First Edition: July 21, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Podcast: What The Health? Senate Health Bill, Mostly Dead?
Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of the Wall Street Journal, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the ever-changing status of the Senate’s effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, and the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine the working of the law. (7/20)
Kaiser Health News:
Depression Among Heart Attack Survivors Can Be Deadly, Yet Is Often Ignored
Clyde Boyce has been hospitalized 14 times in the past four years. Boyce, 61, survived two strokes and five operations to unblock arteries around his heart, including three procedures in which doctors propped open his blood vessels with stents. He takes 18 pills a day and gets injections every two weeks with a powerful drug to lower cholesterol. (Szabo, 7/20)
The New York Times:
Senate Leaders Press For Health Care Vote, But On Which Bill?
Senate Republicans ended a demoralizing week on Thursday with their leaders determined to press ahead with a vote to begin debating health care next week, but with little progress on securing the votes and no agreement even on which bill to take up. With President Trump urging them to move forward on their seven-year quest to erase the Affordable Care Act, Republican senators on Thursday still had not decided whether to revive a proposal to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law with one of their own, or to simply repeal it and work on a replacement later. (Kaplan and Pear, 7/20)
The Associated Press:
GOP Leaders Plan Tuesday Health Vote, It's An Uphill Climb
Republican leaders pushed toward a Senate vote next Tuesday on resurrecting their nearly flat-lined health care bill. Their uphill drive was further complicated by the ailing GOP Sen. John McCain's potential absence and a dreary report envisioning that the number of uninsured Americans would soar. (7/20)
The Washington Post:
Cloud Of Confusion Hangs Over Health-Care Bill
Senate Republican leaders’ latest attempt to salvage support for a GOP health-care bill floundered Thursday as leaders struggled to explain to rank-and-file members what exactly they would be voting on next week. Senators left town for the weekend under a cloud of confusion after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reopened talks on a discarded plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act under heavy pressure from President Trump. The White House intervention sparked a flurry of meetings and activity, but the rush produced no new evidence that the bill can pass. (Snell and Goldstein, 7/20)
Reuters:
Senate Republicans Complain Of Chaos In Healthcare Effort
U.S. Senate Republicans, scolded by President Donald Trump for failing to overturn Obamacare, tried to salvage their seven-year effort for a new healthcare law on Thursday, but leading senators indicated frustration over shifting goal posts. Trump on Wednesday told the Senate's fractured Republican majority to revive a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare that collapsed on Monday after Republicans from both moderate and conservative factions pulled their support. (Cornwell and Becker, 7/20)
NPR:
With 4 Bills In Play To Repeal Obamacare In The Senate, Confusion Reigns
On Thursday, the Senate unleashed yet another iteration of its effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and with it came another analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. If your head is spinning, you've got plenty of company, us here at Shots included. Here are the key versions of repeal and/or replace legislation so far this year. (Grayson, 7/20)
Politico:
Under Fire For Opposing Health Bill, Mike Lee Hits Back
Mike Lee hears the chorus of critics, with blame from the establishment wing of the GOP cascading on the Utah senator for being the Republican that stopped Obamacare repeal. And he's ready to respond. In an interview in his Capitol Hill office Thursday, Lee said he was willing to be the lone senator to bring down his party’s health care bill because it did not do much to stop Obamacare in its tracks. (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Floats Proposal To Ease Medicaid Cuts
Senate Republicans, scrambling to win support for their health-care bill, pushed a measure Thursday that they said could ease the impact of the bill’s Medicaid cuts on low-income people. Advocating for the new direction is a little-known health official who is now at the center of the health-care fight: Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the two federal medical programs. (Radnofsky and Peterson, 7/20)
Politico:
Pence Ally Emerges As Key Proponent Of Obamacare Repeal
A Medicaid expert and close associate of Vice President Mike Pence has emerged as one of the most influential advocates of the Obamacare repeal effort. Seema Verma, who runs Medicare and Medicaid for the Trump administration, keeps a low public profile, but behind the scenes, she’s been guiding skeptical Republican senators and governors through the Obamacare repeal proposals and reassuring them that their states will do just fine under the new Medicaid financing system it envisions. (Haberkorn and Pradhan, 7/21)
NPR:
Opioid Treatment Fund In GOP Bill Would Leave Many Untreated
At a lunch on Wednesday, President Trump tried to persuade some reluctant senators to endorse repealing the Affordable Care Act. During the meeting, he mentioned a provision in the Senate Republican proposal that allocates funding for opioid treatment, saying, "We're committing $45 billion to help combat the opioid epidemic, and some states in particular like that." But addiction treatment specialists warn that sum of money is far from enough to address a crisis that has escalated across the United States in recent years, killing tens of thousands of people. (Allen, 7/20)
USA Today:
McCain Absence Won't Stop Senate From Voting On Health Care
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is still expected to hold a vote to proceed on some form of legislation to repeal Obamacare next week, despite the fact that Sen. John McCain likely won’t be back in Washington to cast his vote. The Arizona Republican senator's absence, in addition to the GOP members who have announced their opposition to the bill, makes it even harder for McConnell to round up the votes to pass a bill. (Collins, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
McCain's Absence Leaves GOP With Thin Senate Majority, Complicating Obamacare Repeal And Wider Agenda
With just two votes to spare, every senator matters. McCain’s inability to flash his trademark thumbs up or thumbs down when he strides into the chamber to cast his vote could seriously stymie the Republicans on key legislation. (Mascaro, 7/20)
Reuters:
Latest Senate Healthcare Bill Would Leave 22 Million Without Insurance: CBO
The latest version of Senate Republicans' legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 22 million Americans without health insurance coverage by 2026, the U.S. Congressional Budget office said on Thursday. (Alexander, 7/20)
The Associated Press:
Budget Office: GOP Health Bill Adds 22 Million Uninsured
The reworked bill would increase average premiums over the next two years, but reduce them starting in 2020 by 30 percent, the report estimated. But the policies would typically offer less coverage. And because the GOP measure would also eliminate federal subsidies that let insurers lower out-of-pocket costs for low-earners, the changes “would contribute significantly to a decrease in the number of lower-income people with coverage,” the budget office said. (Fram and Werner, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Revised GOP Healthcare Bill Would Still Leave Millions Without Insurance, New Report Concludes
And it would increase costs for millions of sick and elderly Americans, the budget office estimates. Those costs could soar even further under another provision of the bill that would allow insurers to offer slimmed-down health plans that don’t offer the basic set of health benefits — including prescription drugs, maternity care and mental health services — currently mandated by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. (Levey, 7/20)
The Washington Post:
Revised Version Of Withdrawn Health-Care Bill Would Still Leave 22 Million More Americans Uninsured, CBO Says
Compared with earlier versions, it would give more money to states to help pay for insurance for high-cost patients and would preserve some Affordable Care Act taxes. It would still eliminate the law’s requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, phase out the law’s expansion of Medicaid and transform the rest of Medicaid funding. According to Congress’s nonpartisan budget scorekeepers, this version would have a greater impact on lowering the federal deficit — a $420 billion reduction between next year and 2026, compared with $321 billion under the previous form of the bill. The change is largely because the new plan would keep more Affordable Care Act taxes. (Goldstein, 7/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
CBO Says Revised Senate Plan Would Increase Uninsured By 22 Million
The impact of the new report is uncertain, however, as the CBO didn’t include a full analysis of an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) that would allow for cheaper but more bare-bones insurance plans because that analysis requires more time. (Armour, 7/20)
NPR:
Newest Senate Health Care Overhaul Would Increase Uninsured By 22 Million, CBO Says
The provisions in the latest version of the Senate bill are much like the version scored at the end of June: It would end the individual and employer mandates, it would roll back the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion and cut spending to that program by hundreds of millions of dollars, and roll back some taxes. However, this bill would not roll back Obamacare investment income taxes and payroll taxes that hit higher-income Americans. (Kurtzleben, 7/20)
The Washington Post:
Despite Cancer Diagnosis, McCain Says, ‘I’l Be Back Soon’
Battling brain cancer, John McCain on Thursday vowed to return to the Senate, leveling fresh criticism at the Trump administration and aiming a good-natured dig at Republican and Democratic colleagues shaken by news of his diagnosis. “I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support — unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I’ll be back soon, so stand-by!” McCain said in a tweet. Showing no signs of stepping back from political and national security battles, he issued a statement slamming the Trump administration over its Syria policy. (Cassata, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Sen. John McCain Has A Glioblastoma Tumor. Here's How Doctors Treat This Aggressive Form Of Brain Cancer
Being told you have cancer is never welcome, but being told you have a glioblastoma tumor is especially scary. This is the news that longtime Arizona Sen. John McCain got after he had a blood clot removed above his left eye on Friday. A glioblastoma is the same type of tumor that killed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 2009. It also was responsible for the death of Beau Biden, son of then[-Vice President Joe Biden, in 2015. (Netburn, 7/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Cancer Diagnosis Spotlights Sen. John McCain's Rare Ability To Bring Partisans Together
John McCain, with his short fuse and lashing tongue, is not always an easy man to like, or to get along with. The Arizona senator acknowledged as much in a wry tweet he dispatched Thursday morning — candor and self-deprecation always being two of his strongest, most appealing suits. “I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support,” McCain wrote hours after revealing he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. “Unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!” At a time of bone-deep political division, the two-time Republican presidential hopeful is a rare unifier. (Barabak, 7/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
McCain Warns ‘Sparring Partners’ In Senate He Will Soon Return To The Fray
Mr. McCain, 80 years old, has been absent from the Senate this week after surgery last Friday for a blood clot above his left eye. Doctors determined that the blood clot was associated with a glioblastoma, an aggressive type of cancer that can be hard to cure. Treatments include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. (Hughes and Andrews, 7/20)
NPR:
Why Glioblastomas Are So Hard To Treat
Doctors use words like "aggressive" and "highly malignant" to describe the type of brain cancer discovered in Arizona Sen. John McCain. The cancer is a glioblastoma, the Mayo Clinic said in a statement Wednesday. It was diagnosed after doctors surgically removed a blood clot from above McCain's left eye. Doctors who were not involved in his care say the procedure likely removed much of the tumor as well. (Hamilton, 7/20)
The New York Times:
These Americans Hated The Health Law. Until The Idea Of Repeal Sank In.
Five years ago, the Affordable Care Act had yet to begin its expansion of health insurance to millions of Americans, but Jeff Brahin was already stewing about it. “It’s going to cost a fortune,” he said in an interview at the time. This week, as Republican efforts to repeal the law known as Obamacare appeared all but dead, Mr. Brahin, a 58-year-old lawyer and self-described fiscal hawk, said his feelings had evolved. “As much as I was against it,” he said, “at this point I’m against the repeal.” (Zernike and Goodnough, 7/20)
Politico:
Trump's War Of Attrition Against Obamacare
Obamacare may escape another GOP repeal effort, but surviving a hostile administration could be a much tougher challenge. If a last-ditch repeal effort fails in Congress next week, all indications are the Trump administration will continue chipping away at the Affordable Care Act — if not torching it outright. (Demko and Pradhan, 7/21)
The Associated Press:
Trump Administration Pulls Health Law Help In 18 Cities
President Donald Trump's administration has ended Affordable Care Act contracts that brought assistance into libraries, businesses and urban neighborhoods in 18 cities, meaning shoppers on the insurance exchanges will have fewer places to turn for help signing up for coverage. Community groups say the move, announced to them by contractors last week, will make it even more difficult to enroll the uninsured and help people already covered re-enroll or shop for a new policy. (Johnson, 7/20)
The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Used Obamacare Money To Run PR Effort Against It
The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push as well as video testimonials designed at damaging public opinion of President Obama’s health care law, is far more robust and sustained than has been publicly revealed or realized. (Stein, 7/20)
The Associated Press:
AP-NORC Poll: Shift To Political Left Seen On Health Care
Americans were never too thrilled with "Obamacare" and they definitely disapprove of Republican alternatives in Congress, so what does the public want to do on health care? A new poll suggests the country may be shifting left on this core issue, with 62 percent saying it's the federal government's responsibility to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage, while 37 percent say it is not. (7/20)
The Associated Press:
Protesters Gather For Speaker Ryan At Massachusetts Stop
Protesters staged a small but boisterous rally Thursday outside a New Balance sneaker factory in Massachusetts where U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan was expected to discuss Republican plans for tax reform. The rally took place across from the factory in a historic mill building in Lawrence along the Merrimack River. More than 100 demonstrators held signs and shouted slogans criticizing Republican efforts to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law. (Marcelo, 7/20)
The New York Times:
On Reddit, Intimate Glimpses Of Addicts In Thrall To Opioids
Every day, thousands of people who are consumed by the nation’s opioid epidemic connect on the popular discussion website Reddit. They swap advice on getting high and offer encouragement to those who have managed to stay clean or are teetering between recovery and relapse. Addicts lament the deaths of fellow users who have suddenly stopped posting. And until last week, buyers and sellers could easily find each other, relying on coded messages that communicated their intent. (Zapler and Harris, 7/20)
The Washington Post:
A 10-Year-Old’s Overdose Death Reveals Miami Neighborhood’s Intense Struggle With Opioids
When 10-year-old Alton Banks left the community swimming pool on the last day of his life, he walked past the elementary school where he had just finished fifth grade. He passed a cheery banner that defined a beaten-down inner-city neighborhood trying to will itself into up-and-comingness: “Experience Overtown. Eat, Live, Work, Play.” He walked past a fancy new apartment building under construction, then a long row of ragged homes and chickens clucking freely on sidewalks littered with crushed tall-boy beer cans in brown paper bags. (Sullivan, 7/20)
The Washington Post:
Most Female Homicide Victims Are Killed By Husbands Or Other Intimate Partners, New Report Shows
A report out Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about homicides and women provides some disturbing numbers about just how common this is. Homicide is the fifth leading cause of death for women ages 18 to 44. In 2015 alone, 3,519 women and girls were killed. More than half of these killings were perpetrated by current or former boyfriends, husbands or other intimate partners. (Cha, 7/20)
The New York Times:
Certain Antibiotics May Increase Risk Of Birth Defects
A large study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that certain antibiotics taken during pregnancy may increase the risk for birth defects. Canadian researchers followed 139,938 mothers of babies born in Quebec from 1998 to 2008, tracking their antibiotic use in the first trimester, and their babies’ birth defects through the first year of life. (Bakalar, 7/20)
The New York Times:
A Sensor On Your Skin That Looks And Feels Like A Temporary Tattoo
Temporary tattoos aren’t just for style anymore. Scientists have developed a new wearable sensor that looks and feels like a henna tattoo but can monitor electrical muscle activity and body temperature, too. (Pattani, 7/20)
NPR:
Just Thinking That You're Slacking On Exercise Could Boost Risk Of Death
In a fitness-crazed land of spin classes and CrossFit gyms, Octavia Zahrt found it can be tough to feel as though you're doing enough. "When I was in school in London, I felt really good about my activity. Then I moved to Stanford, and everyone around me seems to be so active and going to the gym every day," she says. "In the San Francisco Bay Area, it's like 75 percent of people walk around here wearing exercise clothes all day, every day, all the time, and just looking really fit." (Chen, 7/20)
The Washington Post:
Coffee With Viagra-Like Ingredient Recalled After FDA Discovery
Albert Yee said the coffee is everywhere you look in the densely packed vendor stalls along avenues in Malaysian cities: an instant mix with a natural ingredient similar to what's found in Viagra that helps men with erectile dysfunction. And he wanted a piece of the action. "There are whole streets of it, like tequila in Mexico," Yee told The Washington Post by phone Thursday, describing how his one-man import business outside of Dallas is now at the center of a nationwide voluntary recall coordinated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Horton, 7/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Big Tobacco Finds Surprise Allies In Smokeless Push
Tobacco companies want U.S. regulators to bless smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative to smoking, as cigarette consumption falls. In its campaign, Big Tobacco has unusual supporters: some public-health advocates. (Maloney, 7/21)
The New York Times:
Long Workdays May Be Bad For Your Heart
Working long hours may increase the risk for atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeats that can lead to serious cardiovascular complications, a new study in the European Heart Journal found. Lengthy work hours have been shown in several previous studies to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. (Bakalar, 7/20)
The Associated Press:
Texas Sued Again Over Abortion Year After Supreme Court Loss
Planned Parenthood and other groups sued Texas on Thursday over a new ban on a second-trimester abortion procedure, the state's first major anti-abortion measure since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law that had prompted more than half of its abortion clinics to close. (Weber, 7/20)