The Hill: Google Parent Invests $375M In ObamaCare Startup Oscar
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is investing $375 million in Oscar Health, a startup health insurance company seeking to redefine the industry by using technology and data. The infusion of funding from the parent of a major technology giant is a vote of confidence in Oscar Health, which has been closely watched for how well it will be able to shake up the health insurance industry. (Sullivan, 8/14)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar Health To Launch Medicare Advantage Plans In 2020 With Alphabet Investment 
With the investment, New York-based Oscar said it would enter the Medicare Advantage space in 2020 and expand its presence in the individual and small business markets. Salar Kamangar, a Google executive and the former CEO of YouTube, is also joining Oscar's board. "Oscar will accelerate the pursuit of its mission: to make our healthcare system work for consumers. We will continue to build a member experience that lowers costs and improves care, and to bring Oscar to more people," Oscar CEO Mario Schlosser said in a statement. (Livingston, 8/14)

Bloomberg: Alphabet Makes A $375 Million Bet On Obamacare Startup Oscar
Oscar has been selling health plans under the Affordable Care Act since 2013. The New York-based company has about 240,000 members this year, and plans to expand into several new markets in 2019. (Tracer, 8/14)

Politico: Oral Arguments In Texas Obamacare Suit Set For Sept. 10
Oral arguments have been scheduled for Sept. 10 in a Texas lawsuit seeking to strike down Obamacare as unconstitutional. The case was filed in February by 20 Republican state attorneys general. They’re seeking a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the federal health care law. (Demko, 8/14)

In other news —

Kaiser Health News: States Leverage Federal Funds To Help Insurers Lower Premiums
When Tracy Deis decided in 2016 to transition from a full-time job to part-time contract work, the loss of her employer’s health insurance was not a major worry because she knew she could get coverage through the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act. But price was a big concern.“The ACA made it possible to make the switch in my life,” said Deis, 48, who lives in Minneapolis. But she quickly added, “I was really worried about the cost.” (Findlay, 8/15)

Stat: Oregon Medicaid Program Could Cut Off Chronic Pain Patients From Opioids 
These days, [Laura] Dolph has another concern on her mind. State officials are considering a first-in-the-nation proposal that would end coverage of opioids for many chronic pain patients who, like her, are enrolled in Oregon’s Medicaid program. Over just 12 months, beginning in 2020, they would see their opioid doses tapered to zero. The state declined to provide an estimate of how many pain patients the policy could affect. But nearly 1 million Oregonians are enrolled in Medicaid. More than 10 percent of adults nationwide have experienced pain every day for the previous three months. (Facher, 8/15)

Stateline: For Addicted Women, The Year After Childbirth Is The Deadliest 
In a study published this month, co-authored by [Mishka] Terplan, researchers tracked more than 4,000 Massachusetts women with an opioid addiction for a year before and a year after delivery. The results confirmed for the first time what many practitioners had observed: Opioid overdose deaths decline during pregnancy and peak in the seven to 12 months postpartum. Since the study only included Massachusetts residents, lack of insurance following childbirth was not a contributing factor. Even so, postpartum gaps in opioid treatment, such as the discontinuation of addiction medications, may have contributed to some overdose deaths, according to the study. (Vestal, 8/14)

PBS NewsHour: A Festering Opioid Crisis, Worn-Out Families And ‘So Much Pain To Process’
In “Dopesick,” journalist and author Beth Macy takes readers to the front lines of the opioid epidemic in Roanoke, Virginia, and other nearby communities, telling the story of grieving families, exhausted medical workers and convicted heroin dealers. (Brown, 8/14)

CQ: Democrats Seek Election Wins By Focusing On Opioid Epidemic
Vulnerable red state Democrats are highlighting their work to address the opioid crisis in an effort to hold on to their congressional seats, even as it remains unclear whether the Senate will take key action before the midterm elections. While the opioid epidemic is a priority for much of Congress, candidates in especially hard hit states, such as West Virginia, have made it a core issue in their re-election bids. (Raman, 8/14)

The New York Times: Fentanyl Used To Execute Nebraska Inmate, In A First For U.S.
Prison officials in Nebraska used the powerful opioid fentanyl to help execute a convicted murderer on Tuesday, the first such use of the drug in the United States and the first execution in the state since voters overturned a death penalty ban in 2016. The use of fentanyl, an opioid at the heart of the nation’s overdose crisis, as part of a previously untested four-drug cocktail drew concern from death penalty experts who questioned how the execution unfolded. And here in Nebraska, a state that last killed a prisoner in 1997, the lethal injection represented a stark political turnabout from when legislators outlawed capital punishment three years ago. (Smith, 8/14)

San Jose Mercury News: Report: Demi Lovato's Overdose Likely Caused By Fentanyl
Demi Lovato’s near-death overdose in July was likely caused by free-basing Oxycodone laced with fentanyl, the same high-powered opioid implicated in the deaths of Prince and Lil Peep, TMZ reported. The 25-year-old singer had been on a downward spiral for several months after admitting she had relapsed after six years of sobriety. On the morning of July 24, she returned to her Los Angeles home after being at a birthday party at a West Hollywood club on the Sunset Strip, TMZ reported. (Ross, 8/14)

WBUR: Opioid Law Is A 'Blueprint' For The Nation, Gov. Baker Says At Ceremonial Signing
After launching his re-election campaign over the weekend, Gov. Charlie Baker drew attention Tuesday to legislation that aims to expand treatment for opioid addiction across the state. The law, which Baker signed last week, is one of the success stories to come out of the Legislature in the closing, harried days of formal sessions in July, when some initiatives, including health care and education funding reforms, fell apart. (Triunfo, 8/14)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Public Gives Input On Federal Grant To Combat Opioids In N.H.
Patty Crooker of Nashua says there needs to be more education and better mobile services for people battling addiction. Corienne Dodge would like to see more sober housing in New Hampshire that would remain under the watchful eye of heightened government oversight. Cathy Thompson of UNH’s Northeast Passage program, which promotes recreation opportunities for individuals with disabilities, wants the state to support more therapy options for people in treatment and recovery. (Dawson, 8/14)

Reuters: New York Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Over Opioids
New York state on Tuesday sued Purdue Pharma LP, accusing the OxyContin maker of widespread fraud and deception in the marketing of opioids, and contributing to a nationwide epidemic that has killed thousands. The state blamed Purdue for running what it called a reckless, decades-long scheme to mislead doctors and patients by overstating the ability of opioids to improve bodily function, while downplaying the risk of addiction. (8/14)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Becomes Latest To Sue Purdue Over Opioid Crisis
With the suit, New York becomes the latest of 27 states to sue the manufacturer for its alleged role in the opioid crisis. While other states such as Florida and Ohio have targeted drug manufacturers and distributors, Purdue is the only defendant listed in the lawsuit spearheaded by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration and New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. (Porter, 8/14)

ProPublica: Trusted Health Sites Spread Myths About A Deadly Pregnancy Complication
Preeclampsia, a dangerous form of hypertension that can develop during pregnancy or in the days and weeks after childbirth, is one of the most common causes of maternal death and severe complications in the U.S. ...But you’d never know it from the incomplete, imprecise, outdated and sometimes misleading information published by some of the most trusted consumer health sites in the country. (Martin, 8/14)

Denver Post: Colorado Seventh Best State To Have A Baby
The holiday season was about nine months ago. Thus, it’s now baby season. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that August is the most popular birth month. And Coloradans are in luck, because the state was recently ranked by WalletHub as the seventh best state to have a baby. WalletHub’s study compared 26 key measures across the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the most ideal place to give birth. Factors included birthing costs, health care accessibility and family friendliness. (Fries, 8/14)

The Washington Post: The FDA Approved An App To Prevent Pregnancy. Can An App Do That?
Contraception? Yes, there’s an app for that. And an FDA-approved app at that. Last week, Natural Cycles became the first app approved by the government to prevent pregnancy. The Swedish-based company had been cleared in Europe in 2017 and is an emerging name within the “Femtech” industry — a catchall for “female health technology” that has reaped an estimated $1 billion of investment worldwide in the past three years. (Siegel, 8/14)

California Healthline: Battle Lines Drawn As Abortion-Rights Activists Leave Their Mark Outside Clinics 
Haley Pollock carries a box of chalk in her car, ready for action. In her spare time, she and fellow community activists convert the sidewalks outside of crisis pregnancy centers into political canvases, scrawling phrases such as “Fake Women’s Clinic Ahead” and “End the Lies.” Her team soon plans to carry out nighttime sorties — guerrilla-style — so people living near these centers find the pink, blue and yellow messages first thing in the morning. (Ibarra, 8/14)

Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Abortion Clinic The Women's Center Closing Its Doors
One of only two abortion clinics in Nashville is closing its doors, and it remains unclear when or where it will reopen. The Women’s Center, which has operated in the city since 1990, stopped taking new patients over the weekend and is now referring women to clinics in Knoxville and Bristol, said clinic attorney Thomas Jessee. The center is closing because the owners have agreed to sell the building and the details of the sale are being finalized, Jessee said. The Women's Center intends to reopen and is now searching for a new location, he said. (Kelman, 8/14)

Stat: As Alzheimer's Drug Makers Abandon Today's Patients, Where Is The Outrage? 
When virologists and drug developers were too slow in finding ways to save the lives of people with HIV/AIDS and refused to give patients access to experimental drugs 30 years ago, activists chained themselves to a balcony on the New York Stock Exchange, held demonstrations where scores were arrested, and effectively shut down the Food and Drug Administration for a day. The lack of progress against Alzheimer’s disease has brought somewhat less outrage. Although the latest analysis of experimental Alzheimer’s drugs finds that literally zero are being tested in late-stage clinical trials to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer’s, no patient advocacy groups uttered a peep in protest. (Begley, 8/15)

The New York Times: The ‘Zombie Gene’ That May Protect Elephants From Cancer
Elephants ought to get a lot of cancer. They’re huge animals, weighing as much as eight tons. It takes a lot of cells to make up that much elephant. All of those cells arose from a single fertilized egg, and each time a cell divides, there’s a chance that it will gain a mutation — one that may lead to cancer. Strangely, however, elephants aren’t more prone to cancer than smaller animals. Some research even suggests they get less cancer than humans do. (Zimmer, 8/14)

The Washington Post: A Traumatic Brain Injury May Increase The Risk Of Suicide, Study Says
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults in the developed world. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. Though the reasons for any particular suicide are often inscrutable, research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that at least a fraction of the blame could be placed on traumatic brain injuries. (Nutt, 8/14)

The New York Times: Should You Choose A Female Doctor?
Does gender matter when choosing a doctor? Whether your doctor is male or female could be a matter of life or death, a new study suggests. The study, of more than 580,000 heart patients admitted over two decades to emergency rooms in Florida, found that mortality rates for both women and men were lower when the treating physician was female. And women who were treated by male doctors were the least likely to survive. (Parker-Pope, 8/14)

The New York Times: Black Boys Feel Less Safe In White Neighborhoods, Study Shows
Many black boys have been racially profiled, arrested or even killed in white neighborhoods because the residents were afraid of them. A new study suggests the boys are afraid, too. The study, which was released on Monday, found that “African-American boys experience a decreased sense of safety” when in neighborhoods with a larger white population than areas they normally frequent. Black boys “will expect increased scrutiny, surveillance and even direct targeting as they traverse whiter spaces,” the study found. Black girls did not report feeling significantly less safe in such areas. (Garcia, 8/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Ebola Outbreak Spreads To Conflict Zone In Democratic Republic Of Congo
A deadly outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread outside the province of North Kivu, the country’s health ministry said Tuesday, entering for the first time an active conflict zone and raising the threat of a wider outbreak. Forty-one people have died in Congo’s current epidemic, which started last month in the gold- and tin-mining heartlands of North Kivu. An earlier Ebola outbreak in Congo’s northwest had been declared over just a week earlier. (Bariyo, 8/14)

San Jose Mercury News: FDA Widens Its Recall Of Tainted Blood Pressure Drugs
Be aware that the FDA has widened its recall of tainted blood pressure medication containing the drug valsartan. A limited recall began in July but has since been expanded to this list of drugs. (D'Souza, 8/14)

ProPublica: Illinois Lawmakers Search For Solutions For Children Stuck in Psychiatric Hospitals
Illinois lawmakers Tuesday heard testimony from nearly a dozen doctors and child welfare advocates describing circumstances facing children who languish in psychiatric hospitals even after they had been cleared for discharge — circumstances so harrowing that some children chose jail over another night at a psychiatric facility. State Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, called for the Senate Human Services Committee hearing following a ProPublica Illinois investigation that revealed that hundreds of children in care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spent weeks or months at a time locked in psychiatric hospitals after doctors had cleared them for release. (Eldeib and Floyd, 8/14)

The Washington Post: Lawsuit Alleges D.C. Has Failed Hundreds Of Emotionally Disturbed Children
Attorneys at several disability rights organizations have filed a class-action lawsuit against the D.C. government, alleging that District officials have failed to provide adequate mental-health services for hundreds of severely troubled children. The suit, filed in federal court Tuesday on behalf of two unnamed minors, states that the District did not give the children access to intensive outpatient counseling and mentoring programs. (Jamison, 8/14)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: For The First Time In Years, Health Care May Be A Winning Issue For Democrats
Democrats are optimistic that the health care divide will break in their favor for the November election; polling, Google Analytics data and special election results point to an electorate more concerned about the issue. But Republicans are confident that a strong economy will stave off any blue wave in Ohio, regardless of the increased interest in health care. (Richardson, 8/14)

Reuters: Monsanto Roundup Appeal Has Uphill Climb On 'Junk Science' Grounds: Legal Experts
Bayer AG unit Monsanto faces long odds on an appeal blaming an "inflamed" jury and "junk science" for a verdict of $289 million in damages to a man who said the company's Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, according to some legal experts. Last week's verdict ended the first trial over whether glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, causes cancer. Monsanto, which says decades of scientific studies have shown Roundup and glyphosate are safe, is facing about 5,000 similar lawsuits nationwide. (8/14)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Medical Society Aims To Curb Physician Burnout
The medical society, one of the oldest medical societies in the west, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, is attempting to curb the effects of physician burnout through its Joy of Medicine program. The program is a multi-disciplinary approach to address burnout by encouraging wellness and resiliency among physicians in the region. (Holzer, 8/15)

Nashville Tennessean: Blue Cross Customers May Get 'Surprise' Bills For Anesthesia In Nashville
[Halie] Gallik is one of many pregnant women and surgery patients caught in the middle of a corporate tug of war that threatens to cost them hundreds or thousands in unexpected medical bills. Unless two giant companies broker a peace agreement soon, patients throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee will end up paying more for anesthesia during non-emergency surgeries, including births. This abrupt rise in out-of-pocket costs is the result of stalled negotiations between the state’s largest insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, and the state’s largest anesthesiologist company, Anesthesia Medical Group, or AMG, which works in nearly every hospital in Middle Tennessee. The companies have been unable to agree on new insurance reimbursement rates, so BlueCross plans to remove AMG from its coverage network if a compromise is not reached by the end of the month. (Kelman, 8/14)

The Associated Press: Maryland Takes Responsibility For Mistakes In Player Death
The University of Maryland acknowledged Tuesday that the football player who collapsed during practice and subsequently died did not receive proper medical care and the school must accept “legal and moral responsibility for the mistakes.” Maryland also parted ways with strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, who resigned in the wake of the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair. (Ginsburg, 8/14)

Sacramento Bee: 14,000 CalPERS Members Must Find A New 2019 Health Plan
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System recently negotiated its lowest premium increases in the past 21 years, which will mean lowered health premiums for 800,000 members in 2019. As a result of the changes, CalPERS will part ways with two major providers – Health Net and Blue Shield – in some areas. (Holzer, 8/15)

The Associated Press: Medical Device Maker Settles Suit Over Psychologist’s Death
A medical device maker has settled a lawsuit over the death of a prominent Yale University psychologist who died in 2013 when a machine part detached and caused her blood to be pumped onto a hospital room floor. Germany-based Maquet Cardiopulmonary and its U.S. sales division based in Wayne, New Jersey, settled the lawsuit in Connecticut with the husband of Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, according to documents filed Friday at Waterbury Superior Court. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Collins, 8/14)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Has Highest Ratio Of Students To School Counselors In U.S.
Arizona's student to school counselor ratio is the highest in the nation, averaging 903 students to every one counselor in public schools in the 2015-16 school year, according to data from the American School Counselor Association. Arizona held a 743-1 ratio a decade ago, but climbed as high as 941-1 in the post-recession years before slowly improving, data shows. (MacDonald-Evoy and Altavena, 8/14)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: East Jefferson General Hospital, HCA Partnership Talks End 
East Jefferson General Hospital and a partnership between Tulane University and national health care giant HCA have ended negotiations to form an alliance that might have had HCA take over the 420-bed Metairie medical center. It's the latest setback in a six-year effort to shore up finances and secure the legacy of one of Jefferson Parish's two publicly owned hospitals. The talks with University Healthcare System began in 2017, two years after the collapse of similar discussions between East Jefferson General and the Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA. HCA already jointly owns or operates Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, Lakeside Hospital for Women and Children in Metairie and Lakeview Regional Medical Center at Covington. (Broach, 8/14)

Chicago Tribune: Northwestern Memorial Ranked Best Hospital In Illinois 
It’s lucky No. 7 for Northwestern Memorial Hospital: For the seventh year in a row, the Chicago hospital has been named the best in the state by U.S. News & World Report. Northwestern was also the only Illinois hospital to crack the top 20 in the country, settling into the No. 13 spot for the second year in a row, according to the rankings, which were released at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday. (Schencker, 8/13)

Georgia Health News: Cancer Report Ranks Georgia Low, Cites State’s Tobacco Tax, Funding
Georgia earned high marks in just two of nine categories related to fighting cancer, according to a recent report. ...The state scored Green on access to palliative care and on funding for early detection of breast and cervical cancer. Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation services received a “Yellow,’’ signifying moderate progress. (Miller, 8/14)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Study Points To Failing Skills, But AARP NH Says Many Drive Capably 
A new national study concludes many seniors outlive the age they are capable of driving by seven to 10 years, yet more than 80 percent fail to talk to a doctor or family member about it. But leaders of the New Hampshire chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons say many seniors can and do drive capably into their 80s and each person’s skills on the road erode on an individual basis. (Landrigan, 8/14)

The Associated Press: California May Redo Law To Treat, Free Suspects
California Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tighten a law he signed weeks ago that critics say could have freed rapists and murderers who completed two years of mental health treatment. The proposal obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday specifically bans those charged with murder, rape and other sex crimes from participating and allows judges to bar a much broader range of dangerous suspects. (Thompson, 8/14)

Pioneer Press: Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman Says He Has Lung Cancer
Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman announced on Facebook Tuesday that he has advanced lung cancer. Coleman, who served as mayor of St. Paul from 1994 to 2002, had previously battled throat and neck cancer. He said he is two weeks into chemotherapy treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer, an advanced stage where “the prognosis … is typically not optimistic.” (Melo, 8/14)

Arizona Republic: Circle The City Comes Full Circle With Phoenix Homeless Respite Clinic
It's been just a few weeks since Circle the City cut the ribbon on its new medical respite center — a 50-bed facility where people experiencing homelessness and medical concerns can live and get treatment from onsite doctors. Circle the City's concept for the respite center is simple and novel at the same time: "Everyone deserves a time and place to heal." (Boehm, 8/14)

The Associated Press: North Dakota Recreational Pot Measure Approved For Ballot
Supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota have succeeded in bringing the matter to a public vote later this year. Proponents submitted more than the required 13,452 valid petition signatures to get a measure on the November general election ballot, Secretary of State Al Jaeger announced Monday. Supporters submitted 17,695 signatures last month, and 14,637 were deemed valid, he said. (Nicholson, 8/14)

Stat: National Governors Association Promotes Ideas To Lower Drug Costs
As cash-strapped states across America struggle with their drug spending, the National Governors Association has suggested several ways to address the problem, from bulk purchasing and alternative payment plans to the use of metrics for assessing the value of medicines. The ideas were released in a long-awaited report by the group, which has sought ideas from economists and public health officials for containing rising prescription drug expenses. The initiative was triggered, in particular, by two events over the past few years: revolutionary but pricey new medicines for combating hepatitis C, and the rising costs of coping with the ongoing opioid crisis. (Silverman, 8/14)

Bloomberg: Generic Drugmakers Struggle Despite U.S. Push For Copycats
Generic drugmakers are being crushed by the very forces that the Trump administration is counting on to drive down prescription costs. While policy makers are betting that opening the market to a deluge of new medicines and reforming the drug supply chain will help contain rising prices, many widely used copycat medications are already seeing their prices fall at such a rapid rate that their makers are struggling to keep their heads above water. (Koons, 8/9)

Axios: Wall Street Still Isn't Scared Of Trump's Drug Price Plan
Wall Street still mostly believes President Trump's drug pricing blueprint doesn't present any immediate, large-scale disruptions to the industry as the Trump administration remains focused on changing things like rebates instead lowering net prices. (Herman, 8/13)

PBS NewsHour: Do Prescription Drug Middlemen Help Keep Prices High?
Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any country in the world, and the pharmaceutical industry earns billions in profits each year. Critics blame pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for a portion of those high costs through their role as middlemen between insurance plans, drug makers and pharmacies—but PBMs say they save consumers money. (Thompson and Rothman, 8/11)

Stat: Ohio Medicaid Cancels Contracts With Two Big PBMs Over 'Spread' Pricing 
In an unexpected move, Ohio officials are immediately ending contracts with two of the largest pharmacy benefit managers over pricing practices that cost the state tens of millions of dollars. The decision comes amid controversy over the fees that PBMs pay pharmacies for medicines and what they bill back to the Ohio Medicaid program, a practice known as spread pricing. A report commissioned by state officials found that two PBMs — CVS Caremark (CVS) and OptumRx — reaped more than $223 million by working on behalf of state Medicaid plans during a recent 12-month period. (Silverman, 8/14)

Axios: When Combining Aleve And Nexium Equals A High Drug Price
Common medications like ibuprofen or naproxen don't cost a lot on their own. But in several instances, drug manufacturers blend those kinds of medicines into one tablet and then sell the combined drug for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. (Herman, 8/13)

San Antonio Press-Express: The Real Reason Texans Are Grappling With High Drug Costs
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, the obscure firms that administer prescription drug plans for insurers, are milking the system. Their unique perch between drug companies and pharmacies keeps them out of the spotlight — and has enabled them to boost their profit margins by saddling patients with ever-rising pharmacy bills. (Bearden, 8/12)

Kaiser Health News: Pharmacy-Made Pain Creams Flagged On Fears Of Medicare Fraud And Risk
Medicare pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year for prescription creams, gels and lotions made-to-order by pharmacies — mainly as pain treatments. But a new report finds that officials are concerned about possible fraud and patient safety risks from products made at nearly a quarter of the pharmacies that fill the bulk of those prescriptions. “Although some of this billing may be legitimate, all of these pharmacies warrant further scrutiny,” concludes the report from the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services. (Appleby, 8/9)

Reuters: Biogen's Pricey Muscle Drug Spinraza Too Costly For Britain
Biogen's muscle disease treatment Spinraza has been deemed too expensive for use on Britain's state-run health service, even after a price discount offered by the U.S. drugmaker. Spinraza, which has a U.S. list price of $750,000 in the first year of treatment, is a big money-spinner in Biogen's home market. But Britain's healthcare cost agency NICE said on Tuesday it could not recommend it as a cost effective treatment. (8/13)

Stat: Gilead Patent For Its Hepatitis C Drug Is Invalidated By Chinese Authorities
In a setback for Gilead Sciences (GILD), Chinese authorities have rejected a key patent for its Sovaldi hepatitis C medicine, opening the door to generic versions of the groundbreaking pill a few years sooner than might have occurred otherwise. The decision emerges from an ongoing effort by different advocacy groups to challenge Gilead patents for its hepatitis C medicines around the world in hopes of widening access. Although Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs have revolutionized treatment, they have also strained budgets, especially among cash-strapped governments with large numbers of citizens who are infected with the virus. (Silverman, 8/13)

The New York Times: The Large Hidden Costs Of Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program
At a glance, Medicare’s prescription drug program — also called Medicare Part D — looks like the perfect example of a successful public-private partnership. Drug benefits are entirely provided by private insurance plans, with generous government subsidies. There are lots of plans to choose from. It’s a wildly popular voluntary program, with 73 percent of Medicare beneficiaries participating. Premiums have exhibited little to no growth since the program’s inception in 2006. (Austin Frakt, 8/13)

The Hill: New Medicare Drug Pricing Rule — A Small 'Step' In The Right Direction
The Trump administration’s most recent effort to fight high prices for prescription drugs takes a small step in the right direction. A recent new rule issued by Health and Human Services will use market-based competition to help lower the cost of prescription drugs for the more market- sensitive Medicare Advantage program. Medical care providers have a financial incentive to prescribe expensive medicines because they often earn a commission based on the value of the drugs they prescribe. Thus, the cheaper the drug, the less commission the care provider stands to earn. (Rea S. Hederman, 8/11)

Forbes: Why Medicare Can't Get The Lowest Drug Prices
When you're one of the biggest buyers of pharmaceuticals on the planet, you should have a big stick to negotiate the best prices.Medicare, which insures more than 60 million beneficiaries, doesn't have that power, mostly because Congress stopped it from getting the best drug prices years ago. But that could change. The anti-consumer poison pill was embedded in a law ironically called the Medicare Modernization Act. Among other things, it put corporate Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in charge of acquiring drugs through Medicare's "Part D" plan. (John Wasik, 8/10)

USA Today: Insulin Is A Human Right For Me, All Diabetics
Perhaps it's time for Congress to introduce legislation that ends the needless inflation of medications like insulin — which people would die without — or to take it one step further and make all medication that is necessary to sustain a life free to those who need it. It is absolutely shameful that in America, a developed country that is capable of spending over half of its federal spending budget on the military and only a measly six percent on health care allows people to die slow, painful, preventable deaths because medical care is too expensive. (Victoria Gagliardo-Silver, 8/13)

Bloomberg: Icahn's Retreat May Hand Cigna A Pyrrhic Victory
Cigna Corp. won an unusual and very fast victory against Carl Icahn. The activist investor announced Monday night that he was dropping his nascent effort to block the health insurer’s $54 billion takeover of pharmacy benefit management giant Express Scripts Holding Co. Cigna may end up regretting its win,  though. Icahn’s crusade was financially motivated, but he was right to point out the escalating risks of this deal. (Max Nisen, 8/14)

Stat: The Real Chris Collins Scandal: Lax Conflict-Of-Interest Rules In Congress
In the aftermath of Rep. Chris Collins’ (R-N.Y.) arrest last week on insider trading charges stemming from his involvement with an Australian biotech company, it is tempting to focus public attention and anger on his alleged crimes. But we should be far more concerned by what the episode reveals about Congress’ failure to regulate members’ financial conflicts of interest. (Matthew S. McCoy and Genevieve P. Kanter, 8/14)

Bloomberg: Trump Hurts U.S. Exports In The Marketplace Of Ideas
If you are a believer in free markets, you might be tempted to be pleased by some of the more positive policies of the Trump administration: lower corporate tax rates, more market-friendly judges, a greater emphasis on deregulation. Resist (the temptation, if not the administration). When it comes to ideas, the lifeblood of capitalism, the influence of President Donald Trump isn’t nearly so benign.In fact, even without considering its policy on free trade, advocates of dynamic capitalism should be especially suspicious of the Trump presidency. Consider one of the most prominent pro-market arguments, as it is applied to some other more general contexts. (Tyler Cowen, 8/14)

Stat: Transparent Pharmacy Benefits: A Path To Rational Drug Costs
Now that states are moving to block pharmacy benefit managers from imposing “gag orders” on pharmacists, industry insiders and policymakers are sounding off louder than ever about the tendency for pharmacy benefit managers to extract value from the health system rather than add value to it. A handful of these companies might be bucking that trend, and more could follow — with a push from business owners. (David Chase, 8/14)

Stat: Medicare Should Pay Doctors More, Not Less, For Treating The Sickest Patients
Some doctors don’t like to admit it, but money can have a major influence on physicians’ behaviors. For years, Medicare seemed to recognize this by paying doctors more for complicated patient visits and less for straightforward ones. In addition to properly compensating physicians for more challenging work, this payment schedule helped encourage them to take on complex, time-consuming cases. The federal government recently announced plans to drastically alter Medicare payments to physicians by instituting a flat rate per visit, regardless of how sick a patient is. This change, which is slated to start in 2019, could have unintended — and harmful — consequences for patients with severe illnesses. (Timothy Sullivan, 8/15)

WBUR: Why Don't We Believe Women When They Tell Us They're Sick?
For decades, studies have shown that women with chronic pain conditions are more likely than men to be wrongly diagnosed with mental health conditions and prescribed psychotropic drugs. When men and women offer similar complaints of pain, women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives instead of pain relieving drugs. (Amy Carleton, 8/15)

Stat: All States Should Require Mammogram Reports To List Presence Of Dense Breast Tissue
Most women — and their doctors — tend to think of mammography as a one-scan-works-for-all test. I learned the hard way that it isn’t. When I turned 36, I had a baseline mammogram. Then, beginning at age 40, I dutifully had a mammogram every year, convinced that it was the best way to detect breast cancer early should it ever appear. ...How could I be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer after not missing a mammogram in 11 years? I later learned that I have dense breast tissue, something that had been documented in the reports from the radiologists who read my mammography exams to my primary care physician. None of that information was ever shared with me. (Nancy M. Cappello, 8/15)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Dangerous Dehumanization Of The ‘Other’
No sooner had I ordered the 2011 book “Less Than Human” for a late-summer read than President Trump called Omarosa Manigault Newman a “dog” and a “lowlife.” Those two slurs fit nicely into author David Livingstone Smith’s philosophical study of man’s capacity to inflict cruelty by first dehumanizing the “other.” (Kathleen Parker, 8/14)

The Hill: Our Nation’s Community Health Care Centers Need Our Support 
Imagine being sick but lacking access to a primary care doctor. Consider needing a dentist or mental health practitioner but having no specialists available in your neighborhood. It’s a reality for 90 million Americans living in medically underserved communities across the country. That’s why community health centers play such a vital role helping more than 27 million Americans access comprehensive, affordable primary care. (Mark Leenay, 8/14)

WBUR: What's Next Now That Monsanto Was Found Liable In First Trial Over Weed Killer's Cancer Link
In the first of hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto to go to trial, a jury in San Francisco concluded Friday that Roundup, the controversial agrochemical company's popular herbicide, likely caused the plaintiff to develop cancer. The jury ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages. (Richard Stevens, 8/14)

The Hill: Medicaid Needs To Be Allowed To Experiment With Work Requirements 
The Bible, Luke 12:48, it reads, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Much of society has functioned on this axiom since biblical times, and it has been a good thing. Our social safety net has been exempt from any requirement to receive benefits. While that may have worked in the past, or financial reality as a nation necessitates that change. But there is a push to make sure it doesn’t, a push that is going to speed the collapse of government programs designed to help those in need that have far exceeded their mandate and will end up hurting the very people they were created to help. (Richard Topping, 8/14)

Boston Globe: Ignoring The Benefits Of Supervised Injection Facilities Isn’t Just Callous. It’s Deadly
Despite a strong push from advocates and some movement in the Legislature, a proposal to begin experimenting with a controversial but lifesaving treatment strategy is on hold, possibly for years. Supervised injection facilities, or SIFs, provide a safer place to use drugs — a place where needles are clean and sterile, and where an overdose can be quickly treated by a professional. (Nestor Ramos, 8/14)

Los Angeles Times: How To Get Everyone To Agree On A New Site For Homeless Housing In Koreatown? Community Buy-In
The goal of these community conversations should be to determine where to put shelters — not to reopen the question of whether shelters are needed. Community groups and politicians around the city should take away that lesson from the Koreatown brouhaha. This should not be seen as an invitation to yell at your council member until he or she scotches plans entirely for a shelter. Shelters are essential all over the city. (8/14)

Sacramento Bee: California Legislature: Pass These Three Police Reform Bills
Assembly Bill 931, which is in danger of being abandoned by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, wouldn’t specifically require law enforcement agencies to adopt a foot pursuit policy. But by permitting the use of deadly force only when it’s “necessary” to stop an imminent threat of injury or death and only when attempts to de-escalate the situation with nonlethal tactics haven’t worked, the legislation would force cops across California to completely rethink the way they deal with suspects. (8/14)

The Star Tribune: Critical, Close-To-Home Challenge For New Mayo CEO: Rebuilding Trust Among Those Served By Regional Network
All Minnesotans should wish Dr. Gianrico Farrugia well as he steps up to lead the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The Rochester medical center isn’t just an economic powerhouse vital to the state’s future; it’s where Minnesotans for generations have sent their loved ones when serious illness strikes. While Mayo has navigated a turbulent era of reform well under outgoing CEO Dr. John Noseworthy, the pace of change is quickening in the health care industry, even at a medical destination with such a powerful brand name. Farrugia — a gastroenterologist and native of Malta who was named Noseworthy’s successor last week — has an impressive portfolio of management and medical accomplishments and appears well-prepared. We hope that Farrugia recognizes that a critical, close-to-home task lies ahead of him — rebuilding trust among those served by Mayo’s clinics and hospitals in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. (8/14)