First Edition: June 27, 2019

Kaiser Health News/PolitiFact: ‘Medicare For All’ Emerges As Early Divide In First Democratic Debate
During Wednesday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate — the first in a two-night event viewed as the de facto launch of the primary season — health policies,  ranging from “Medicare for All” to efforts to curb skyrocketing drug prices, were among the key issues the 10 hopeful candidates onstage used to help differentiate themselves from the pack. Health care dominated early, with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) using questions about the economy to take aim at pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) emphasized the difficulties many Americans face in paying premiums. (Luthra and Greenberg, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: Five Things We Found In The FDA’s Hidden Device Database
After two decades of keeping the public in the dark about millions of medical device malfunctions and injuries, the Food and Drug Administration has published the once hidden database online, revealing 5.7 million incidents publicly for the first time. The newfound transparency follows a Kaiser Health News investigation that revealed device manufacturers, for the past two decades, had been sending reports of injuries or malfunctions to the little-known database, bypassing the public FDA database that’s pored over by doctors, researchers and patients. Millions of reports, related to everything from breast implants to surgical staplers, were sent to the agency as “alternative summary” reports instead. (Lupkin, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: How Black Pharmacists Are Closing The Cultural Gap In Health Care
After a health insurance change forced Bernard Macon to cut ties with his black doctor, he struggled to find another African American physician online. Then, he realized two health advocates were hiding in plain sight. At a nearby drugstore here in the suburbs outside of St. Louis, a pair of pharmacists became the unexpected allies of Macon and his wife, Brandy. Much like the Macons, the pharmacists were energetic young parents who were married — and unapologetically black. (Anthony, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: More Seniors Are Dying In Falls. Doctors Could Do More To Reduce The Risk.
Older adults worried about falling typically receive general advice: Take an exercise class. Get your vision checked. Stop taking medications for sleep. Install grab bars in the bathroom. A new study suggests that sort of advice hasn’t proved to be very effective: Nearly three times more adults age 75 and older died from falls in 2016 than in 2000, according to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Graham, 6/27)

California Healthline: As The Economy Surges, A Dramatic Drop In Workers On Disability
Tens of thousands of Californians have come off the Social Security disability payroll and gone back to work, part of a national trend that reflects a surging U.S. economy, a shift toward less conventional work and tighter supervision of what qualifies a worker for disability benefits. The number of adults in California collecting Social Security disability benefits fell by nearly 50,000, or 7%, from 2013 to 2017, with the biggest decline coming between 2016 and 2017, according to the latest federal statistics. The drop follows years of steep increases nationally and statewide as workers left the labor market amid a brutal recession and started drawing disability benefits. (Reese, 6/26)

The New York Times: Democrats Diverge On Economy And Immigration In First Debate
Democratic presidential candidates leveled a stark critique of President Trump’s immigration policies and the condition of the American working class in the first primary debate on Wednesday, but split in unmistakable terms over just how aggressively the next president should seek to transform the country along more liberal lines. (Martin and Bruns, 6/26)

The Associated Press: Health Care, Immigration Top Issues At Democrats’ 1st Debate
Health care and immigration, more than any other issues, led the debate. And Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, more than anyone else, stood out — on her own at times — in calling for “fundamental change” across the nation’s economy and government to address a widening gap between the rich and the middle class. “I think of it this way. Who is this economy really working for? It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top,” Warren declared shortly before raising her hand as one of the only Democrats on stage willing to abolish her own private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan. “Health care is a basic human right, and I will fight for basic human rights.” (Summers and Peoples, 6/27)

The New York Times: Who Won The First Debate? Experts On The Left And Right Weigh In
Senator Elizabeth Warren, the only person on the stage Wednesday polling in double digits, was expected to be the star of the first Democratic debate — and for the first half-hour, she was. But by the end, several lower-polling candidates had taken the spotlight: Senators Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar, and especially Julián Castro. Twitter is a bad gauge for public opinion, but a decent source for the assessments of political experts, including those who know the stakes of debates best: veteran campaign strategists and consultants from both parties. Here is a sampling of their responses. (Astor, 6/27)

The New York Times: Which Candidates And Topics Got The Most Time During The Democratic Debate
Two candidates raised their hands when asked whether they supported abolishing private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan, often called “Medicare for all”: Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mr. de Blasio. Other candidates expressed support for a public option, in which everyone would have the option to buy a government-run health care plan, while still giving people the option to buy private insurance, at least in the immediate future. (6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Eight Takeaways From Night 1 Of The Democratic Debate
‘Medicare for all’ is politically messy. The candidates all like to vow their support for it, but the debate laid bare how starkly different their approaches are. Only two of the candidates onstage, Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, said they want to end private insurance. They argued intensely over the merits of scrapping the entire insurance system, with the more moderate candidates warning such a move could destabilize the entire healthcare system. (Halper, 6/26)

Reuters: Factbox-Democratic Presidential Candidates Spar On Health Insurance, Immigration And More
Warren rejected politicians who call such proposals impossible. "What they're really telling you is they just won't fight for it," she said. "Well, healthcare is a basic human right, and I will fight for basic human rights." When former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke said he would not eliminate private insurance, de Blasio interrupted: "How can you defend a system that is not working?" Former Congressman John Delaney of Maryland, a little-known candidate, muscled his way into the conversation to defend the position of the party's moderate wing. He pointed out that his father enjoyed the private health benefits negotiated through his union. "Why do we have to stand for taking away something from people?" (Stein and Gibson, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Democratic Debate Bares Divisions On Health Care, Unity Against Trump
Some of the more centrist candidates, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, pushed back on Ms. Warren’s stance. “I think we should be the party that keeps what’s working and fixes what’s broken,” Mr. Delaney said. All the hopefuls seemed to agree they would go further than President Obama did in widening access to health care. (Thomas, Jamerson and Day, 6/27)

The New York Times: Fact-Checking Night 1 Of The 2020 Democratic Debates
Here is how the candidates’ remarks stacked up against the truth.... Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years, which is exactly what this bill says.” Mostly true. Ms. Klobuchar was referring to Senator Bernie Sanders’s bill that would put a Medicare-for-all national health insurance program into effect over a four-year period. His bill would create a universal Medicare program that would cover all Americans — including the roughly half who are currently covered by employer plans — with generous benefits and minimal out-of-pocket costs. Private insurers could offer coverage only for services not covered by the public program, such as cosmetic surgery. (6/26)

The New York Times: There Were 3 Women Onstage, And A Man Had A Lot To Say About His Work On Abortion
It took 30 minutes or so for Senator Elizabeth Warren to wind toward well-worn territory for her: a riff on the evils of insurance companies. “It’s not working for families,” she said, “But it’s sure as heck working for them. It’s time for us to make families come first.” It took barely a moment more for another familiar scene: a male peer cutting in as she spoke. “It should not be an option in the United States of America for any insurance company to deny women coverage for their exercise of their right of choice,” Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington interjected, pounding the air with his fist. “And I am the only candidate here who has passed a law protecting a woman’s right of reproductive health in health insurance.” (Flegenheimer, 6/26)

Politico: Warren Backs Eliminating Private Insurance For 'Medicare For All'
[Warren] characterized commercial health plans as a central part of a broken medical system, taking a more vigorous line of attack than in the past on a subject that has become a litmus test for many progressive voters. “Look at the business model of an insurance company,” Warren said. “It's to bring in as many dollars as they can in premiums and to pay out as few dollars as possible for your health care. That leaves families with rising premiums, rising copays and fighting with insurance companies to try to get the health care that their doctors say that they and their children need. Medicare for All solves that problem.” (Roubein, 6/26)

Politico: The Landmine That Just Got Laid For Elizabeth Warren
After pushing back on the idea of taking something away from Americans that most are reasonably happy with, Delaney said this: "Also it’s bad policy. If you go to every hospital in this country and you ask them one question, which is how would it have been for you last year if every one of your bills were paid at the Medicare rate? Every single hospital administrator said they would close." .... As an argument inside the Democratic Party, where "Medicare for All” is a rallying cry, this may not resonate. But once there's a general election, it's a new landscape, and if Warren—or Bernie Sanders, who shares the “no private insurance” view—makes it to that stage, it could be a much bigger deal. (Greenfield, 6/27)

The New York Times: John Delaney On Universal Health Care
John Delaney, a former congressman from Maryland, has proposed a universal health care system based on a combination of government coverage and private insurance. (Astor, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Democratic Debate: Candidates Tackle Immigration, Taxes, Climate Change And Guns
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee boasted of his executive standing, contrasting it with the many congressional lawmakers on stage, saying he had done more than any other to protect a woman's legal right to abortion — which drew a tart rejoinder from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. "There's three women up here who have fought pretty hard for a woman's right to choose," she dryly noted, drawing cheers and applause from the studio audience. (Barabak and Mason, 6/26)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Fact-Checking The First Democratic Debate
Warren: “Seven children will die today from gun violence — children and teenagers.” The average for firearms-related deaths was 7.15 per day when looking at people ages 0 to 19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s fatal injury report. The data covers 2013 to 2015. It’s worth noting that about one-third of the deaths are suicides — and that 18- and 19-year-olds are legal adults, though technically still “teenagers.” ... O'Rourke: “Despite what Purdue Pharma has done, their connection to the opioid crisis and the overdose deaths that we’re seeing throughout this country, they have been able to act with complete impunity and pay no consequences.” In terms of money, O’Rourke is wrong. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, in March agreed to pay a $270 million civil settlement in Oklahoma and faces lawsuits around the country. In 2007, three executives were spared prison time and sentenced to probation after agreeing to plead guilty to charges that they misled federal regulators about the addiction risks of the drug. (Kessler, Rizzo, Lee and Kelly, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Immigration Emerges As Emotional Focus Of First Democratic Debate
Immigration dominated the first Democratic debate of the 2020 White House race as the candidates staked out concrete policy proposals on the border crisis, their discussion charged with emotion in the wake of a widely circulated photo of a father and daughter who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande. Several of the 10 presidential contenders onstage Wednesday addressed the Miami audience with statements in Spanish, and immigration topics triggered some of the most contentious exchanges of the evening. (Miroff, 6/27)

Politico: 7 Big Takeaways From The First Democratic Debate
Overall, [Booker's] performance struck a balance of introducing himself to a broader audience and leaning into race issues, while detailing his policies, including on guns. “If you need a license to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and own a firearm,” Booker said to big applause. (Siders and Korecki, 6/27)

The New York Times: Cory Booker On Gun Control
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced a 14-part plan earlier this year to address gun violence, and it is one of the most progressive gun-control measures suggested by a candidate seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. (Corasaniti, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Democratic Presidential Candidates Engage In ‘Arms Race To The Left’ In First Debate
The party’s leftward push has been apparent to insiders and political junkies, particularly since the beginning of the 2020 presidential primary, but was in full view Wednesday night in front of a national television audience. (Stein, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: First-Debate Combatants Focus On Each Other, Not Biden
The two-hour session Wednesday evening was more contentious than many expected, even though the Democratic National Committee decided against putting the highest-polling candidates on stage together as was done with the crowded Republican field four years ago. Mr. Biden, 76, will be at the center of the stage Thursday and will be flanked by the oldest and youngest candidates in the race, 77-year-old Mr. Sanders and 37-year-old Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. (McCormick, 6/27)

The New York Times: The Democratic Debates, Night Two: Matchup Of The Heavyweights
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has started highlighting his policy differences with former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. He’ll get a big chance in the second night of the Democratic primary debates on Thursday. To the extent that the two end up hogging the spotlight, it could draw airtime from Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Senator Kamala Harris of California, the other two candidates receiving strong support in polls. Here are the political dynamics to watch. (Goldmacher, Parlapiano and Ramic, 6/27)

The Washington Post: Transcript: Democratic Debate Night One
A slate of 10 Democrats vying to become their party’s nominee for president faced one another on Wednesday in Miami, the first of two nights of debate among the 2020 candidates. (6/27)

The Associated Press: Court: Who Has Right To Defend ‘Obamacare’?
A federal appeals court on Wednesday requested written arguments on whether the House of Representatives and numerous Democratic-leaning states can step in to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that struck down President Barack Obama’s health care law. The question posed to lawyers on both sides of the “Obamacare” legal battle is significant because President Donald Trump’s administration isn’t defending the Affordable Care Act. The filing at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans also raises the question of whether there is a legitimate “live case or controversy” to be decided, and what the “appropriate conclusion” of the case should be if nobody involved can legally appeal the December ruling by Texas-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor striking down the law. (McGill, 6/26)

Politico: Appellate Court Raises New Threat To Obamacare
The implications of such a decision for the future of the Affordable Care Act are difficult to parse without more information, legal experts said. But most suggested that it wouldn't bode well for supporters of Obamacare. “The odds that the Fifth Circuit does something nasty to the health-reform law have gone up,” Nicholas Bagley, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School who has followed the case closely, wrote on Twitter. (Demko, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Appellate Court Raises Potential New Threat To ACA
If the 5th Circuit upholds the lower-court ruling — which would almost certainly put it back in front of the Supreme Court — it would create a political and logistical mess for the Trump administration and Congress. Republicans repeatedly failed to repeal and replace Obamacare while they controlled both the House and the Senate in 2017 and have little appetite to revisit health reform. “If a court decision came down quickly overturning the ACA, it would immediately catapult health care into the primary issue in the election,” said Larry Levitt, a senior vice president with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy organization. “The issue is now almost 10 years old and has so many legal tentacles that it would take a long time and probably many additional lawsuits to figure out how to unwind it.” (6/26)

The Associated Press: Border Aid Bill Faces Standoff In Congress Over Protections
Congress is at a standoff over a $4.6 billion aid package for the southern border as House Democrats say a Senate-passed measure doesn't go far enough to care for thousands of migrant families and children. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering a fresh vote Thursday. Democrats want to add more protections for the children — including medical and hygiene standards at facilities, and a requirement that any death of a minor be reported within 24 hours. Democratic leaders will convene early Thursday and Pelosi's spokesman says they plan to push the amended measure through the House quickly. (Taylor and Fram, 6/27)

The New York Times: Senate Approves $4.6 Billion For Border With Fewer Restrictions
The action set up a stalemate over the border spending, even as tragic images of the migrant crisis and reports of children and families in squalid and overcrowded detention centers fueled an urgent push to reach an agreement. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California rejected the Senate’s bill even before the vote was taken, setting up a clash over immigration policy just days before Congress leaves Washington for a weeklong July 4 recess. Ms. Pelosi on Wednesday afternoon called Mr. Trump, who has threatened to veto the House bill, to discuss how to reconcile the dueling measures. “They pass their bill; we respect that,” she said. “We passed our bill; we hope they would respect that. And there are some improvements that we think can be reconciled.” (Cochrane and Hirschfeld Davis, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Senate Approves $4.6 Billion Emergency Spending Bill For Southern Border Crisis
Trump himself sounded notes of optimism as he spoke about the legislation outside the White House prior to departing for Japan. “What they’re working on is aid, humanitarian aid for the children. It seems that the Senate is very close,” Trump said. “I think that Nancy wants to get something done, and the Senate and the House will get together. I think they’ll be able to do something very good.” (Werner and DeBonis, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Migrant Crisis At Border Intensifies As Senate Passes Aid Bill
Meanwhile, officials say cities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are overwhelmed by migrants. Politicians are arguing about responsibility for the death of a Salvadoran father and toddler daughter, captured in a photograph from Matamoros, Mexico, and U.S. immigration officials say they need new funds to process the large number of asylum seekers fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. (Duehren, Radnofsky and Montes, 6/26)

Politico: Trump Allies Pressuring DHS Chief To Resign
Hard-liners inside and outside the Trump administration are pressing for the removal of President Donald Trump’s acting Homeland Security secretary amid a rolling leadership purge that began in April and shows no signs of ending, according to five people in the Trump administration and four former Department of Homeland Security officials. Kevin McAleenan, who took over the post less than three months ago, is under heavy criticism from prominent Trump allies, including former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan, who may become the administration’s immigration czar. (Hesson and Cook, 6/26)

The New York Times: ‘Don’t Talk To Her’: A Glimpse Inside A Troubled Border Station Housing Migrant Children
Children as young as 3 pressed their faces against the windows of one crowded cell holding nearly 20 migrant girls, some sprawled on the floor. Boys gazed through the fencing of a containment zone exposed to the 101-degree heat. Customs and Border Protection authorities on Wednesday allowed a group of journalists on a brief, highly controlled tour of the border station in Clint, a farming town near El Paso, hitting back at reports of filthy and abusive conditions for the children detained inside. Agents claimed that they were supplying soap and toothbrushes for the children, pointing to shelves with those items in a supply room. (Romero, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Lawsuit Alleges Government Mistreatment Of Migrant Children
Immigrant rights attorneys filed suit against the Trump administration, claiming that the federal government is holding children in unhealthy and unsafe conditions along the southwest border in violation of a settlement dictating the detention of minors. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, asked for an emergency injunction allowing immediate inspections by a public health expert of all Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas’ El Paso and Rio Grande Valley sectors. The suit also sought access for medical professionals to these facilities. (Lazo and Gershman, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Doctors, Lawyers Portray Dire Conditions For Child Migrants
Immigrant advocates are asking a federal judge to immediately require inspections and let doctors into border detention facilities where they say sleep-deprived, flu-stricken children are languishing in filthy conditions. Doctors and lawyers who visited the facilities in recent weeks outlined several damning examples in a court filing late Wednesday that puts more pressure on the Trump administration to improve conditions for immigrant children. Lawyers are also asking for the prompt release of children to parents and close relatives and for the government to be found in contempt of court. (Attanasio and Taxin, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: Lawsuit Accuses U.S. Government Of Holding Migrant Children In ‘Deplorable’ Conditions
The temporary restraining order “further demands immediate, unfettered access of medical experts to the facilities, to evaluate and treat the children,” according to the statement. The motion, which cites detention facilities in the Border Patrol’s El Paso and Rio Grande Valley sectors, also asks the court to hold the U.S. government in contempt for failing to comply with basic child welfare standards. Those standards were agreed upon in a 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement, which set legal requirements for the housing of children seeking asylum or in the country illegally. (Carcamo, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Border Patrol Argues Child Treatment At Clint Migrant Facility Not As Described, Gives Access To Texas Station
U.S. authorities did not allow cameras on the tour, and reporters were barred from talking to children. Some of the children in the holding cells pressed up against windows to watch the entourage. Border Patrol agents and other government workers wore surgical masks to protect them from contagious diseases. Approximately 90 children were in the holding cells Wednesday. The rest — all teenage boys — were housed in a fenced-in area of an adjacent sally port that has been converted into a holding area with triple-decker bunk beds and mats. It can accommodate up to 200 children for sleeping. (Moore, 6/26)

The Associated Press: US Had Open Beds As Migrant Kids Languished At Texas Station
As more than 200 children languished in troubling conditions in a remote Border Patrol station, the government's system of child detention facilities had at least 500 beds available. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had beds available in facilities across the U.S., which when tallied up numbered 512 last week. Under federal law, the department is responsible for sheltering migrant children until they are placed with family sponsors. (6/27)

The Associated Press: AP Explains: What Happens When Migrants Arrive At US Border
The harrowing photo of a drowned toddler and her father along the Rio Grande has illustrated the risks migrants are willing to take to reach the U.S. in the face of increasingly hardline Trump administration policies aimed at keeping them out. For many people trying to enter the country, it's a matter of waiting, waiting and waiting some more for the OK to come across — unless they try to force the issue and slip over the border, a dangerous and sometimes lethal undertaking that involves trekking through the scorching desert and fording the deceptively tricky Rio Grande. (Galvan, 6/26)

The New York Times: Migrant Children Are Spending Months ‘Crammed’ In A Temporary Florida Shelter
About half of the roughly 2,300 children confined in a privately run Florida facility intended as a temporary shelter for migrant teenagers have been there for more than 20 days and many of them for months, despite legal standards that require children who cross the border to be speedily released or sent to state-licensed shelters that are equipped to offer longer-term care. (Jordan, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Wayfair Workers Stage Walkout Over Sales To Border Camps
Employees of Wayfair Inc. walked out of the company’s Boston headquarters on Wednesday in protest of the online retailer’s sale of $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture to a southern border facility for migrant children seeking asylum in the U.S. The walkout evolved into a demonstration that swelled to hundreds of people as employees were joined by human-rights and other groups in Copley Square, a public space just minutes away from the Wayfair workplace. (McGee and Levitz, 6/26)

The New York Times: With Rare Comity, Senate Panel Advances Bills To Lower Health Costs
The Senate health committee approved a package of bills on Wednesday aimed at lowering the cost of medical care, from ending surprise medical bills to curbing prescription drug price surges, with a rare bipartisan vote that could vault it toward final passage. Still, even some Democrats who supported the legislation couched it as cold comfort as the Trump administration prepares to argue before a federal appeals court next month that the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down as unconstitutional. (Goodnough, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: One State’s Effort To Publicize Hospital Prices Brings Mixed Results
As the Trump administration moves to make confidential hospital prices public, New Hampshire’s dozen years of experience with price transparency suggests what it may—and may not—accomplish. New Hampshire has one of the most comprehensive and oldest hospital price-transparency laws in the U.S. (Evans, 6/26)

ProPublica: The Nonprofit Hospital That Makes Millions, Owns A Collection Agency And Relentlessly Sues The Poor
In July 2007, Carrie Barrett went to the emergency room at Methodist University Hospital, complaining of shortness of breath and tightness in her chest. Her leg was swollen, she’d later recall, and her toes were turning black. Given her family history, high blood pressure and newly diagnosed congestive heart failure, doctors performed a heart catheterization, threading a long tube through her groin and into her heart. Her share of the two-night stay: $12,109. (Thomas, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Medical-Supplies Companies Object To Proposed New Tariffs
Add one more group to the long list of industries working to block new tariffs on Chinese imports: medical-supply companies. Trade officials have left the pharmaceutical industry and other pockets within the health-care sector out of the trade conflict, but dozens of medical supplies—tongue depressors, exam gloves, surgical gowns and the like— used in everyday patient encounters are among the $300 billion in Chinese imports facing 25% tariffs under the Trump administration’s latest proposal. (Ferek, 6/26)

NPR: 'Subscription' Model For Hepatitis C Meds Could Help States Limit Drug Costs
Louisiana officials announced a deal Wednesday with Asegua Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, that would allow the state to provide hepatitis C treatment to its Medicaid and prison populations. They also secured the necessary clearance from the federal government Wednesday for a novel approach to paying for the drugs and expect the program to start July 15. In Louisiana, at least 39,000 people either on Medicaid or in the prison system have hepatitis C, a viral infection that attacks the liver. (Simmons-Duffin and Kodjak, 6/26)

The Associated Press: Louisiana Reaches 'Netflix-Model' Deal To Tackle Hepatitis C
Health Secretary Rebekah Gee celebrated the deal's signing with Gov. John Bel Edwards at a New Orleans health clinic. She said Louisiana hopes to treat 31,000 of the estimated 39,000 Medicaid patients and prisoners with the disease by the end of 2024. By comparison, the state treated about 1,100 people last year, Edwards said. "It just was unacceptable. We knew we had to do better," said the Democratic governor. (DeSlatte, 6/26)

The New York Times: Drugmaker Deals Are Near Record Pace In 2019, But Investors Don’t Love Them All
A rush of acquisitions this year is reshaping the drug industry. But investors haven’t universally welcomed the deal-making. AbbVie’s agreement on Tuesday to buy Allergan, in a deal valued at $63 billion, provided the latest evidence: AbbVie’s shares fell 16 percent, their worst day in six years. Months earlier, investors pushed the stock of Bristol-Myers Squibb down 14 percent after the announcement that it would buy Celgene for $74 billion, the year’s biggest pharmaceutical deal. (Grocer, 6/27)

The Washington Post: HPV Vaccine Now Recommended Through Age 45 In Some Cases
A federal public health advisory panel said Wednesday that some people through age 45 could benefit from getting an HPV vaccine and should discuss the possibility with their doctors. The recommendation, which came during a two-day meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, could expand the pool of people whose insurance providers may cover the HPV vaccine. (Bever, 6/26)

CNN: HPV Vaccine Recommendation: CDC Panel Advises Expanding Ages
In a 10-4 vote, the committee also recommended adults ages 27 through 45 who had not been adequately vaccinated make shared decisions with their doctors about getting vaccinated. Adults older than 45 who had not been vaccinated are not advised to do so, since HPV vaccines are not licensed for use in that age group. The ACIP recommendations won't be official until they're approved by the CDC director. (Howard, 6/26)

The Associated Press: Vaccine Panel Gives Nod To HPV Shots For Men Up To Age 26
The CDC estimates that roughly half of Americans ages 18 to 59 had some form of genital HPV. Vaccinations against it first became available in 2006 and each dose now costs $216. The vaccine is approved for people up to age 45, but the same panel declined a proposal to recommend it for people older than 26. Instead, it settled on a weak endorsement for adults between 26 and age 45, meaning patients and doctors can make the decision together. (Stobbe, 6/26)

Reuters: Fate Of Opioid Litigation Hinges On Government 'Police Power'
The fate of thousands of lawsuits seeking to hold drugmakers responsible for fuelling the U.S. opioid epidemic hinges in part on a thorny legal question: Can a company use a bankruptcy to stop lawsuits from cities and states? U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross is expected in July to decide whether to halt more than 160 active lawsuits brought by state attorneys general, cities and counties against opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics Inc. When it filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware earlier this month, Insys requested the cases be paused. (6/26)

The New York Times: I’m 20. I Have 32 Half Siblings. This Is My Family Portrait.
It was never a secret in my house that I was conceived with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. For a majority of my childhood, I never really thought about him. But when I was around 11, I went through a period of having questions. My parents — I have two mothers — gave me a photo copy of a questionnaire that was sent to them from the sperm bank they used, California Cryobank. The donor filled it out in 1996, two years before I was born. I remember carrying the form with me in my backpack, taking it to school and studying it occasionally when I remembered I had it. (Baden-Lasar, 6/26)

The New York Times: Sperm Donors Can’t Stay Secret Anymore. Here’s What That Means.
To be the biological child of an anonymous sperm donor today is to live in a state of perpetual anticipation. Having never imagined a world in which donors could be tracked down by DNA, in their early years sperm banks did not limit the number of families to whom one donor’s sperm would be sold — means that many of the children conceived have half-siblings in the dozens. There are hundreds of biological half-sibling groups that number more than 20, according to the Donor Sibling Registry, where siblings can find one another, using their donor number. Groups larger than 100, the registry reports, are far from rare. (Dominus, 6/26)

The New York Times: Instagram Therapists Are The New Instagram Poets
Scroll through Lisa A. Olivera’s Instagram grid and you’ll find a distinctly 2019 tableau: a desert palette of blush, mauve and slate backgrounds with cream sans serif text. Her logo, a line drawing of a hand grasping desert poppies and wild grass, appears on many of the squares. These colors and icons are trademarks of influence in the age of peak wellness, the trappings of nonexperts who assert that drinking warm lemon water, de-puffing your face with a jade roller and bathing in rose petals will make you a better person. (June, 6/26)

The New York Times: Is Customer Service The New Therapy?
When Kate Lacroix was driving alone from Seattle to Vancouver for a funeral, she called AT&T to get an international wireless plan. By the time she arrived, not only did she have a new phone plan, she also had a refreshed outlook on life and death. “I was feeling lonely and wistful,” she said, “so I shared, ‘I’m headed to a funeral for a person who was a stranger but became a friend.’” The customer service agent said, “Well, everyone’s a stranger before they’re a friend.” (Parker, 6/27)

The New York Times: ‘It’s Gigantic’: A New Way To Gauge The Chances For Unresponsive Patients
Doctors have known for years that some patients who become unresponsive after a severe brain injury nonetheless retain a “covert consciousness,” a degree of cognitive function that is important to recovery but is not detectable by standard bedside exams. As a result, a profound uncertainty often haunts the wrenching decisions that families must make when an unresponsive loved one needs life support, an uncertainty that also amplifies national debates over how to determine when a patient in this condition can be declared beyond help. (Carey, 6/26)

PBS NewsHour: Why You Should Embrace Your Foot Calluses
For most of our 200,000 years of existence as a species, humans have walked the planet barefoot. It’s only in the last 40,000 years that shoes have come into style. We evolved to feel the ground under our feet and to develop thickened skin, known as calluses, that protected us from heat, cold and abrasion. Now, many of us walk on cushioned soles that take the place of calluses. (Stein, 6/20)