First Edition: June 23, 2017

Kaiser Health News: Senate Health Bill Would Revamp Medicaid, Alter ACA Guarantees, Cut Premium Support
Since its inception in 1965, the federal government has matched state spending for Medicaid. The new bill would shift much of that burden back to states. (Rovner, 6/22)

Kaiser Health News: Promises Made To Protect Preexisting Conditions Prove Hollow
Senate Republicans praised the Affordable Care Act replacement bill they presented Thursday as preserving coverage for people with cancer, mental illness and other chronic illness. But the legislation may do no such thing, according to health law experts who have read it closely. (Hancock and Bluth, 6/22)

Kaiser Health News: Winners And Losers: 40 Is Old In Senate GOP Health Plan’s Subsidy Structure
People getting subsidies to help buy health insurance would see at least three sharp changes — tied to both age and income — that could dramatically affect how much they pay for coverage if the Senate Republican health plan becomes law. The Senate bill released Thursday would reduce the income thresholds that determine eligibility, change the amount people who receive help pay toward their insurance premiums and peg subsidies to less generous coverage. (Appleby, 6/22)

Kaiser Health News: Poll: Most Americans Unaware GOP Plans Would Make Deep Funding Cuts To Medicaid
Congress is moving fast toward repealing the Affordable Care Act, with an eye on revamping Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people. But most Americans say the program — which Republicans call a “broken system” — is working well on the national level and within their states. That’s according to a monthly tracking poll released Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Luthra, 6/23)

Kaiser Health News: All Kids Should Be Screened For Obesity
Earlier this week, an influential group of experts in preventive care affirmed that children age 6 and older should be screened for obesity and referred to intensive treatment when necessary. While the Affordable Care Act requires that nearly all plans cover such treatment, most kids don’t have access to programs featuring exercise, nutrition and counseling, according to an editorial published in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Andrews, 6/23)

The New York Times: Senate Health Care Bill Includes Deep Cuts To Medicaid
Senate Republicans, who for seven years have promised a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, took a major step on Thursday toward that goal, unveiling a bill to make deep cuts in Medicaid and end the law’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance. The 142-page bill would create a new system of federal tax credits to help people buy health insurance, while offering states the ability to drop many of the benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, like maternity care, emergency services and mental health treatment. (Pear and Kaplan, 6/22)

The New York Times: How Senate Republicans Plan To Dismantle Obamacare
Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a draft of their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which they expect to vote on next week. The bill is similar to the one passed by the House in May, but it makes several significant alterations, including deeper cuts and structural changes to Medicaid, a program that insures one in five Americans, including two-thirds of nursing home residents. (Park and Sanger-Katz, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate GOP Health Bill Would End ACA Penalties, Cut Taxes On High Incomes
The bill would reverse the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid, a move that could affect millions of people, and would for the first time limit states’ overall Medicaid funding from Washington. It also would eliminate the requirement in the 2010 law that most Americans sign up for health insurance, and provide instead less-robust tax credits than the ACA to help people afford insurance. It would repeal hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes on businesses and high-income households and retroactively cut taxes on capital gains. (Armour, Peterson and Radnofsky, 6/22)

The Washington Post: How The GOP Would Cut Billions More From Medicaid With A Single Letter
Already, the version of the bill the House passed last month included drastic reductions in Medicaid outlays of about $834 billion over 10 years. GOP senators' own version of the bill, which they made public Thursday, could go even further over the long term. Both the House and Senate bills aim to set a per-person cap on Medicaid spending in each state. That cap would adjust annually to take into account inflation. Through 2025, both bills would adjust the cap based on a measure of how rapidly medical costs are expanding — a measure known as the CPI-M. Starting in 2025, however, the Senate bill would change the formula, instead funding Medicaid based on a measure of how rapidly all costs are rising (technically, the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers, or just CPI-U). (Ehrenfreund, 6/22)

NPR: Senate Republicans Reveal Long-Awaited Obamacare Overhaul
"That's a big deal. It's a big shift," said John Corlett, president of the Center for Community Solutions, who also served as a director of Ohio's Medicaid program. "It means billions of dollars less in federal aid to states for their Medicaid programs." (Kurtzleben, 6/22)

The Associated Press: How The Senate Health Bill Compares To House,' Obamacare'
The bill's impact on personal health care costs would be uneven: Premiums would likely go down for younger people, but older people would pay more. Out-of-pocket costs to cover insurance deductibles and co-payments would go up. For those who believe the government is too involved in health care, the Senate bill stands as an overdue course correction. But those who believe health care is a right will see it as a step back. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Assessing The Impact Of The Senate GOP Health Bill
The ACA’s protections for people with costly pre-existing medical conditions would stay in place. That means insurance companies couldn’t deny people with pre-existing conditions health coverage or charge them higher premiums. Under the House bill, insurers in some states could charge sicker people higher premiums, which conservative House lawmakers argued could help lower premiums for other people. But Senate lawmakers rejected that idea. States could get waivers to roll back benefits that must now be required under the ACA, and that could leave people with certain medical conditions paying more for their coverage. (Hackman, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Limited Coverage, Subsidies For Some In Senate GOP’s Proposed Health-Care Overhaul
The Senate Republicans’ Better Care Reconciliation Act would significantly affect health coverage for many Americans, whether through the individual insurance market or Medicaid. Here are a few examples of how. ... The Senate bill provides $2 billion in fiscal 2018 for substance abuse treatment and recovery, but eventually it would take away much more by rolling back Medicaid expansion in 2020, capping federal payments to states and allowing them to change what qualifies as an essential service. Right now, all insurers and Medicaid must offer drug treatment benefits that are on par with their benefits for physical conditions. If this man’s state decided that substance abuse treatment was no longer an essential service, coverage for that care could be eliminated. (McGinley, Bernstein and Sun, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Bill Includes Opioid Funding, But May Not Satisfy Some GOP Senators
The Senate GOP’s health-care bill would offer $2 billion for opioid addiction treatment for one year, falling short of the $45 billion over 10 years some Republican senators wanted. The funding’s inclusion in the Senate version of the health-care overhaul comes after weeks of protest from House and Senate Republicans who feared steep cuts to Medicaid would worsen an already growing opioid crisis, with Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia leading the push. (Nunn, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Senate Republicans’ Claim Of Saving Individual Health Insurance Markets Could Prove Hollow
Republicans have vowed for months to undo the Affordable Care Act and stave off the collapse of the nation’s most fragile health insurance markets, which serve people who buy coverage on their own. In the Senate, that turns out to be a short-term goal. Legislation that the Senate’s GOP leaders finally disclosed on Thursday would keep billions of dollars flowing — but only for two years — to health plans that have been begging for continued help with the expense of millions of lower-income customers in ACA insurance marketplaces. After 2019, the payments would stop. (Goldstein, 6/22)

USA Today: Senate Health Care Bill: Here's How It Would Affect You
The bill would sunset in two years subsidies for people who purchase insurance on an exchange. Most of the more than 6 million Americans benefiting from the help may not be aware they’re getting it, since the subsidy goes directly to the insurer who then lowers the cost-sharing requirements for a plan. Without the subsidies, insurers would need to raise rates an estimated 20% to make up for the loss, experts have estimated. But the bill also includes funding for states to reduce insurance costs in other ways. (Groppe, 6/22)

The Washington Post: How The GOP Health-Care Bill Would Address One Of Obamacare’s Big Problems — But Could Cause An Even Bigger One
Currently, there's a maximum and a minimum level of income at which a person qualifies for federal help. The Senate bill would remove that minimum, meaning that everyone who makes less than 350 percent of the federal poverty level would qualify for insurance subsidies. That change is aimed at one outcome of Obamacare that nobody — neither critics nor supporters — ever intended. As planned, everyone making less than the minimum required for subsidies would qualify for Medicaid, which the law sought to expand nationwide. But when the Supreme Court gave states more freedom to decide whether they would expand the program, many states didn't. That left a coverage gap in many states and left approximately 2.6 million people in a maddening paradox: They made too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little money to qualify for insurance subsidies. (Johnson, 6/22)

Politico: Winners And Losers From The Senate Repeal Bill
The Senate plan, like the House bill, would allow insurers to charge their older customers up to five times as much as younger customers for the same health plan. That’s an expansion of the so-called age band in Obamacare, which allows insurers to charge older customers no more than three times as much as younger ones. In two years, the Senate plan would also eliminate a key subsidy program that helps cover out-of-pocket medical bills for low-income consumers. (6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Planned Parenthood Restriction Could Pose Problem For Centrist Senators
The Senate health bill released Thursday strips federal Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood Federation of America for one year and tightens restrictions on abortion coverage, creating potential sticking points for centrist senators. The Planned Parenthood measure, which mirrors a provision in the House version of the bill, would disqualify the network of women’s health clinics from receiving federal Medicaid funding, stripping the organization of hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially forcing some clinics to shutter. (Hackman, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Senate GOP Health Bill: Tax Cuts For Rich
Senate Republicans' new health bill cuts taxes by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, mostly for corporations and the richest families in America. It uses a budget gimmick to comply with Senate rules against adding to the federal government's long-term debt. (Ohlemacher, 6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: How The Senate Health Bill Differs From House Bill, Obamacare
The bill also knocks down many of the ACA’s taxes, including a 3.8% tax on investment income. The Cadillac tax would be retained but wouldn’t go into effect until 2026. It would end a tax on indoor tanning, repeal limits on contributions to flexible-spending accounts and stop taxes on health-insurance premiums.The tax on medical devices would also be repealed. (Armour, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Senate GOP Bill Would Gut Critical Public Health Funding This Fall
The health-care bill that Senate Republicans released Thursday would eliminate critical funds for core public health programs that make up about 12 percent of the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The money supports programs to prevent bioterrorism and disease outbreaks, as well as to provide immunizations and screenings for cancer and heart disease. (Sun, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Republicans’ Obamacare Repeal Bill Has A Small Bonus Just For Insurance CEOs
Health insurance executives stand to be the sole beneficiaries of a small provision in Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Both the House and Senate repeal measures would free insurance companies from a part of the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — that effectively makes it more expensive for them to pay their CEOs. (Ehrenfreund, 6/22)

Politico: GOP Senate Health Care Bill: What You Need To Know
The Senate’s sweeping Obamacare repeal has the same overarching goals as the House-passed American Health Care Act, including an overhaul of Medicaid, striking many of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance regulations and coverage mandates and getting rid of Obamacare taxes. But the chambers diverge in some important ways. (Bettelheim, Millman, Frostenson, 6/22)

NPR: 9 Things To Know About The Senate Health Care Bill
Republicans in the Senate on Thursday unveiled their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare. The long-awaited plan marks a big step towards achieving one of the Republican party's major goals. (Grayson, Hurt and Kodjak, 6/22)

The Associated Press: What's Next On Health Care Draft In Congress
A look at the next steps. (6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: What To Expect Now That The Senate Health Bill Has Been Released
Senate aides expect that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) will bring the health bill as soon as Tuesday, shortly after the CBO score has been released. The first vote will be on a motion to proceed to the bill, which would need a simple majority to advance the bill. That means Mr. McConnell needs at least 50 votes, with Vice President Mike Pence on hand to break a tie. (Peterson, 6/22)

The Washington Post: McConnell Decides To Call GOP Colleagues’ Bluff With Health-Care Proposal
After weeks of secretive talks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally unveiled his proposal to dramatically reshape the health-care industry knowing full well that — as currently written — it lacks the votes to win approval. But using a time-honored tactic of congressional leadership, the Kentucky Republican decided it was time to call the bluff of his GOP colleagues. (Kane, 6/22)

The Associated Press: McConnell Faces Hunt For GOP Votes For Senate Health Bill
Shortly after the 142-page bill was distributed, more than a half-dozen GOP lawmakers signaled concerns or initial opposition. McConnell, R-Ky., has little margin for error: Facing unanimous Democratic opposition, "no" votes by just three of the 52 GOP senators would sink the legislation. McConnell, eager to approve the legislation next week, indicated he was open to changes before it reaches the Senate floor. But he said it was time to act. "No amount of 11th hour reality-denying or buck-passing by Democrats is going to change the fact that more Americans are going to get hurt unless we do something," he said. (Fram and Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/23)

The Associated Press: Senate GOP Unveils 'Obamacare' Overhaul, But Not All Aboard
Four conservative GOP senators quickly announced initial opposition to the measure and others were evasive, raising the specter of a jarring rejection by the Republican-controlled body. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated he was open to discussion and seemed determined to muscle the measure through his chamber next week. (6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Republican Senators Seek Changes In Obamacare Repeal Bill They Can All Agree On. It Won't Be Easy
Within just a few hours, four key conservative senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky — jointly announced they could not possibly vote for the bill as is, unless it more fully guts the Affordable Care Act. Likewise, centrists withheld their support unless they can push the bill the other way, as they mull the fallout from leaving millions more Americans uninsured. (Mascaro, 6/22)

USA Today: Senate Health Care Bill Already Under Fire From GOP Members
"Currently, for a variety of reasons, we are not ready to vote for this bill, but we are open to negotiation and obtaining more information before it is brought to the floor," Paul, Cruz, Johnson and Lee said in a joint statement. "There are provisions in this draft that represent an improvement to our current health care system, but it does not appear this draft as written will accomplish the most important promise that we made to Americans: to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs." (Kelly and Collins, 6/22)

Politico: Senate GOP Reveals Obamacare Repeal Bill But Still Lacks The Votes
Cruz is pushing for an amendment to allow catastrophic, low premium plans, but it's not clear if the parliamentarian will allow them, according to Republicans. (Cancryn, Everett and Haberkorn, 6/22)

NPR: Senate Health Care Bill Could Be In Jeopardy As Conservatives Announce Opposition
The Tea Party-aligned group FreedomWorks also said in a statement that the bill doesn't live up to promises by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of a full repeal of the ACA. "Unfortunately, the Senate bill is an amendment to ObamaCare, not a repeal of it," said FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon. (Taylor, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Senate GOP’s Health Plan Debuts Amid Doubts
No Republican senators definitively said they would vote against the bill, instead focusing attention on the provisions that would need to be changed to earn their vote. President Trump predicted the final product is “going to be great” — but only after some more negotiations take place. (Sullivan, Snell and Eilperin, 6/22)

USA Today: Senate Health Care Bill Analysis: Despite Risk, Republicans Don't Have A Choice
For Senate Republicans, the only thing worse than voting on a controversial health care bill may be not voting on it. The GOP has been vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act almost from the day it was passed, hammering the issue through four successive elections — campaigns in which Republicans managed to win control first of the House, then of the Senate and finally the White House last year. (Page, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: The Tough Math For The Senate GOP Health Plan
The Senate GOP health-care bill is facing intense scrutiny from several of the majority party's own members. One faction consists of centrist Republicans, many of whom hail from states that have seen a growing share of residents with health insurance. (Rust and Shin, 6/22)

The New York Times: Where Senators Stand On The Health Care Bill
Every Democrat is expected to oppose the bill, which means three Republican “no” votes would block it. Here is where every senator stands so far. (Parlapiano and Benzaquen, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Senate Health-Care Bill – Which Senators Are Opposed
As of Thursday afternoon, nine GOP senators have indicated they oppose or have concerns with the bill. If three vote against it, the bill would fail. (Phillips, Fischer-Baum, Schual and Uhrmacher, 6/22)

The New York Times: McConnell’s Calculation May Be That He Still Wins By Losing
When it comes to managing Republicans’ best interests, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, rarely loses. So it is possible that Mr. McConnell views the potential failure of a hastily written health care bill as an eventual boon. ... Mr. McConnell plays his strategic cards so close to the vest that a queen of hearts must be tattooed on his tie. (Steinhauer, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Analysis: McConnell Stakes It All On Health Care Bill
The shrewd Kentuckian has made himself practically the sole arbiter of the bill and will be largely responsible for the outcome, whether it's a win, a loss, or a win that turns into a loss over time as unpopular consequences of the legislation take hold. McConnell decided to keep the bill close, writing it in secret with a close circle of aides and eschewing committee hearings, despite grumbling from fellow Republicans. GOP senators were largely in the dark until the legislation was unveiled Thursday and were still getting briefed, without seeing copies of the bill, when it was posted publicly online. (Werner, 6/23)

Politico: Inside McConnell’s Plan To Repeal Obamacare
McConnell’s strategy has been a slow burn, allowing his members to vent in private party discussions while gradually writing a bill that takes in their considerations over the past six weeks. He’s had more than 30 meetings with his members about taking down the 2010 health law, intended to give his members more input and get them comfortable with the product. Johnson, for example, doesn’t even serve on the two committees that oversee health care policy, so the process has empowered him more than he might have been through regular order. People close to McConnell believe Lee’s staff has been read in more than any other member on the chamber’s complicated parliamentary procedures that constrain what is possible under reconciliation. (Everett, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Disability Advocates Arrested During Health Care Protest At McConnell’s Office
Dozens of people protested the newly proposed Republican health-care legislation outside the Capitol Hill office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday — a demonstration that resulted in the arrest of 43 disability advocates. U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said officers warned the demonstrators to “cease their unlawful activities” or risk being arrested. Those who did not comply were arrested and charged with crowding and obstructing. (Stein, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: Senate Obamacare Repeal Bill Would Slash Federal Healthcare Funding For Medicaid
Trump said Wednesday night at a campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that he had told senators to “add some money to it” to produce a healthcare bill with “heart.” Asked Thursday morning whether the Senate draft met that standard, the president suggested some changes were needed. "A little negotiation, but it's going to be very good," he told reporters. (Levey and Mascaro, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Governors Wary Of Medicaid Cost Shift In Senate Health Bill
Governors in several states that opted to expand Medicaid are wary of the Senate Republican plan to end the added federal funding for it within seven years. The proposal released Thursday calls for a slower phase-out of the Medicaid expansion than a bill adopted by the House. Yet it still would force those states to figure out what to do about the millions of lower-income Americans who used it to gain health coverage. (6/23)

The Washington Post: ‘Meanness At The Core:’ Obama Jumps Back Into Political Fray To Slam Trump, GOP On Health Care
The plan is “not a health care bill,” Obama declared in a 939-word message to his nearly 53 million followers on Facebook. “It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.” The 44th president did not mention his successor, Donald Trump, but his scathing criticism and urgent tone — imploring his supporters to speak out against the “fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation” — set up a direct public fight with the current White House occupant over the future of the nation’s health care system. (Nakamura, 6/22)

Politico: Obama Says Senate Health Care Bill Has 'Fundamental Meanness'
"Simply put, if there’s a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family — this bill will do you harm,” he added. “And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.” (Conway, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Republicans’ New Obamacare Repeal Bill Has A Lot For Insurers To Like And For Hospitals To Hate
Major health care industry groups largely fell into two camps on Thursday when Republicans released their Affordable Care Act repeal: There were those groups that criticized the bill, and those that preferred to say nothing at all. For the health insurance industry, the bill is a mixed bag. The major trade association for health insurers, America's Health Insurance Plans, declined to issue a specific response to the bill, saying they were still evaluating it. But the proposed legislation contains several provisions that the industry has been fighting for, including a tax repeal worth $145 billion over 10 years to the industry and a guarantee that billions of dollars of federal subsidies would be paid in 2018 and 2019 to stabilize plans in the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces before they are phased out. There are also two funds, adding up to $112 billion over a decade, to stabilize the market and make insurance more affordable. (Johnson, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Bill Poses Risks To Health-Care Companies
Senate Republicans’ health overhaul carries big risks for many health-care companies because of its cutbacks to federal Medicaid funding and the uncertain impact of its broad changes to individual health-insurance markets. The bill contains elements that will immediately be seen as wins for some companies—particularly the repeal of a tax on health-insurance plans and of a levy on medical devices, both of which have been strongly opposed by those businesses. But the proposed changes to Medicaid will be bad news, particularly over the long term, for hospitals and other health-care providers, as well as for insurers that manage Medicaid business, as those funds are curtailed, analysts and industry executives said. (Wilde Mathews and Evans, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Big Pharma Plays It Safe On Senate Health Bill
The branded-drug industry, which was pilloried by conservatives for supporting then-President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, is playing it safe as Republicans move to undo the measure. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the trade association for brand-name drug companies also known as PhRMA, has avoided taking a position on the Republican bill released Thursday. (Rockoff, 6/22)

Reuters: U.S. Health Sector Hits Record High On Senate Bill, Biotech Rally
U.S. healthcare stocks posted sharp gains on Thursday, with hospitals and insurers climbing after Senate Republicans released a draft bill to replace Obamacare, while a recent surge in biotechnology shares showed no signs of slowing. (Krauskopf, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Obamacare Gets Higher Marks Than House GOP Overhaul, Poll Finds
More Americans approve of the Affordable Care Act than the House Republican bill to repeal and replace it, but many still want Congress to find some way to fix former President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds. (Hook, 6/22)

Politico: Poll: Americans Disapprove Of House Health Care Bill
Forty-eight percent of participants in the poll said they thought the House bill was a bad idea, while just 16 percent said it was a good idea. The rest were unsure or had no opinion, according to the poll of 900 people, which was conducted by phone from June 17-20. (Siu, 6/22)

Reuters: Humana Out Of Individual Market, With Or Without Obamacare Repeal
Humana Inc will not return to the individual insurance market after it exits the Obamacare exchanges this year, a market that Republicans are trying to repeal and replace through new legislation, Humana's top executive said on Thursday. (Humer, 6/22)

Reuters: Mylan Shareholders Vote Against Executive Pay, Re-Elect Board
Mylan NV shareholders voted against the generic drugmaker's executive pay policy but re-elected the board at its annual meeting on Thursday despite a shareholder campaign in the wake of a scandal over high prices for its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment. (Erman, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: You Asked, We Answered. Here Are Some Of Our Readers' Questions On California's Proposed Single-Payer Plan
We had some questions about California’s high-profile bill to establish a single-payer system, in which the state would foot the bill for nearly all healthcare costs of its residents. So we looked into the proposal, asking who would be covered, how it would be paid for and other basic questions about how it would work. Times readers sent us their own questions about about SB 562, the measure by state Sens. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). Many were rooted in their personal experiences. They asked about how this would change their coverage on Medicare, having health issues while traveling or concerns about access to treatment. The variety of the questions underscored that a single-payer proposal like the one being debated in Sacramento is an enormously complex undertaking. (Mason, 6/23)

USA Today: These Few Things May Help Stave Off Dementia, Scientists Say
Scientists think there may be a few things you can do to keep dementia at bay: train your brain, keep your blood pressure under control and stay active. According to a report published Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), there is promising evidence that cognitive training, managing your blood pressure if you have hypertension and increasing your physical activity may help prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia. (Toy, 6/22)

Los Angeles Times: To Preserve Mental Acuity Into Old Age, Experts Suggest Focusing On These Three Things
In drawing its qualified conclusions, the panel cited research released last summer suggesting that a program of highly targeted brain-training reduced the risk of cognitive decline or dementia by nearly half over 10 years. It cited a wide range of findings that link dementia to conditions — such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke — in which the health of blood vessels large and small is compromised. And it touted a welter of research that has linked sedentary lifestyles to a wide range of ills, and higher levels of physical fitness with better physical, cognitive and mental health. (Healy, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Our Gut Talks And Sometimes Argues With Our Brain. Now We Know How.
Scientists finally have a better idea why certain meals send you running for the bathroom. The discovery provides insight into the connection between your gut and brain and may point toward new therapies for intestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. (Gallegos, 6/22)

NPR: Women Have More Options In When They Have Mammograms
Women in their 40s at average risk for breast cancer should talk to their health care provider about the risks and benefits of mammography before starting regular screening at that age, according to guidelines released Thursday by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (Hobson, 6/22)