First Edition: July 11, 2017

Kaiser Health News: Millions Of Kids Fall Outside Senate Plan To Shield Disabled From Medicaid Cuts
Aidan Long is a 13-year-old from Montana who has suffered multiple daily seizures since he was 4. The seizures defy medical cure, and some of them continue for weeks, requiring Aidan to be airlifted to children’s hospitals in Denver or Seattle, said his father, Ben Long. The medical bills to Medicaid and his private insurance have been enormous. “I kept track of these until about 2 million bucks, and then I said I can’t spend any more time worrying about it,” his father said. (Rau, 7/10)

Kaiser Health News: Crippling Medicaid Cuts Could Upend Rural Health Services
Each day as Ginger Peebles watches daughter Brenlee grow, she sees the importance of having a hospital close by that delivers babies. Brenlee’s birth was touch-and-go after Peebles realized something was wrong. “I couldn’t feel the baby move, and my blood pressure was sky-high,” said Peebles, a nurse. Dr. Roslyn Banks-Jackson, then an OB-GYN specialist at Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro, Ga., diagnosed preeclampsia, a potentially lethal complication of pregnancy, and induced labor to save Peebles and the baby. Brenlee was born on Oct. 28, 2014, completely healthy. (Anderson, 7/11)

California Healthline: Blue Shield Improperly Denied Mental Health, Drug Treatment Claims, Suit Alleges
Blue Shield of California and its claims administrator wrongly restricted patients’ access to outpatient and residential mental health treatment, a class-action lawsuit says. Initially filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the complaint comes from two parents who allege their teenage children were repeatedly denied coverage under their employer-based plans despite serious mental and substance abuse problems. In June, a federal district judge granted a request for class-action status, meaning that patients whose claims were rejected under similar circumstances may join as plaintiffs. (Korry, 7/11)

The Associated Press: GOP Health Care Divisions Multiply As Trump Pressures Senate
Republican divisions over health care multiplied Monday as President Donald Trump pressured GOP senators to act quickly, and Vice President Mike Pence suggested they might have to revert to a straightforward "Obamacare" repeal if they can't agree on an alternative. (Werner and Fram, 7/10)

Reuters: Healthcare Disagreements Roil U.S. Senate Republicans
With only three weeks left before a summer recess scheduled to stretch until Sept. 5, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared determined to keep trying to find agreement on a partisan, all-Republican bill. If he cannot, he will be faced with giving up on a seven-year Republican promise to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare - and possibly turning to Democrats for help in fixing problems with U.S. health insurance markets. (Cornwell and Becker, 7/10)

The Associated Press: Senate GOP Leaders Hope For Health Care Vote Next Week
"We need to start voting" on the GOP bill scuttling much of President Barack Obama's health care law, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Monday. Some Republicans said a revised version of the bill could be introduced Thursday, and Cornyn said the "goal" was for a vote next week. (Fram and Werner, 7/11)

Politico: GOP Struggles To Revamp Ailing Obamacare Repeal Bill
New bill text could be unveiled to senators as soon as Thursday, according to sources familiar with the proposal. A Congressional Budget Office score is likely to follow as soon as next Monday. (Everett, Haberkorn and Dawsey, 7/10)

USA Today: Senate Health Care Bill: Republicans Aim To Vote Next Week
When asked about a timeline for a new draft bill, McConnell’s spokesman David Popp was more vague. “I don't have any expectations of an exact bill release date, but the Leader said over the past couple weeks that a (Congressional Budget Office) score is forthcoming,” Popp told USA TODAY. The nonpartisan CBO analyzes costs and impacts of legislation and is reviewing changes to the draft health care bill Republicans are floating in hopes of winning support from more senators. (Collins, 7/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Republicans Set Sights On Revised Health Bill
The biggest sticking point in recent days has centered on a provision supported by GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah that would allow insurers that sell plans complying with ACA regulations to also sell health policies that don’t. Health analysts say that would likely lower premiums for younger, healthier people, who would buy more limited policies, while causing premiums to rise for people with pre-existing conditions, who would buy the more comprehensive plans that comply with the ACA. (Peterson, 7/10)

Politico: Conservatives Bet On Risky Plan That Could Tank Obamacare Markets
Ted Cruz’s plan to give insurers freedom to sell plans that don’t comply with Obamacare’s insurance regulations may be conservatives’ last best chance to salvage the stalled Senate health care bill. But it might also send Obamacare insurance markets into a death spiral. (Demko, 7/11)

Reuters: Trump Presses Congressional Republicans To Pass Healthcare Plan
President Donald Trump on Monday prodded the Republican-led U.S. Congress to pass major healthcare legislation but huge obstacles remained in the Senate as key lawmakers in his party voiced pessimism about the chances of rolling back the Obamacare law. (7/10)

The Washington Post: Senate Democrats Seek New Allies In Effort To Scuttle Obamacare Overhaul: Republican Governors
Senate Democrats have identified potential new allies in their effort to scuttle the current health-care proposal: Republican governors, particularly those who helped expand Medicaid in their states under the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), who is leading the effort with the support of fellow Democrats, called “a couple dozen” senators and governors from both parties over the recess, he said in an interview, to say “this is a good time for us to hit the pause button in the Senate, and step back and have some good heart-to-heart conversations” about how to revise the 2010 law. (Eilperin, Sullivan and O'Keefe, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Kaine Lobbies Against Republican Health-Care Plan
With the Republican health-care bill facing an uncertain fate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) on Monday addressed the potential effects of the legislation on children with complex medical conditions who rely on Medicaid — an effort to shame GOP members of Congress into compromise. “It’s important that we share stories about what Medicaid really does,” Kaine said before convening a roundtable discussion with parents of children with disabilities and health-care providers on Northern Virginia Community College’s Medical Education campus. “For many, Medicaid is about enabling them to live more independently, enabling them to be more successful in school.” (Olivo, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Four Scenarios That Could Doom Senate Republicans’ Health-Care Bill (Again)
At this point, some health policy experts say it's more likely than not that Senate Republicans can't pass a health-care bill. That's because Republicans are relying entirely on their own party to pass this legislation, and Senate leaders need 50 of their 52 members on board to pass a bill. (Democrats won't play ball as long as Republicans' intent is to repeal Obamacare.) (Phillips, 7/10)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: McConnell’s Claim That Senate GOP Health Bill Would Not ’Cause Anyone Currently On Medicaid To Come Off It’
A reader asked us to fact-check this claim, reported in an article by the West Kentucky Star about a luncheon speech McConnell delivered in Kentucky during the Fourth of July recess. The impact of the Senate GOP health-care bill on Medicaid enrollees and financing is one of the major points of debate in the Senate. Previously, we awarded Three Pinocchios to President Trump’s claim that the Senate proposal, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), actually increases Medicaid spending. (Lee, 7/11)

The Washington Post: Republicans Say Medicaid Is ‘Broken.’ Here’s How The People It Covers Feel.
Politicians call the Medicaid program that provides health care for the poor "broken." Academic studies have reported on its limited health benefits or the longer appointment wait times that people with Medicaid face. But as Republicans feverishly work to revise a health-care bill that would trigger deep cuts to the program over time, a massive new survey reveals that people enrolled in Medicaid rate their health care pretty high. (Johnson, 7/10)

NPR: Medicaid Beneficiaries Are Happy With Care
Is Medicaid the best health care possible? A lot of people who use it seem to think so. A new study released by Harvard's Chan School of Public Health shows that people enrolled in Medicaid are overwhelmingly satisfied with their coverage and care. (Kodjak, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Obamacare Marketplaces Just Had Their Most Profitable First Quarter Ever
Insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces earned an average of nearly $300 per member in the first quarter of 2017, more than double what they earned in a similar period in the marketplaces’ previous three years, according to new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That figure puts insurers on track to make a profit in the marketplaces after years of losses, according to Cynthia Cox, a researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation who worked on the analysis. (Soffen, 7/10)

USA Today: Feds Tout Data On Declining Number Of Obamacare Insurers, As Finger Pointing Continues
Federal officials announced Monday that 38% fewer insurers applied to sell on the federal Affordable Care Act exchange for 2018 and used the negative news to renew their pitch to repeal the law. Healthcare.gov is used by the 30 states that don't have their own exchanges. Governors of states that didn't set up exchanges generally opposed the law, while states including California and New York set up their own exchanges have considerably more competition. (O'Donnell, 7/10)

The New York Times: Foes Of Obama-Era Rule Work To Undo Birth Control Mandate
From the obscure perch of a backbench senator’s office, Katy Talento used to warn against what she saw as the health hazards of birth control pills — cancer, infertility and miscarriage. From his post at a Christian legal advocacy group, Matthew Bowman spent years attacking the requirement that most health insurance plans cover contraception under the Affordable Care Act. Now on the inside — one at the White House, the other at the Department of Health and Human Services — Ms. Talento and Mr. Bowman have a clear path to prosecute their strong belief that birth control coverage should not be a mandate from Washington. (Pear, 7/10)

The New York Times: A Bipartisan Congress That Works? Veterans Committees Show How It’s Done
Magnanimous hearings. Bipartisan votes. Substantial legislation on its way to becoming law. This is Congress? Something strange is happening in the staid hearing rooms of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees here this summer, though few have taken notice. As the rest of Congress fights over the health care overhaul and looming budget deadlines, the committees responsible for writing legislation affecting veterans are quietly moving forward with an ambitious, long-sought and largely bipartisan agenda that has the potential to significantly reshape the way the nation cares for its 21 million veterans. It could also provide President Trump with a set of policy victories he badly wants. (Fandos, 7/10)

The Washington Post: FDA Chief To Impose Tougher Doctor-Training Rules On Opioid Manufacturers
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, stepping up the agency's efforts against the nation's opioid epidemic, announced plans Monday to require manufacturers of painkillers to provide more extensive education for physicians and other health-care professionals who prescribe the drugs. In remarks that opened a two-day FDA meeting on painkiller abuse, Gottlieb said the agency will now require makers of immediate-release opioids to provide prescriber training. These formulations, which account for 90 percent of the opioids prescribed in the United States, include hydrocodone as well as oxycodone/acetaminophen combinations. (McGinley, 7/10)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Commissioner Seeks New Standards For Some Opioid Prescriptions
“It’s time to take direct action to address the close to 200 million opioid analgesic prescriptions each year that are for the immediate release products,” the commissioner said. “The new training will be aimed at making sure providers who write prescriptions for the IR opioids are doing so for properly indicated patients, and under appropriate clinical circumstances.” (Burton, 7/10)

The Washington Post: A Drug Company Tried To Make Opioids Harder To Abuse. It Backfired.
Amid broad efforts to help people avoid prescription-opioid addiction, some pharmaceutical companies are taking an intriguing approach: making prescription opioids that can’t be misused. Although the tactic may at first blush seem a miracle cure, it has a decidedly mixed record of success. (Humphreys, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Can Less Invasive Uterine Fibroid Treatment Improve Fertility?
Women who are unable to conceive because of uterine fibroids may have an easier time getting pregnant after minimally invasive procedures to destroy the fibroids, a recent study suggests. For the study, researchers followed 359 women for an average of almost six years after they had what is known as uterine fibroid embolization, a procedure in which doctors destroy fibroids by blocking the arteries supplying them with blood. By the end of the study, 149 of the women, or 42 percent, had become pregnant one or more times, and 131 women had a total of 150 live births. (Rapaport, 7/10)

The New York Times: Are There Long-Term Risks To Egg Donors?
When patients consider a medical procedure, they may be told “there are no known long-term effects.” But unless such effects have been systematically studied, that does not mean there are no long-term effects. That’s a major concern for Dr. Jennifer Schneider, mother of a three-time egg donor, Jessica Grace Wing. Ms. Wing was a tall, lean, attractive, athletic and musically talented Stanford University student when she decided to donate her eggs to help pay for her education. Through her multiple donations, five healthy children were born to three formerly childless families. (Brody, 7/10)

The Washington Post: Brain-Training Games Don’t Really Train Brains, A New Study Suggests
The first large study to rigorously examine brain-training games using cognitive tests and brain imaging adds to evidence that they are not particularly good at training brains and appear to have no more effect on healthy brains than video games. The study is another blow to companies such as Lumosity that have been accused of falsely claiming their programs can improve mental performance. (Gallegos, 7/10)

The Washington Post: New Drug Used On Mice Could Hold Potential For Traumatic Brain Injury.
For the first time, scientists have reversed memory and learning deficits in mice following traumatic brain injuries. This new research could someday lead to treatments for head trauma and debilitating cognitive diseases. More than 2 million Americans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are seen in hospital emergency rooms every year. Millions more skip a hospital visit despite suffering a head injury that could cause lasting damage, according to researchers. (Gallegos, 7/10)

Los Angeles Times: Two Big Studies Bolster The Claim That Coffee – Even Decaf – Is Good For You
If you’re the type of person who needs at least one cup of coffee to get out of the house in the morning and a few more to make it through the day, you might think the best thing about java is that it keeps you awake. But new research suggests that’s just a bonus. The best thing about your coffee habit might be that it extends your life by reducing your risk of death from heart disease, diabetes or even cancer. (Kaplan, 7/10)

USA Today: Chicago Becomes Latest Battleground Over Soft Drink Taxes
Chicagoans are getting a break when it comes to paying a soft drink tax -- but it may not last. A penny-an-ounce soda pop tax was slated to take effect on July 1, but its imposition was put off by a local judge after the state retail merchants association and a group of local grocers challenged its legality. On Tuesday, the judge is expected to set a date for a hearing. (Meyer, 7/11)