Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Politico: Republicans Turn Fire On Each Other
White House officials insisted Sunday that the relationship between President Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan is strong, even as Republican infighting over the failure to repeal Obamacare exploded into the open over the weekend. After Trump urged his Twitter followers Saturday to watch Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro — who opened her show last night with six-minute plea for Speaker Paul Ryan to step down — Washington was abuzz with speculation about a Trump-Ryan rift. (Cheney and Bresnahan, 3/26)
Politico: Republicans Wonder Whether Trump's Heart Was In Healthcare Fight
While President Donald Trump’s first major legislative push hurtled toward a major defeat, one of his top advisers, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, was photographed with his wife, Ivanka Trump, on a ski gondola in Aspen. Kushner may not have been the lead White House negotiator on the doomed healthcare bill. But the image of Trump’s top consigliere hitting the slopes at perhaps the most critical moment of his young presidency sent a message loud and clear: The White House wanted a win, but health care was not the dominant priority for Trump that it was for the Republican members of Congress who actually had to take a vote. (Karni, 3/25)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Voters Say President Can Learn From Failure Of Health-Care Bill
Some of President Donald Trump’s supporters say they are disappointed by the implosion of a health-care bill on Friday, but the political fallout for him may be limited as they blame House Speaker Paul Ryan more than the president for failing to deliver on a central campaign promise. (Hook, 3/26)
Politico: Back Home, Freedom Caucus’ Meadows Hailed As Anti-Obamacare Hero
House insurgent Mark Meadows embarrassed the White House and forced his fellow Republicans to turn tail on a seven-year pledge to tear down Obamacare. His constituents are throwing him a party. (Cancryn, 3/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Iowa Congressman Faces Pressure From Donors, Backlash From GOP For Not Backing Health Bill
Iowa Rep. David Young twice ran for Congress promising to do whatever he could to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This week, he had planned to vote against a bill to replace it, and thus keep Obamacare the law of the land. (Epstein, 3/25)
Politico: Freedom Caucus Member Resigns From Group Over Obamacare Rift
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) resigned from the House Freedom Caucus over the group's opposition to the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. "I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus. In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe wrote in a statement. (Bade, 3/26)
The Washington Post: Pence’s Strange Claim That Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines Would Be Like Car And Life Insurance
One of President Trump’s signature promises is to allow the purchase of health insurance across state lines. This was supposed to be tackled in “phase three” of the administration’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, now in doubt because of the failure on Friday to advance the “phase one” bill in the House. Many experts are skeptical about whether buying health insurance across state lines would actually work — more on that below — but we were interested in claims made by administration officials such as Vice President Pence and White House press secretary Sean Spicer that this would be similar to buying life insurance and car insurance. (Kessler, 3/27)
The Washington Post: ‘Awkward’: After Health-Care Bill Dies, Ads Air Thanking Republicans For Replacing Obamacare
The decision on Friday to abruptly pull the bill, known as the American Health Care Act, was a stunning defeat for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and President Trump, who campaigned on a promise to repeal and replace the nation’s health-care law, known as Obamacare. But hours after the decision, television ads aired reflecting a different reality. (Schmidt, 3/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Health Insurers Wrestle With Next Steps As GOP Bill Fails
House Republicans’ failure to pass their bill overhauling the Affordable Care Act leaves health-care companies with continued challenges, most acutely for insurers facing decisions about whether to offer plans in the existing law’s marketplaces next year. (Wilde Mathews and Evans, 3/24)
Politico: Sanders To Offer Single-Payer Health Care Plan
Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday he planned to introduce a single-payer health care plan to Congress, inviting Republican leaders to negotiate the measure. “I'm going to introduce a Medicare-for-all single-payer program," Sanders told anchor Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union." The Vermont senator, who has repeatedly stated his support for such a plan in the past, said he hoped to garner bipartisan support for the plan. (Lima, 3/26)
NPR: Worries About Health, Prejudice And Immigration Swirl At LA Clinic
Lourdes Flores Valdez says she got her diabetes under control after she was able to sign up for Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid, under the Affordable Care Act's expanded eligibility rules. Sitting in an exam room at the UMMA Community Clinic's Fremont Wellness Center in South Los Angeles, she suddenly veers away from discussing the health law and starts talking about her husband, who is in the United States illegally. (Plevin, 3/25)
The Associated Press: Utah’s Governor Signs Abortion-Halting Legislation
Utah’s governor signed legislation on Saturday that would require doctors to inform women that medication-induced abortions can be halted after taking just one of two pills, despite doctors’ groups saying there is little evidence to back up that idea. (Golden, 3/25)
The Associated Press: Montana Bill Seeks Abortion Ban On ‘Pain-Capable’ Fetuses
The Montana Senate on Friday advanced a proposal seeking to extend protections to so-called “pain-capable” fetuses. If approved, Montana would join more than a dozen states adopting laws protecting pain-capable fetuses. The measure is one of a pair of anti-abortion bills that continued moving through the Montana Legislature. Earlier in the week, a House committee further advanced a bill that would effectively ban all abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy by requiring doctors to save a fetus. (Calvan, 3/24)
The Washington Post: Oklahoma Lawmaker Defends Pregnancy From Rape And Incest As ‘Beauty From Ashes’
In defending his controversial antiabortion legislation, Oklahoma state Rep. George Faught said that even in pregnancies that result from rape or incest, “God can bring beauty from ashes.” Faught made the statement during a debate on the Oklahoma House floor earlier this week. Faught’s bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House on Tuesday, would outlaw abortions sought by women based solely on a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other genetic abnormalities. A fellow lawmaker criticized the Republican from Muskogee for not including an exception for pregnancies that resulted from rape and incest. (Phillips, 3/25)
The Washington Post: Md. Legislature Rushing To Pass Opioid Bills Before Session Ends
With two weeks left before the end of Maryland’s 2017 legislative session, lawmakers are rushing to pass a package of bills aimed at combating the heroin and opioid epidemic that a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll shows is touching about one-third of state residents. (Hicks, 3/26)
The Washington Post: A 10-Month-Old Girl Had A Parasitic Twin Protruding From Her Back — Until Surgeons Removed It
The examinations, X-rays and dry runs using a 3D model of her tiny spine all came down to this: A team of surgeons made a careful incision and, over the next six hours, systematically removed an extra pelvis, legs, feet and tiny toes that were protruding from her neck and back. Since birth, baby Dominique had been carrying her parasitic twin. (Bever, 3/25)
The New York Times: Going Under The Knife, With Eyes And Ears Wide Open
“Do you want to see your tendons?” Dr. Asif Ilyas, a hand and wrist surgeon, was about to close his patient’s wound. But first he offered her the opportunity to behold the source of her radiating pain: a band of tendons that looked like pale pink ribbon candy. With a slender surgical instrument, he pushed outward to demonstrate their newly liberated flexibility. (Hoffman, 3/25)
NPR: Breast-Fed Kids May Be Less Hyper, But Not Necessarily Smarter, Study Finds
Breast-feeding has many known health benefits, but there's still debate about how it may influence kids' behavior and intelligence. Now, a new study published in Pediatrics finds that children who are breast-fed for at least six months as babies have less hyperactive behavior by age 3 compared with kids who weren't breast-fed. (Aubrey, 3/27)
NPR: New Parents Get Baby Boxes To Encourage Safe Sleep
For Jernica Quiñones, the reality of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, hit close to home this year when a friend woke up on New Year's Day and discovered the lifeless body of her baby girl. That's why Quiñones' 4-month-old son, Bless'n, has spent a lot of his life so far sleeping in a cardboard box. (Pao, 3/26)
NPR: Telehealth Makes Some Health Care More Expensive
Telehealth takes a lot of forms these days. Virtual visits with a health care provider can take place by video, phone or text, or via the Web or a mobile app. The one commonality: You get to consult a doctor from your home, the office, Starbucks or anywhere with a wifi or mobile connection. (Brooks, 3/26)
NPR: Common Virus Can Cause Devastating Birth Defects
When Kathleen Muldoon had her second child everything was going smoothly. The delivery was short, the baby's APGAR score was good and he was a healthy weight. "Everyone said he was amazing," says Muldoon. But when a doctor noticed that Gideon was jaundiced, everything changed. (Neighmond, 3/27)
NPR: Long-Term Impact Of Zika Virus In Puerto Rico Unknown
Micaela Delgado is a beautiful dark-eyed baby girl with a ready smile. She's eight months old. She's one of more than 1,000 babies already born in Puerto Rico to mothers with Zika. (Allen, 3/27)
