Payments
The Trump administration said Saturday that it was suspending a program that pays billions of dollars to insurers to stabilize health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act, a freeze that could increase uncertainty in the markets and drive up premiums this fall. Many insurers that enroll large numbers of unhealthy people depend on the “risk adjustment” payments, which are intended to reduce the incentives for insurers to seek out healthy consumers and shun those with chronic illnesses and other pre-existing conditions. (Pear, 7/7)
The Associated Press:
Trump Administration Takes Another Swipe At 'Obamacare'
In a weekend announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the administration is acting because of conflicting court ruling in lawsuits filed by some smaller insurers who question whether they are being fairly treated under the program. The so-called "risk adjustment" program takes payments from insurers with healthier customers and redistributes that money to companies with sicker enrollees. Payments for 2017 are $10.4 billion. No taxpayer subsidies are involved. (7/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump’s Latest Affordable Care Act Move Adds To Insurers’ Uncertainty
CMS officials didn’t specify how long the suspension would last or what would trigger a resumption of payments in the program. CMS officials said they are looking for a quick resolution to the legal issues raised. “We’re now in the midst of the 2019 rate-filing process and it’s not clear how the risk-adjustment program will be operating,” said Cori Uccello, senior health fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries. (7/8)
Reuters:
Insurers Warn Of Rising Premiums After Trump Axes Obamacare Payments Again
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a trade group representing insurers offering plans via employers, through government programs and in the individual marketplace, said the CMS suspension would create a "new market disruption" at a "critical time" when insurers are setting premiums for next year. "It will create more market uncertainty and increase premiums for many health plans - putting a heavier burden on small businesses and consumers, and reducing coverage options. And costs for taxpayers will rise as the federal government spends more on premium subsidies," AHIP said in a statement. (7/8)
Politico:
Trump Administration Freezes Billions In Obamacare Payments, Outraging Advocates
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association President and CEO Scott Serota said the administration has the legal justification needed to move forward with the payments regardless of the New Mexico ruling. “This action will significantly increase 2019 premiums for millions of individuals and small business owners and could result in far fewer health plan choices,” Serota said in a statement. “It will undermine Americans’ access to affordable coverage, particularly those who need medical care the most.” (7/8)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Takes Another Major Swipe At The Affordable Care Act
Risk adjustment is one of three methods built into the 2010 health-care law to help insulate insurance companies from the ACA requirement that they accept all customers for the first time — healthy and sick — without charging more to those who need substantial care. The other two methods were temporary, but risk adjustment is permanent. Federal health officials are required each year to calculate which insurers with relatively low-cost consumers must chip in to a fund, and which ones with more expensive customers are owed money. This idea of pooling risk has had significant practical effects: encouraging insurers to participate in the insurance marketplaces the ACA created for Americans who cannot get affordable health benefits through a job. (Goldstein, 7/7)
The New York Times:
‘It’s A Terrible Vote’: Red-State Democrats Face An Agonizing Supreme Court Choice
Democratic senators running for re-election in Trump Country face an agonizing choice over President Trump’s coming Supreme Court nominee: Vote to confirm the pick and risk demoralizing Democratic voters ahead of the midterm elections, or stick with the party and possibly sacrifice their own seats — and any chance at a Democratic majority in 2019. The actions of a handful of Senate Democrats struggling to hold their seats in red states where Mr. Trump remains popular — notably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — will have broad implications for the party at a critical political juncture. (Hulse, 7/7)
Politico:
‘The Super Bowl Of Politics’: Trump’s Team Readies For Supreme Court Battle
In a sparsely decorated “war room” next to the West Wing on the White House grounds, Trump administration officials have been preparing for the president’s Supreme Court pick with an anything-can-happen approach to the historic task. With the knowledge that President Donald Trump could change his mind at the last minute — and with the president’s obsession to keep his final decision tightly held — Trump aides and Republicans familiar with the planning told POLITICO they initially were prepping for two possible nominees. (Cadelago, 7/8)
The Associated Press:
What To Expect In The Supreme Court Confirmation Battle
The coming battle over a Supreme Court nominee promises to be a bruising one. Republicans are eager for conservatives to gain a firm majority on the court. Democrats are voicing alarm about what the new justice could mean for charged issues such as abortion rights and gay rights. The stakes are enormous, and advocacy groups that don't have to unveil their donors are spending heavily to shape the fight. (7/9)
The Hill:
Dem Senator Promises 'Tough Questions' On Reproductive Rights For Trump Supreme Court Pick
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Sunday that he will ask President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee “really tough questions” on reproductive rights. Blumenthal told New York AM 970 radio host John Catsimatidis in an interview broadcast Sunday that he has “deep and serious concerns” about Trump’s top picks for the court. (Thomsen, 7/8)
The New York Times:
Trump ‘Very Close’ To Supreme Court Decision, But May Wait Till Final Hours
President Trump sought to mine a last bit of drama from his decision on a Supreme Court nominee on Sunday, saying he might need to extend the process well into Monday, just hours before he is scheduled to announce the pick in a prime-time address. “I’m very close to making a decision,” Mr. Trump said on Sunday afternoon as he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington after a weekend spent golfing at his private club in Bedminster, N.J., and soliciting opinions from dozens of people about what he should do. (Haberman, Liptak and Schmidt, 7/8)
The New York Times:
In Making His Second Supreme Court Pick, Trump Has A Model: His First
All four of President Trump’s candidates for the Supreme Court are white, middle-aged federal appeals court judges with reliably conservative legal records. One of them, Brett M. Kavanaugh, went to the same high school as Mr. Trump’s last nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch — Georgetown Preparatory School, outside Washington. Another, Raymond M. Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit, so resembles Justice Gorsuch in background, philosophy, hobbies — both are outdoorsmen who like fishing — and even physical appearance, that some conservatives have taken to calling him “Gorsuch 2.0.” (Landler and Haberman, 7/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Takes A Final Look At Supreme Court Choices
Judge Kavanaugh had been a front-runner as late as Saturday, but the fact that Mr. Trump hadn’t settled on him suggested his front-runner status may have slipped by Sunday, several people familiar with the search said. (Nicholas and Radnofsky, 7/8)
Politico:
Teenage Immigrant Abortion Case Could Be Hurdle For Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Bid
One of the leading contenders for the Supreme Court, D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, could see his chance at the nomination hinge on his handling of a legal battle last year over a 17-year-old immigrant's request for an abortion. To Kavanaugh's backers, his role in the legal showdown that played out over a couple of weeks last October exhibits the kind of judicial restraint conservatives have long called for from members of the bench. (Gerstein, 7/6)
The Washington Post:
Religious Liberty Becomes A Main Focus For Conservatives In Supreme Court Nomination
Raymond Kethledge, one of President Trump’s finalists for the U.S. Supreme Court, has never explicitly stated his views on abortion or same-sex marriage. But he has spoken loudly on an issue that is just as important to conservative court-watchers. In April, Kethledge ruled in favor of Cathedral Buffet, a church-run Ohio restaurant being sued by the government because of claims that congregants were “spiritually coerced” by their pastor to work without pay. Kethledge went further than his fellow judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in arguing that the restaurant’s Christian affiliation shielded it from federal labor laws. (Goldstein, 7/7)
The New York Times:
McConnell Tries To Nudge Trump Toward Two Supreme Court Options
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, told President Trump this past week that Judges Raymond M. Kethledge and Thomas M. Hardiman presented the fewest obvious obstacles to being confirmed to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, according to Republican officials briefed on the conversation. While careful not to directly make the case for any would-be justice, Mr. McConnell made clear in multiple phone calls with Mr. Trump and the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, that the lengthy paper trail of another top contender, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, would pose difficulties for his confirmation. (Haberman and Martin, 7/7)
Politico:
Graham: Supreme Court Candidates ‘Are All Winners’
The four judges believed to be in the running to be President Donald Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court “are all winners,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday, and will present a “nightmare” decision for red-state Democrats in the Senate. “Republicans are holding four lottery tickets and all of them are winners,” the South Carolina Republican, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told “Fox News Sunday.” “If you’re a conservative Republican, the four people named — particularly Thomas Hardiman, I'm glad he’s on the list — are all winners and every Republicans should embrace these picks.” (Nelson, 7/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
Who Are The Supreme Court Contenders?
As the clock ticks on President Donald Trump’s choice for a Supreme Court vacancy, each of the four people under close consideration could move the court in a more conservative direction for decades. “Republicans are holding four lottery tickets, and all of them are winners,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said Sunday in a Fox News interview. Here’s a look at the top contenders. (Kendall and Bravin, 7/8)
The Associated Press:
Kids As Young As 1 In US Court, Awaiting Reunion With Family
The 1-year-old boy in a green button-up shirt drank milk from a bottle, played with a small purple ball that lit up when it hit the ground and occasionally asked for “agua.” Then it was the child’s turn for his court appearance before a Phoenix immigration judge, who could hardly contain his unease with the situation during the portion of the hearing where he asks immigrant defendants whether they understand the proceedings. “I’m embarrassed to ask it, because I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” Judge John W. Richardson told the lawyer representing the 1-year-old boy. (Galvan, 7/8)
The New York Times:
U.S. Opposition To Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials
A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes. (Jacobs, 7/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
When Three Brothers With A Blood Disorder Lost Their Jobs, The EEOC Sued
Five years ago, Anthony, Drew and Raymond West were called into their supervisor’s office and let go from their jobs performing heavy-duty maintenance work at an oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas. “We kind of knew it was gonna happen, but then again we were all shocked,” said Raymond West, age 26, the youngest of the brothers. The Wests were employed for a contract-worker firm, Signature Industrial Services LLC, and were contracted to do work for Exxon Mobil Corp. Their Signature supervisor had been instructed to let them go because of their medical condition, hemophilia A, according to a lawsuit filed in February by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that charged Signature with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Weber, 7/9)
The Wall Street Journal:
Drugmakers Call Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Study Positive
An experimental Alzheimer’s drug showed positive results and raised hopes anew that pharmaceutical companies were moving closer to a medicine that could finally disrupt the disease’s memory-robbing course, though a string of failures shadow the efforts. Alzheimer’s has proved an especially tough drug target. Approved therapies only relieve symptoms temporarily, and one experimental treatment after another promising to stymie the neurodegeneration has ultimately failed to work. Some pharmaceutical companies, after costly failures, pulled out. (Hernandez and Loftus, 7/6)
Stat:
4 Burning Questions After Biogen's $12 Billion Alzheimer's Surprise
Here’s what we know: In a complex study, a single subgroup of patients saw significant improvements in both cognition and the buildup of the toxic brain plaques thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s. The trial failed its primary endpoint, but that subgroup result marks a win on a secondary goal, according to Biogen and Eisai. What we don’t know — and won’t for a matter of months — is how many patients were in that group, how big the effects were, and whether the likes of the Food and Drug Administration will take the data seriously. That last point is particularly key. (Garde, 7/6)
Stat:
5 Challenges Atul Gawade Will Face In A Risky New Health CEO Role
Dr. Atul Gawande will step out of health care’s limelight on Monday to put himself under its microscope. Taking the helm of the new health venture funded by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway is the riskiest move of his career — one that will subject his acclaimed New Yorker narratives to a real-world stress test whose outcome is far from certain. In the balance will hang not just his reputation as a physician and writer, but perhaps the highest-profile effort to date to leverage the private sector to fix America’s fragmented and dysfunctional health care system. Gawande has made a name for himself by proposing novel solutions to the system’s many shortcomings — from surgical checklists to rooting out unnecessary care — and testing them in specific hospitals or markets around the world. (Ross, 7/9)
NPR:
133,000 Nebraskans Sign Petitions To Put Medicaid Expansion On The Ballot
Voters in Nebraska may get to decide whether their state expands Medicaid this November. Supporters of Nebraska's Medicaid expansion campaign, Insure the Good Life, turned in petitions bearing more than 133,000 signatures to the secretary of state Thursday. If 85,000 are validated, the issue will appear on ballots this fall. (Knapp, 7/6)
The Associated Press:
Advocates: Dental Care Denied Wrongly After Medicaid Cuts
Some children and pregnant women in Kentucky have wrongly been denied access to dental care since the state abruptly cut dental and vision coverage for as many as 460,000 people, public health advocates say. The cuts came after Gov. Matt Bevin's plan to overhaul the state's Medicaid program was blocked by a federal judge. (7/6)
The Associated Press:
GOP Governor Cuts Health Care To Take Anti-Abortion Stand
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster removed $16 million for health care from the state budget, saying Friday he wanted to make sure no taxpayer money goes to abortion providers. The Republican governor said he was keeping a promise he made repeatedly as he campaigns for a full term, disagreeing with Democrats and some Republicans who said Planned Parenthood gets less than $100,000 of the money and all of it goes for family planning and not abortion. (7/6)
The Associated Press:
Indiana Sees Increase In Abortions For First Time Since 2009
The number of abortions performed in Indiana increased last year for the first time since 2009, a state report shows. Nearly 7,800 women opted to terminate pregnancies in Indiana in 2017, almost 500 more than the previous year, according to an annual report released June 30 by the Indiana State Department of Health. The report looks at abortion trends over a five-year period. (7/6)
NPR:
Greater Opioid Use Linked To Higher Chance Of Arrests, Criminal Convictions
People addicted to prescription opioids or heroin are far more likely to have run-ins with the law than those who don't use opioids, according to a study published Friday in JAMA Network Open. The study provides the first nationwide estimate for the number of people using opioids who end up in the American criminal justice system. The results suggest a need to engage law enforcement officials and corrections systems to tackle the opioid epidemic. (Chatterjee, 7/6)
Stat:
A Case Study In The Fast-Rising Threat Of Antibiotic Resistance
In the good old days — way back in early 2012 — people who contracted gonorrhea were given a single pill to cure the infection. A newly published paper shows that a time is fast approaching when a far more onerous course of medical care may be required to get rid of a bacterium that seems hell-bent on becoming untreatable. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bug that causes gonorrhea, has relentlessly vanquished every antibiotic medical practice has used against it. The current recommended cure — an injection of a drug called ceftriaxone, given in combination with a second antibiotic, azithromycin — is the last good option to treat this infection, and there are already signs that its days may be numbered. (Branswell, 7/6)
The Washington Post:
Do ‘Social’ Egg Freezers Use Their Eggs? Here Are New Numbers From A Large Fertility Center.
Social egg freezing is a big topic of conversation in our office these days. My colleague Nicole Ellis has launched a video docuseries about her journey to figure out whether she should use the technology to save eggs that she could potentially use to fertilize later, when she feels the time is right. ("Social" differentiates this reason for egg storage from, say, freezing eggs before cancer treatment or for other medical reasons.) A number of other 20- and 30-something reporters, editors, producers and others are thinking about the procedure, too. (Cha, 7/6)
The Washington Post:
Relationships Protect Your Health, Even Casual Ones
Close relationships with family and friends, we know, are important for our health and well-being. But what about the people who make up our broader social networks: the parents at school drop-off, the neighbor down the street or that colleague in another department who always makes you laugh? While research on the benefits of social connections has generally focused on the importance of “strong ties,” or the intimate relationships we have with family and close friends, a growing body of research is shedding light on the hidden benefits of casual acquaintances, too. Surprisingly, these “weak ties” (that funny colleague, for example) can serve important functions such as boosting physical and psychological health and buffering against stress and loneliness, researchers have found. (Wallace, 7/7)
The Washington Post:
Nutrition And Diet Advice Often Are Small Part Of Medical Education
When Americans hear about a health craze, they may turn to their physician for advice: Will that superfood really boost brain function? Is that supplement okay for me to take? Or they may be interested in food choices because of obesity, malnutrition or the role of diet in chronic disease. But a doctor may not be a reliable source. Experts say that while most physicians may recognize that diet is influential in health, they don’t learn enough about nutrition in medical school or the training programs that follow. (Cernansky, 7/8)
The Washington Post:
Aphasia Makes You Lose Your Words After Brain Damage
What if you wanted to speak but couldn’t string together recognizable words? What if someone spoke to you but you couldn’t understand what they were saying? These situations aren’t hypothetical for the more than 1 million Americans with aphasia, which affects the ability to understand and speak with others. Aphasia occurs in people who have had strokes, traumatic brain injuries or other brain damage. Some victims have a scrambled vocabulary or are unable to express themselves; others find it hard to make sense of the words they read or hear. (Blakemore, 7/7)
The Washington Post:
When Searching For Happiness, Try Eating Popcorn With Chopsticks
It happens fast: You crack open a bottle of your favorite drink and put it to your lips. The delicious flavor is nearly overwhelming. But a minute later, you’re barely noticing the taste as you drink it. Or you buy a new car and think it will make you smile every time you drive it for years. But a month later, that sensation is gone. Now it’s just a car. (Smith and O'Brien, 7/7)
NPR:
Essential Tremor Treatment Uses Focused Ultrasound
Alan Dambach was in his late 50s when he noticed how unsteady his hands had become. Over the next decade, his tremor got so bad he had difficulty eating with a spoon or fixing equipment at his family's tree farm in western Pennsylvania. "I couldn't get nuts and bolts to work," he says. (Hamilton, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Retirement Communities Turn Their Sights On A Once-Invisible Group: LGBT Seniors
In 2016, as Kenneth MacLean was about to turn 90 and was looking to move to a retirement community, he had a question for Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, Md. “I asked, ‘Would there be many gays here? Would gays be welcomed?’ ” MacLean, a retired Unitarian minister, wanted to be sure his partner of 22 years, a man who lives in England and spends several months a year visiting him, would be welcomed by staff and other residents. (Bahrampour, 7/8)
NPR:
To Repel Ticks, Try Spraying Your Clothes With A Pesticide Called Permethrin
There's new evidence to support a decades-old strategy for preventing the tick bites that lead to all sorts of nasty diseases, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The remedy involves spraying your clothing with permethrin — a pesticide that's chemically similar to extracts of the flowering chrysanthemum plant. (Aubrey, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Kalea And Noah Avery: Brother And Sister Were Diagnosed With The Same Brain Tumor Less Than Two Weeks Apart
Just weeks after their 6-year-old daughter started complaining about severe headaches, after numerous doctors' appointments and desperate trips to the emergency room — and after doctors discovered a brain tumor and took it out — it was happening all over again. Duncan and Nohea Avery had been tending to their daughter, Kalea, who was recovering last month from surgery to remove a medulloblastoma when they learned their 4-year-old son had one, too. (Bever, 7/7)
The Associated Press:
AP Exclusive: Washington Psychiatric Hospital Called 'Hell'
Behind tall brick walls and secure windows, hundreds of patients at Washington state's largest psychiatric hospital live in conditions that fail U.S. health and safety standards, while overworked nurses and psychiatrists say they are navigating a system that punishes employees who speak out despite critical staffing shortages. "They don't have enough staff to protect patients, or provide them with the bare minimum of care," said Lisa Bowser, whose mother spent two years at Western State Hospital and suffered dozens of falls and assaults. (7/6)
The Associated Press:
Sanders: Nurses' Contract Negotiation Is About Priorities
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders threw his support behind University of Vermont Medical Center nurses ahead of union negotiations Friday, saying hospital administrators need to increase wages and avert a scheduled strike. Sanders railed against the "exorbitant" salaries paid to hospital administrators, including over $2 million paid to hospital network's CEO John Brumsted. (7/6)
The Associated Press:
Family Of Ohio State Doctor Says It's Cooperating In Probe
The family of a former Ohio State University team doctor accused by athletes of sexual misconduct says it is "shocked and saddened" by the allegations and is cooperating with the school's independent investigation. The Columbus Dispatch in a story published online Saturday said the statement was emailed by Scott Strauss. He's the son of the late Dr. Richard Strauss, who killed himself in 2005 at age 67. The statement said Strauss' family learned from news reports about the allegations that athletes were fondled by Strauss during medical examinations. The allegations date back to the 1970s. (7/7)