First Edition: May 10, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Surprise! Fixing Out-Of-Network Bills Means Someone Must Pay
A bipartisan group of senators has been working to come up with a plan for the past several months. They said Thursday that they hope to have a bill to the president by July. But will bipartisanship be enough? Even political will might not overcome divisions within the health industry. (Rovner, 5/9)

Kaiser Health News: Is It A Feminist Right To Want More Sex? One Company Thinks A Pill Is The Answer
Studies have never defined a “normal” level of sexual desire. Despite that, there’s a website and an online quiz to help you decide if you’ve got a problem. Called “Right to Desire,” it brands libido as a feminist “right,” and its home page offers the defiant, in-your-face prompt: “Yes, I want my desire back.” Click a few boxes and you’re instantly directed to a remedy (and an online doctor to prescribe it): a pill called Addyi from Sprout Pharmaceuticals. “This particular product should not have been approved by FDA, but it was, and it is not a product that adds value to women’s lives,” said Susan Wood, assistant commissioner for women’s health at the Food and Drug Administration from 2000 to 2005. (Bluth, 5/10)

Kaiser Health News: Market Muscle: Study Uncovers Differences Between Medicare And Private Insurers
The gap between Medicare and private plans — and how it plays out across the country — underscores a key point in how American health care is priced. Often, it has little to do with what it costs hospitals or doctors to provide medical care. “It’s about how much they can charge, how much the market can take,” said Ge Bai, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School who studies hospital prices but was not affiliated with the study. (Luthra, 5/9)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ‘Conscience’ Rules, Rx Prices And Still More Medicare
In a new set of rules, the Trump administration wants to let not just doctors but almost any health care worker or organization decline to provide, participate in or refer patients for any health service that violates their conscience or religion. Also this week, the Trump administration is ordering prescription drugmakers to include list prices in their television ads for nearly all products. (5/9)

The New York Times: Trump Said He Wanted To Work With Democrats On Surprise Medical Bills. Then He Attacked Democrats.
President Trump said on Thursday that he was directing a bipartisan group of lawmakers to create legislation that would provide relief for people who were surprised by bills they receive from out-of-network health care providers after both emergency and scheduled medical visits. During a rambling 45-minute speech that veered into matters of foreign policy and his anger over the special counsel’s report, Mr. Trump pushed for a measure that he said would be bipartisan, even as House Democrats — some of whom the president also attacked by name — took up legislation to fortify a law he reviles, the Affordable Care Act. (Rogers, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Backs Push To Limit Surprise Medical Bills
Under principles unveiled by Mr. Trump, patients receiving emergency services wouldn’t get separate, out-of-network bills. Billing emergency-room patients more than their in-network allowed amount would be banned. Payments would then be determined by negotiations between providers and insurers. About one in seven patients wind up with surprise bills despite getting care at in-network hospitals, according to a March analysis by Health Care Cost Institute, a research collaborative. (Armour, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Trump Calls On Congress To End 'Surprise Medical Bills'
With polls showing that voters trust Democrats over Republicans on health care, Trump has been hitting pocket-book medical issues that resonate with the middle-class, like prescription drug costs. He was joined at a White House event by patients, one who got a $110,000 bill after a heart attack, and another who got a bill for $17,850 for a test her insurer would have paid $100 for. "So this must end," Trump said. "We're going to hold insurance companies and hospitals totally accountable." The president said he wants to get it done "quickly," and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he hoped to deliver a bill in July. (Freking and Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/9)

The Washington Post: Trump Pushes To End Surprise Medical Billing For Hospital Care
The president said that Democrats and Republicans alike should work quickly to stop “surprise” billing in the health-care industry. The unexpected bills are often high charges from doctors or facilities that are outside an insurer’s network, often unbeknown to patients. Trump said these practices are bankrupting patients through “health-care costs that are absolutely out of control. No family should be blindsided by outrageous medical bills.” (Goldstein, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Trump Backs Fla. Plan To Import Lower-Cost Meds From Abroad
In a move sure to get attention in a 2020 battleground state, President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that his administration may approve a Florida plan to import lower-cost prescription drugs from abroad for use by residents. It's the latest flashpoint in a confrontation between the Trump administration and the pharmaceutical industry, which for years successfully has fought off importation proposals. Drugs in other economically advanced countries are often much cheaper because governments set prices. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Anderson, 5/9)

The Hill: Trump Gambles In Push For Drug Import Proposal 
Trump’s own secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, expressed concerns with the idea in a meeting at the White House on Monday, and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate committee overseeing the issue, questioned whether the imported drugs would be safe. But Trump appears eager to push forward in his pursuit of lowering drug prices, embracing an idea that is one of the signature proposals of progressives like 2020 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Sullivan, 5/9)

The Associated Press: House Votes To Block Trump's Eased Health Coverage Rules
The Democratic-controlled House has voted to prevent the Trump administration from easing health care coverage rules required by President Barack Obama's health care law. Under guidance the administration issued last year, states might allow insurers to offer low-cost, low-coverage policies that could deny coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions. Democrats say that by blocking that language, Thursday's bill would protect patients with pre-existing conditions. (Fram, 5/9)

The Washington Post: Democrats Launch Health-Care Law Rescue In Face Of Trump’s Threat Of Repeal
Next week, the House will vote on a package of seven health-care bills, several of which would reverse administration actions that Democrats have described as efforts to sabotage former president Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. The votes come as President Trump recently renewed his vow to repeal the 2010 law and directed the Justice Department to intervene in a lawsuit aimed at invalidating the law entirely — including its popular protections for Americans with preexisting medical conditions. (DeBonis, 5/9)

The New York Times: With Insurance Bill Passage, House Democrats Begin Health Care Blitz
Other measures include a restoration of funding used to help consumers find and sign up for coverage under the health law, new disclosure requirements for prescription drug rebate programs, several measures intended to reduce drug costs and increase access to advanced medications known as biologics, and the allocation of $10 billion per year in new “reinsurance” payments that would help lower health care premiums by offsetting the costs of the most expensive insurance claims. Taken in total, the package is intended to build on the system established by the health law without disrupting the health care system for Americans who get coverage through work or a government program. (Thrush, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Scrap 'Obamacare'? Maybe Not All, Says Trump Administration
Scrap "Obamacare"? Well, maybe not all of it. The Trump administration is arguing in court that the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down as unconstitutional. But at the same time, Justice Department lawyers recently suggested that federal judges could salvage its anti-fraud provisions, raising questions about keeping other parts as well. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/10)

The Associated Press: Health Care Debate Hobbles Stock In Drugmakers, Insurers
While much of the stock market sprints ahead powered by economic gains and investor confidence, the health care sector is limping behind. Drugmakers and health insurers have been on the defensive most of the year as politicians criticize the high cost of prescription drugs and medical care. The issue is acting like an anchor for their share prices, especially heading into an election cycle where health care costs will be a key topic. (Troise, 5/9)

NPR: Why Are Health Care Workers' Religious And Moral Conscience Complaints Rising?
When health care workers feel they have been forced to do something they disagree with on moral or religious grounds, they can file complaints with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights. Some high-profile cases have involved nurses who objected to providing abortion services. For a decade, the agency got an average of one of these complaints of conscience violations each year. The complaints can include doctors, nurses or other health care workers who feel a hospital or clinic that receives federal funds has discriminated against them because of their moral position. Groups of health care providers also can file complaints. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Drugmaker Will Donate Meds For US Push To End HIV Epidemic
The Health and Human Services Department says a major drugmaker has agreed to donate medications that reduce the risk of HIV transmission for up to 200,000 people a year in support of the government's plan to end the epidemic in the U.S. The pledge by California-based Gilead Sciences may last up to 11 years, said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Gilead will donate its Truvada prevention pill until a second-generation version becomes available. (5/9)

The Washington Post: Drugmaker To Donate HIV-Prevention Pills For As Many As 200,000 People
The donation is part of President Trump’s initiative to reduce HIV transmission in the United States by 90 percent by 2030. “The majority of Americans who are at risk and who could protect themselves with PrEP are still not receiving the medication,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “This agreement will help close that gap substantially.” (Bernstein, 5/9)

The New York Times: Gilead Will Donate Truvada To U.S. For H.I.V. Prevention
The high cost of Truvada has been called a major barrier to stemming the spread of H.I.V. among low-income Americans, critics say, and part of the reason the AIDS epidemic has persisted for so long. A deep price cut for Truvada — and the Gilead drug slated to replace it, Descovy — would do far more to protect Americans at risk, they said. Truvada now costs about $20,000 a year in the United States. Gilead appears to be following a pattern set in 2001 by other drug companies. While millions of Africans died of AIDS because their drugs cost as much as $20,000 a year, drug makers refused to cut their overall prices. (McNeil, 5/9)

Stat: A Generic Version Of A Gilead HIV Pill Coming Sooner Than Expected
In an unexpected development, Gilead Sciences (GILD) disclosed that a generic version of its Truvada pill for preventing HIV will be sold by Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) starting in September 2020, roughly a year earlier than had been expected. Nonetheless, the news did little to assuage AIDS activists, who have been clamoring for a lower-cost version of the drug for the past few years, underscoring ongoing controversy over the cost of prescription medicines. Activists have complained that the price Gilead charges for its medicine has been a barrier to wider use and consequently thwarted efforts to eradicate the virus. (Silverman, 5/9)

The New York Times: What Do New State Abortion Laws Really Mean For Women?
This week, the governor of Georgia signed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. It effectively outlaws the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. Republican governors in three other states — Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio — have signed similar laws this year, marking a new and more severe tactic by the anti-abortion movement. The current constitutional standard under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision is that abortion is legal up until the point when the fetus could survive outside a woman’s womb — usually about 24 weeks into the pregnancy. (Belluck, 5/9)

The Washington Post: Alabama Abortion Law: Alabama Senate Tables Controversial Bill To Criminalize Abortions
After a shouting match broke out, the Alabama Senate on Thursday abruptly delayed a vote on a bill that would outlaw most abortions in the state and make performing the procedure a felony punishable by up to 99 years imprisonment. The tumult and yelling on the Senate floor began when some Republicans attempted to remove amendments that would have allowed women to get abortions in cases of rape or incest. (Wax-Thibodeaux and Cha, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Anger Erupts In Alabama Senate Over Abortion Bill
In the Alabama Senate on Thursday, discord flared over consideration of an amendment that would create exceptions to the bill in the case of rape or incest. The House version passed without such a provision, but one was added in a Senate committee. Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who presides over the Senate, removed the amendment on rape and incest in a voice vote, setting off screaming denunciations by Democratic Sen. Bobby Singleton. Shortly after, senators agreed to adjourn until Tuesday, when the bill and the amendment could be taken up again.“This is just a red meat kind of bill for the Republican party nationally,” Mr. Singleton said earlier during debate. “Think about what we’re about to do here in this state, and how we’re going to deal with the ability for a woman to make her choice.” (Campo-Flores, 5/9)

The Washington Post: Which States Are Blocking Abortion — And Which Are Enacting Protections?
Many states have created new laws this year to limit abortion or even try to ban it altogether in the hope that the Supreme Court with President Trump’s two appointees will be more likely to approve them. (Keating, Tierney and Meko, 5/9)

The New York Times: Many Hospitals Charge Double Or Even Triple What Medicare Would Pay
In Indiana, a local hospital system, Parkview Health, charged private insurance companies about four times what the federal Medicare program paid for the same care, according to a study of hospital prices in 25 states released on Thursday by the nonprofit RAND Corp. Colorado employers were shocked to learn they were paying nearly eight times what the federal government did for outpatient services like an emergency room visit, an X-ray or a checkup with a specialist at Colorado Plains Medical Center, northeast of Denver. (Abelson, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: What Employers Pay Hospitals Varies Widely, Study Finds
Prices have long been a closely guarded secret between hospitals and the health insurers that negotiate them. But more employers are sharing the data to curb rising costs. Hospital inflation accounts for about one-fifth of the overall growth in U.S. health-care spending since 1960, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Supporters of greater transparency say releasing pricing data will help control spending on care by arming the companies who pay hospitals with better information to negotiate reimbursement rates. (Evans, 5/9)

The New York Times: Measles Outbreak: Opposition To Vaccine Extends Well Beyond Ultra-Orthodox Jews In N.Y.
Noah Abdullah hasn’t immunized his 4-year-old son, Michael, saying that he’d read vaccines might be “no good” and that he’d “rather do natural things” to strengthen his child’s immune system. “I need to see more information before I start shooting him up with stuff,” Mr. Abdullah said. Donna Mosley said her 3-year-old grandson also did not have his vaccinations, though she wishes he did. His mother is afraid the shots could cause autism, she said, and his father’s Muslim beliefs have made him “totally against it.” (Otterman and Piccoli, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: Why The Measles Outbreak Has Roots In Today's Political Polarization
Vaccine resistance in America has frequently coincided with periods of great angst and resentment toward a government that seems bent on micromanaging citizens’ lives. As the country faces the largest outbreak of measles since the disease was deemed eliminated in 2000, epidemiologists and medical ethicists say they are not surprised to see an us-versus-them mentality fueling the rise of vaccine opponents once again. “This is a broader symptom of distrusting our institutions,” said Richard Carpiano, a medical sociologist at UC Riverside. Those who object to the measles vaccine aren’t just questioning the safety of the shot. They’re challenging the state’s authority to require it. (Baumgaertner, 5/9)

The Washington Post: An Unvaccinated Teen Who Sued Over School Ban Got Chickenpox. His Dad Says That’s A Good Thing.
A Kentucky teenager banned from school earlier this year because he lacked the chickenpox vaccine contracted the disease last month, according to his father, who says it’s the “best thing to do” to become immune. Eighteen-year-old Jerome Kunkel returned to class Monday for the first time since March 14, when the Northern Kentucky Health Department barred students without proof of vaccination or immunity against the chickenpox virus from attending Assumption Academy, a Catholic school in the northern part of the state, following an outbreak that had infected 32 students. (Brice-Saddler, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Juul's 'Switch' Campaign For Smokers Draws New Scrutiny
The young models and the candy-colored graphics that helped propel Juul to the top of the e-cigarette market are gone. In their place are people like Carolyn, a 54-year-old former smoker featured in new TV commercials touting Juul as an alternative for middle-age smokers. "I don't think anyone including myself thought that I could make the switch," Carolyn says, sitting in a suburban living room as piano music quietly plays in the background. (Perrone, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Warren Bringing Opioids Message To Hard-Hit W.Va., Ohio
Elizabeth Warren is set to visit a state that hasn’t been friendly to Democrats lately to pitch her plan to combat the opioid addiction crisis by boosting taxes on the wealthy. The Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential candidate will travel to Kermit, West Virginia, on Friday before moving on to Chillicothe and Columbus, Ohio. By starting in West Virginia, she’ll be in a place that President Donald Trump carried by 42 points in 2016, but one that is suffering from the nation’s highest death rate from prescription drugs. (Raby, 5/10)

The Washington Post: As Spending On Opioid Epidemic Soars, Md. Officials Say Death Rate Is ‘Starting To Plateau’
Opioids again killed a record number of people in Maryland last year, but state officials said Thursday the unprecedented epidemic now fueled by fentanyl deaths is starting to show signs of slowing. Preliminary data found 2,114 opioid-related deaths in Maryland in 2018, a 5.2 percent increase from the year before. (Cox, 5/9)

The Associated Press: A Growing Number Of States Call Porn A Public Health Crisis
More than a dozen states have moved to declare pornography a public health crisis, raising concerns among some experts who say the label goes too far and carries its own risks. The Arizona Senate approved a resolution this week calling for a systemic effort to prevent exposure to porn that's increasingly accessible to younger kids online. At least one legislative chamber has adopted a similar resolution in 15 other states. (Whitehurst and Cooper, 5/9)

The Washington Post: Kissing May Help Spread Oral Gonorrhea, Australian Study Says
It may be possible to pass gonorrhea through kissing, challenging the widely accepted notion that the sexually transmitted disease is spread almost exclusively through sexual contact, a new study says. Researchers in Australia found that kissing with tongue may be a way to transmit oropharyngeal gonorrhea, or oral gonorrhea, particularly among gay and bisexual men. (Bever, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: The Most Anxious Generation Goes To Work
Michael Fenlon’s company is one of the nation’s biggest employers of newly minted college grads. He’s watching a tidal wave approach. College presidents and deans tell him repeatedly that they’ve had to make managing students’ anxiety and other mental-health issues a priority. “They’re overwhelmed with the demand for mental-health services on their campuses. I hear this again and again. It’s really striking,” says Mr. Fenlon, chief people officer for PricewaterhouseCoopers, which hires thousands of college grads each year. (Shellenbarger, 5/9)

NPR: Promising Huntington's Disease Drug Enters Large Study
Scientists are gearing up a major study to find out whether a drug can silence the gene that causes a devastating illness called Huntington's disease. This development follows the discovery that the experimental drug reduced levels of the damaged protein that causes this mind-robbing ailment. The new study will determine whether that drug can also stop progression of the disease. (Harris, 5/9)

NPR: Good Sex After Menopause Means Trading Dryness And Doubt For More Talk And Touch
Menopause blindsided author Darcey Steinke. The hot flashes and insomnia were uncomfortable. The depression was debilitating. And the cultural expectations — that postmenopausal women are no longer interested in sex — made her both frustrated and angry. "I feel like in the world we live in, the patriarchal world, women are most valued for their sexuality and their motherhood," Steinke says. "Once menopause comes, there's a feeling of shame that comes for a lot of women." (Chang and Gordon, 5/9)

PBS NewsHour: Another Series Of School Shootings Highlights The Challenge Of Keeping Students Safe
Two students at a high school outside Denver allegedly opened fire during class on Tuesday, killing another student. In North Carolina just a few days earlier, two students were killed and four injured by a gunman at UNC Charlotte. Amid a pattern of school violence that has become all too familiar, Judy Woodruff talks to John Ferrugia of Denver’s Rocky Mountain PBS and Education Week’s Evie Blad. (5/9)

The Associated Press: Amazon To Make Sure School Supplies Don’t Have Lead, Cadmium
Amazon has agreed to make sure school supplies and children’s jewelry sold on its website do not contain excessive levels of lead or cadmium. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said an investigation found dozens of items that tested above legal levels for the dangerous metals. Some pencil pouches had parts containing 80 times the legal limit for lead and about 30 times the limit for cadmium. (5/9)

The New York Times: Making Playgrounds A Little More Dangerous
“Oh my God, this is going to be amazing,” a preadolescent wearing a gray hoodie exclaimed as he dashed in to The Yard, a 50,000-square-foot adventure playground on Governors Island in New York Harbor. The Yard, for kids 6 through 13, lacks the usual monkey bars, slides and swings. It is, however, well-stocked with dismembered store mannequins, wooden packing crates, tires, mattresses, an old piano and assorted other detritus of the modern world. (Schiffman, 5/10)

The New York Times: Statins May Cut Glaucoma Risk
More good news about cholesterol-lowering statin drugs: They may reduce the risk for glaucoma. Previous studies of the link between statin use and glaucoma have produced conflicting results. Now a large study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, offers long-term data. Researchers followed 136,782 health care workers for up to 15 years, tracking statin use and the incidence of glaucoma, the fluid buildup in the eyeball that damages the optic nerve and can lead to blindness. (Bakalar, 5/9)

USA Today: California Teacher With Breast Cancer Will Have To Pay For A Substitute
Parents in San Francisco are rallying around a second-grade teacher with breast cancer who will have to cover the cost of a substitute to replace her while she's on extended sick leave. A Glen Park Elementary school teacher, who did not want to be identified, will likely be on leave for the rest of the year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday. She could have as much as $240 per day deducted from her salary to pay for a substitute thanks to a 1976 change to the California education code, the newspaper reported. (Yancey-Bragg, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: California Teachers Must Pay For Cost Of Their Substitute If Sick Leave Runs Out
“By the time she has her second surgery, she will have exhausted all of her accumulated sick leave days and will be using extended sick leave, which is the regular salary minus the cost of the substitute teacher. Her colleagues will be donating sick days, but they will not be available until the next school year,” the page read. The teacher has taught at Glen Park School for 17 years. In the San Francisco School District, a teacher is allotted 10 sick days at the beginning of the school year, and 100 days of extended sick leave if they need more time. The teacher’s salary for those extra days is reduced by the cost of a substitute teacher, which is generally between $167.94 and $203.16 per day in that district. (Shalby, 5/9)

The Associated Press: New Budget Proposal Tackles Homelessness In California
Calling it “a stain on the state of California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday vowed to use part of a historic budget surplus to tackle homelessness in the nation’s most prosperous state. “This homeless issue is out of control,” Newsom told reporters on as he unveiled his revised state budget. “(People) are outraged by it, they are disgusted by it, they are wondering what the hell is going on in Sacramento, and they should.” (Beam, 5/9)

The Associated Press: Judge: Boy Must Resume Chemotherapy, Despite Parents’ Wishes
A judge has ruled that a 3-year-old Florida boy must resume his cancer treatment, despite his parents’ wishes. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Caroline Tesche Arkin ruled Wednesday that Noah McAdams must immediately resume the first phase of chemotherapy to treat his leukemia. Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball want to treat their son with natural remedies that include cannabidiol, fresh foods and alkaline water. Noah was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia April 4. (5/9)