First Edition: March 22, 2018

Kaiser Health News: States Extend Medicaid For Birth Control, Cutting Costs — And Future Enrollment
The Trump administration is weighing whether to allow Texas to receive millions of federal Medicaid dollars for its family planning program, which bars abortion providers. The Lone Star State eliminated its Medicaid-funded family planning program five years ago when state officials said they wanted to specifically exclude Planned Parenthood because the group provides abortions. Dozens of women’s health clinics closed as Texas established a wholly state-funded program that officials say today serves 220,000 women. (Galewitz and Gorman, 3/22)

Kaiser Health News: Graphic: Opioid Painkiller Is Top Prescription In 11 States
Americans fill about 4.5 billion prescriptions each year, at a cost of more than $323 billion. But what are we actually buying? In 11 states, the top prescriptions are opioid pain pills that are mixtures of acetaminophen and hydrocodone (brand names Vicodin and Norco), according to new data from GoodRx, an online prescription cost service. (Gold, 3/22)

The New York Times: AIDS Researcher Robert R. Redfield Named To Lead The C.D.C.
A leading AIDS researcher and proponent of medication-assisted therapy for addiction was appointed Wednesday to oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alex M. Azar II, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, announced that the agency’s new director would be Dr. Robert R. Redfield, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and co-founder of the Institute for Human Virology. (Kaplan, 3/21)

The Associated Press: Leading AIDS Researcher Selected As CDC Director
"Dr. Redfield has dedicated his entire life to promoting public health and providing compassionate care to his patients," Azar said in a statement. Redfield's appointment doesn't need Senate approval, and he'll start at the CDC on Monday. Redfield, 66, is a medical school professor at the University of Maryland, where he co-founded the Institute of Human Virology. He has extensive experience treating HIV patients as well as heroin addicts and has been praised for his work in Maryland on the opioid crisis. (Stobbe, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Longtime AIDS Researcher Robert Redfield Picked To Lead CDC
Azar said Redfield’s scientific and clinical background is “peerless” and noted that during his two-decade tenure at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Redfield made “pioneering contributions to advance our understanding of HIV/AIDS.” He also praised his more recent work running a treatment network in Baltimore for HIV and hepatitis C patients, which Azar said prepares Redfield “to  hit the ground running on one of HHS and CDC’s top priorities, combating the opioid epidemic.” (Sun, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Robert Redfield Named To Head Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
Dr. Redfield, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, weathered criticized in the 1990s for his stance on mandatory HIV testing for patients that some saw as adding to the stigma around AIDS. He was also criticized in the 1990s by consumer health organizations and some congressional Democrats for his work on an experimental AIDS vaccine, according to several news reports. Critics said his analysis and statement created false hope for patients. An investigation at the time by the U.S. Army determined there was no evidence to support scientific misconduct, but some Democrats have already said they oppose his nomination. (Armour, 3/21)

Politico: Trump Administration Taps AIDS Researcher To Lead CDC
Redfield’s colleagues defended his record, saying he was motivated by a desire to help his patients. “He took a position not caring about the politics,” said Robert Gallo, who co-founded the Institute of Human Virology and has worked closely with Redfield for decades. “That was a time of a lot of panic and a lot of pressure politically in a lot of directions. Bob, in his position in the Army, was concerned about soldiers and I’m sure he acted in the best interest of his patients.” (Ehley, 3/21)

The Associated Press: Leaders Finalize US Budget Bill; Voting Could Begin Thursday
Congressional leaders have finalized a sweeping $1.3 trillion budget bill that substantially boosts military and domestic spending but leaves behind young immigrant "Dreamers," deprives President Donald Trump some of his border wall money and takes only incremental steps to address gun violence. (Taylor and Mascaro, 3/22)

The Washington Post: Here’s What Congress Is Stuffing Into Its $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill
Left out of the bill was a health-care measure sought by GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) that would have allowed states to establish high-risk pools to help cover costly insurance claims while restoring certain payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act. Trump, who ended the “cost-sharing reduction” payments in the fall, supported the Collins-Alexander language. But Democrats opposed it because they claimed it included language expanding the existing prohibition on federal funding for abortions. (DeBonis, O'Keefe and Werner, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Congressional Negotiators Reach Deal On $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill Ahead Of Friday Government Shutdown Deadline
The release of the 2,000-plus-page bill Wednesday evening, after a two-day delay, touched off a legislative sprint as lawmakers try to pass it before Friday night, the deadline to avoid a government shutdown. And with a key senator unwilling to say whether he would agree to accelerate the deal’s consideration, it remained uncertain whether they would be able to meet the challenge. (DeBonis and Werner, 3/21)

The Hill: Funding Bill Gives $3 Billion Boost For NIH Medical Research 
The government funding bill unveiled Wednesday night boosts funding for medical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $3 billion, an investment touted by both parties. The increase, which brings total funding for the fiscal year to $37 billion, is a reflection of the bipartisan support for the NIH. (Sullivan, 3/21)

CQ: Military Construction-VA: Boost For Health Care, Housing
VA medical care accounts would receive $68.8 billion of the new money allotted in the omnibus. In the final bargaining, appropriators provided a $2 billion increase for VA hospital maintenance and construction to help fix aging infrastructure and shore up in-house facilities so veterans don't need to make as much use of the existing private care alternative, known as the Veterans Choice Program. Choice, as it is known, has perennially run short of cash since its inception in 2014. The fiscal 2018 spending bill doesn't provide any additional funds for the program. For fiscal 2019, the administration is asking for $85.5 billion for the VA, which would amount to a $4 billion increase over this year's proposed funding, which is nearly six months late. (Mejdrich, 3/21)

CQ: Labor-HHS-Education: Health Programs Get A Boost
HHS would receive approximately $98.7 billion, compared to the $87.1 billion enacted for fiscal 2017, according to the bill, explanatory language and a Senate summary. That includes $5.1 billion for the Food and Drug Administration and $5.5 billion for the Indian Health Service, whose funds are provided respectively in the bill's Agriculture and Interior titles. (Siddons, 3/21)

The Hill: Congress To Boost Opioid Treatment, Prevention Dollars
Congress is adding a several billion dollar boost to the omnibus in order to combat the opioid epidemic — an effort to bolster prevention, treatment and law enforcement initiatives to combat the crisis killing thousands of people each year. The $1.3 trillion spending package allocates around $4 billion to the opioid epidemic, much of which is new money appropriated this year.  (Roubein, 3/21)

The Hill: Collins: 'Extremely Disappointing' ObamaCare Fix Left Out Of Spending Deal 
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday it is "extremely disappointing" that a bill she backed to stabilize ObamaCare markets was left out of a must-pass government funding bill. Collins voted for the tax reform legislation in December after securing a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to support the ObamaCare fix. Collins had worried about the repeal of ObamaCare's individual mandate in the tax bill, and the resulting premium increases. She wanted the stability measures to try to make up for that. (Sullivan, 3/21) 

Stat: The Donut Hole: Drug Makers Fail In Bid To Change Law On Medicare Costs
Congress has rebuffed drug companies’ appeals to reduce how much they have to pay for some seniors’ prescription costs — a rare defeat for the industry after a frenzied lobbying campaign. Drug makers had pressed Republicans to use a sprawling appropriations deal to roll back a policy that makes them responsible for 70 percent of the prescription costs for seniors who reach the so-called “donut hole” in 2019. The “donut hole” is a gap in Medicare drug coverage in which beneficiaries are on the hook for sky-high prescription costs, up to a certain dollar amount. (Mershon, 3/21)

Stat: Omeros Scores Major Win In House Spending Package
A tiny eye drug company is about to walk away from Congress with a great big win: an extra two years of charging Medicare higher prices for its cataract surgery drug. Tucked into some of the final pages of the sprawling, 2,232-page spending package congressional leaders unveiled late Wednesday are five pages detailing a complicated policy that represents a major win for Omeros, the Washington state-based company behind the cataract surgery drug Omidria. In fact, the language is painstakingly worded to ensure the policy affects Omeros and its product and almost no other drug companies. (Mershon, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Congressional Leaders Finalize Spending Deal
“No bill of this size is perfect,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said in a statement Wednesday night. “But this legislation addresses important priorities and makes us stronger at home and abroad.” (Peterson and Meckler, 3/22)

Politico: Massive Spending Deal Clinched Despite Trump’s Misgivings
Congressional leaders are hoping to avoid the need for a short-term spending bill to keep the government open for a few days beyond Friday. But if the spending bill is released Wednesday as planned, the House will likely vote on the measure Thursday, giving the Senate just one day to clear the deal before funding expires. (Caygle, Everett, Bade and Ferris, 3/21)

Politico: Modest Gun Measure Set To Hitch A Ride On Spending Package
Congressional leaders — at the urging of President Donald Trump — have reached a tentative deal to pass modest gun legislation as part of a broader spending package, three sources familiar with the talks told POLITICO on Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed the inclusion of narrow, bipartisan legislation aimed at improving records and information-sharing in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System — even though gun control advocates say the provision barely moves the needle on firearms restrictions. (Bade, Everett, Ferris and Caygle, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Plans To Allow Gun-Violence Research
In a victory for Democrats, the provision will partially alter the 1996 ban, known as the “Dickey Amendment,” which the CDC has interpreted as a blanket prohibition on gun-violence research. The legislation will explicitly allow the agency to conduct public-health research on gun use, though it would still be barred from advocating tighter gun control. Supporters of the Dickey provision say it ensures that the federal government doesn’t become enmeshed in a contentious political issue. But Democrats and some centrist Republicans contend that the amendment has had a chilling effect on scientific research into the issue, interfering with a greater understanding of the causes of gun violence. (Hackman, 3/21)

The New York Times: House Passes Bill That Would Give Patients Access To Experimental Drugs
The House, spurred on by President Trump, passed a bill on Wednesday that would give patients with terminal illnesses a right to try unproven experimental treatments. The measure, which was approved by a vote of 267 to 149, appears to have a good chance of becoming law. The Senate approved a similar proposal last year. (Pear, 3/21)

The Washington Post: House Approves ‘Right-To-Try’ Bill Giving Seriously Ill Patients Access To Experimental Drugs
The legislation failed March 13 after Republicans brought it to the floor under suspension of the rules, an approach typically reserved for noncontroversial bills that requires two-thirds support for passage. The vote was 259 to 140, prompting the Wall Street Journal’s GOP-friendly editorial board to blame Republicans for “political malpractice.” Wednesday’s vote required only a simple majority for passage. The bill now needs approval from the Senate, which passed its own “right-to-try” legislation over the summer by unanimous consent. Thirty-eight states have approved similar measures, according to a national “right-to-try” advocacy group. (Viebeck, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: House Passes Bill Giving The Terminally Ill Easier Access To Unproven Drugs
Proponents say the bill is necessary because desperately ill patients need help getting investigatory drugs. But critics say the measure could undermine clinical research into new prescription drugs. They also point to FDA data that show the regulator already approves more than 99% of such requests. The Senate version of the legislation carried a broad definition of which patients could qualify for such unproven drugs. It would allow access by a patient “diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or condition.” Critics of the legislation contend such language could potentially jeopardize much of FDA law by allowing unapproved drugs for non-terminal disease. (Burton, 3/21)

Politico: House Passes Right-To-Try On Second Try
With a final law all but assured, health policy advocates who have vigorously opposed the idea are now looking toward the broader anti-regulatory health agenda being pushed by the Goldwater Institute. Arizona-based Goldwater has a handful of other ideas that could dramatically weaken the authority of the FDA to oversee the safety and effectiveness of medicines and has already made progress getting one of those ideas — giving drug companies more freedom to market their products — on state lawmakers' agenda. Goldwater spearheaded passage of a law in Arizona's legislature last year that allows companies to promote non-FDA-approved uses of their products to doctors without fear of repercussions by state officials. It helped get similar bills introduced in Colorado and Missouri's legislative sessions this year and expects other states to follow suit soon. (Karlin-Smith, 3/21)

The Hill: Watchdog: Bisexual And Lesbian Health Information Removed From HHS Website
Information about LGBT health was removed from a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website last fall, according to new reports from a watchdog group. The HHS Office of Women’s Health (OWH) removed a webpage with extensive information about lesbian and bisexual health, and links that correspond to that webpage, according to reports the Sunlight Foundation released Wednesday. (Weixel, 3/21)

Reuters: Federal Prosecutors Told To Seek Death Penalty In Drug Cases
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed federal prosecutors on Wednesday to seek the death penalty in drug-related cases whenever it is "appropriate," saying the Justice Department must boost efforts to counter America's epidemic of opioid abuse. His mandate to prosecutors followed a plan announced by President Donald Trump earlier this week that called for executing opioid dealers and traffickers, and for stiffer sentencing laws for opioid trafficking. (Lynch, 3/21)

The Hill: Sessions Issues Memo On Use Of Death Penalty In Drug-Related Cases
“I strongly encourage federal prosecutors to use these statutes, when appropriate, to aid in our continuing fight against drug trafficking and the destruction it causes in our nation,” Sessions wrote. The memo points to statutes where the death penalty can be used, including certain racketeering activities, the use of a gun that resulted in a death during a drug trafficking crime, murder in advancing a criminal enterprise and dealing in “extremely large” quantities of drugs. (Roubein, 3/21)

CQ: House Kicks Off Two-Day Opioid Hearing
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee launched a two-day hearing Wednesday on the opioid crisis that includes discussion of 25 public health bills and features 19 witnesses. Full committee chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., spoke highly of President Donald Trump’s speech Monday addressing the crisis, noting that his committee was working on many of the same priorities. Walden hopes to pass a package to curb opioid addiction by Memorial Day. (Raman, 3/21)

The Associated Press: Governor Renews Calls For Medicaid Expansion In Virginia
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam renewed his call for Medicaid expansion Wednesday as he unveiled the budget he will propose to lawmakers when they return for a special session next month. But the spending plan was quickly dismissed by a top Republican, who said a fight over the budget likely won’t be resolved soon. The Democratic governor held a news conference to discuss his budget proposal, which is largely the same as the one former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe put forward in December, ahead of the start of the regular session. (Rankin, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Va. Gov. Ralph Northam Proposes New Budget. And It Looks Really Familiar.
McAuliffe’s spending plan died March 10, when the GOP-controlled General Assembly wrapped up its 60-day session without resolving a standoff over Medicaid expansion. The Senate opposed expansion. The House supported it, although with certain strings attached, such as imposing co-pays and work requirements on enrollees. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would pay 90 percent of the $2 billion-a-year cost of expanding Medicaid eligibility in Virginia. Northam’s plan would pay the state’s 10 percent share by taxing hospitals, an idea the House has embraced. (Vozzella, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Firms Turn To Drugmaker Executives As Businesses Converge
Health-care companies are tapping executives from drugmakers as they seek out finance and other critical skills found outside their core business to help navigate a recent wave of consolidation. A flurry of mergers is transforming health care as patients increasingly get their medical services outside of hospitals, in smaller venues including drugstores. (Minaya, 3/22)

The New York Times: More Cases Are Reported Of Unusual Cancer Linked To Breast Implants
More cases of an unusual cancer linked to breast implants have been reported to the Food and Drug Administration, the agency said on Wednesday. The case count rose in the past year, to 414 cases from 359, the agency said in an update on its website. The number of deaths it has recorded, nine, has not changed from one year ago; a professional society of plastic surgeons is now reporting 16 related deaths. (Grady, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: IVF Testing Spurs A Debate Over ‘Mosaic’ Embryos
It was her last chance. MaryJo Dunn had been trying to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization for 20 months. At age 45, she expected it to be challenging. But giving up wasn’t easy. She and her husband had lost their only child, a 17-month-old son, two years earlier to a rare type of cancer. The Dunns were running out of time and money. They had already spent more than $70,000 on fertility treatments and taken out a loan. But the doctor recommended against implanting Ms. Dunn’s two remaining embryos, she recalls, because of the results of genetic tests on them. (Reddy, 3/21)

Stat: Helmet-Sized Brain Scanner Aims To Improve Treatment Of Kids With Epilepsy
Abrain scanner now used to guide treatment of patients with epilepsy and other neurological disorders is bulky and challenging to use on fidgety young children — but researchers hope it might soon be replaced by a new machine that’s not much bigger than a bike helmet. Scientists at University College London have created a prototype of a lightweight, easier-to-use version of a magnetoencephalography, or MEG, brain scanner. These machines monitor the magnetic field created when neurons communicate with each other, allowing physicians to see how the brain functions from one second to the next. (Thielking, 3/21)

NPR: HIV Vaccine Needed To Stop AIDS
When Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announced that scientists had discovered the virus that caused AIDS at a press conference in 1984, the disease was still mysterious and invariably fatal. Perhaps with a vaccine, AIDS could be ended like smallpox or contained like polio, two scourges that yielded to intense public health interventions. Heckler suggested that experimental vaccine trials were just two years away. (Fitzsimons, 3/21)

The New York Times: Mumps Is On The Rise. A Waning Vaccine Response May Be Why.
Mumps is resurging. And it may be because the immune response provoked by the mumps vaccine weakens significantly over time, and not because people are avoiding vaccination or because the virus has evolved to develop immunity to the vaccine, a new study has found. (Bakalar, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Teenage Twins Needed Liver Transplants. One Of Them Lived Long Enough To Get His.
Eighteen-year-old Devin Coats was fighting for a second chance to live. His brother, Nicholas, was waiting to die. The identical twin brothers had both been diagnosed last year with Stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver — severe scarring commonly associated with alcoholism. In this case, it was the result of a gene mutation, and both brothers needed new livers to survive it. (Bever, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Woman Dies After ‘Acupuncture’ Session That Used Live Bees Instead Of Needles
A woman in Spain died after undergoing a supposedly routine “bee acupuncture” treatment and then suffering an allergic reaction that put her in a coma. The alternative medicine procedure is more or less what its name conjures up: Instead of a needle, an acupuncture practitioner injects bee venom into the body at certain points. In some instances, live bees are used to sting and inject venom into the person directly. (Wang, 3/21)

The Associated Press: Conservative Utah Lets Women Get Birth Control From Pharmacy
Women in conservative Utah will soon be able to get birth control directly from a pharmacist rather than visiting a doctor each time they want to obtain or renew a prescription, a move taken by only a few other states, many of them liberal. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed a measure into law Tuesday allowing those 18 and older to get pills, the patch and some other contraceptive devices, putting Utah in line with a handful of other states that have passed similar laws, including California, Colorado and Oregon. (3/21)

The Associated Press: Arkansas Judge Tosses Medical Pot Growing Licensing Process
An Arkansas judge on Wednesday struck down the state's decision to issue its first licenses to grow medical marijuana, ruling that the process for awarding the permits and the rankings of applicants were unconstitutional. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen granted a preliminary injunction preventing the state Medical Marijuana Commission from awarding cultivation licenses. Griffen last week issued a restraining order preventing the state from awarding licenses to five companies. (3/21)