First Edition: May 14, 2015

Kaiser Health News: A Top-Rated Nursing Home Is Hard To Find In Texas, 10 Other States
The problem for Sealy’s family and residents of many parts of the country is they have few, if any, higher-rated options if they want their loved ones close by. Texas has the highest percentage of one-and two-star homes in the country: 51 percent of its nursing homes are rated "below average," or "much below average," on Nursing Home Compare, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.) Louisiana is close behind at 49 percent, with Oklahoma, Georgia and West Virginia tying for third at 46 percent. States with at least 40 percent of homes ranked at the bottom two rungs include North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. (Appleby, 5/14)

Kaiser Health News: Learning A New Health Insurance System The Hard Way
The insurance program was called 'Believe Me' — but Kairis Chiaji had her doubts. She and her husband Arthur were skeptical that the new health plan they purchased for 2015 would actually work out. That’s because their experience in 2014 had been a disaster, she said. The Sacramento, Calif., couple had been thrilled to learn last year about the prospect of subsidized coverage under the nation’s health law, she recalled. Each of them had been uninsured for years when they signed up for coverage through the state exchange, Covered California. (Gold, 5/14)

The Associated Press: Pelosi Predicts GOP Ruin On Health Care Case
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says Republicans will "rue the day" if the Supreme Court buys their arguments and invalidates tax subsidies for millions of people under President Barack Obama's health care law. Republicans have said they will try to ensure people don't lose coverage if the high court rules this summer against tax subsidies for health care coverage in certain states. But they haven't said how they would do it. (Werner, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Sen. Cassidy Maps A Plan To Overhaul Obamacare
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is throwing his hat into the ring of Republicans vying to shape the party’s health care policy this summer. GOP lawmakers have been wrestling for months over what to do if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits in most of the country, a move that would upend a big part of the law. A decision is expected in June, and Republican leaders believe it will give them a chance to overhaul a law they have long opposed. Mr. Cassidy, a freshman senator and a physician before going into politics, outlined a plan to let states choose to opt out of the law, widely known as Obamacare, if the court strikes down the credits. (Radnofsky, 5/13)

The Associated Press: 3 Questions To Help Sort Student Health Coverage Choices
A key question remains for many students who've finally settled on a college destination: How will they or their parents handle health care coverage? A doctor's office visit can cost over $100 for someone without insurance. A car accident that turns into a short hospital day can quickly bury a student and his or her parents in more than $30,000 in debt. Plus those who skip coverage may face a penalty under the federal health care overhaul. Brokers say students heading off to school in the fall can finalize their insurance plans as late as July or August. But they should start thinking about their needs long before they begin packing for a dorm. (Murphy, 5/13)

The New York Times: Guiding Wealthy Retirees On Health Expenses
Death and disease don’t discriminate, and that has many high-net-worth retirees worried. They realize fate could determine the quality of their retirement more than their lifetime of planning. ... Enter big brokerage firms with services not typically associated with wealth management. Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo are either offering to connect wealthy clients with providers that offer specialized health care, or training advisers to deal with such worries about health and aging among clients. (Sullivan, 5/13)

The New York Times: House Approves Revised Measure Banning Most Abortions After 20 Weeks
The House on Wednesday voted to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, approving a revised version of a bill that Republican leaders had abruptly pulled in January amid objections from some of their own members. The measure passed in a 242-to-184 vote, with one member voting present. The bill dropped a provision in the original version that would have required women who became pregnant through rape to report their assault to law enforcement authorities to be eligible for an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. (Huetteman, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: House Passes Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks
The House on Wednesday passed modified legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, months after concerns from centrist and female Republicans derailed a vote on the bill. The legislation stands little chance of becoming law, as President Barack Obama is unlikely to sign it even if it clears Congress. Still, the bill highlights the challenges Republicans face tackling an issue important to conservatives without alienating some women voters ahead of the 2016 elections. (Peterson and Radnofsky, 5/13)

The Washington Post: House Approves 20-Week Abortion Ban
The bill seeks to ban any abortions beyond the midpoint of pregnancy — before a fetus is typically deemed viable, but after antiabortion activists say the fetus can feel pain. It faces an uphill course in the Senate, and President Obama has said he would veto it. But House passage of the measure had been a priority for antiabortion groups hoping to push the needle on public opinion and inject the issue into the 2016 presidential race. (Somashekhar, 5/13)

The Washington Post: VA Improperly Spent $6 Billion Annually, Senior Official Says
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been spending at least $6 billion a year in violation of federal contracting rules to pay for medical care and supplies, wasting taxpayer money and putting veterans at risk, according to an internal memo written by the agency’s senior official for procurement. In a 35-page document addressed to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, the official accuses other agency leaders of “gross mismanagement” and making a “mockery” of federal acquisition laws that require competitive bidding and proper contracts. (Rein and Wax-Thibodeaux, 5/14)

The Washington Post: 9 Big Takeaways From Memo Accusing VA Of Making A ‘Mockery’ Of Spending Rules
In March, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ senior procurement official, Jan R. Frye, sent a memo to Secretary Robert McDonald accusing other agency leaders of “gross mismanagement.” In the 35-page document, he describes a culture of “lawlessness and chaos” at the Veterans Health Administration, the massive health-care system for 8.7 million veterans. (Rein, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Multibillion-Dollar Investment Needed To Fight Drug-Resistant ‘Superbugs’
A multibillion-dollar investment into the global pharmaceuticals industry is needed to ward off the threat of drug-resistant “superbugs,” according to Jim O’Neill, the economist leading a review into antimicrobial resistance for the U.K. government. Mr. O’Neill, best known for coining the “BRIC” acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China while at Goldman Sachs, estimated that as much as $37 billion is needed over the next 10 years to spur the industry to develop innovative antibiotics, since there is little market incentive to do so. (Roland, 5/13)

The New York Times: Study Asks If Carrot Or Stick Can Better Help Smokers Stop
The trial, which was described in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, was the largest yet to test whether offering people financial incentives could lead to better health. It used theories about human decision making that have been developed in psychology and economics departments over several decades and put them into practice with more than 2,500 people who either worked at CVS Caremark, the country’s largest drugstore chain by sales, or were friends or relatives of those employees. (Tavernise, 5/13)

NPR: Smokers More Likely To Quit If Their Own Cash Is On The Line
A new study finds that employer-based programs to help people stop smoking would work better if they tapped into highly motivating feelings — such as the fear of losing money. This conclusion flows from a study involving the employees of CVS/Caremark. Some workers got postcards asking them if they wanted a cash reward to quit smoking. One card ended up in the hands of Camelia Escarcega in Rialto, Calif., whose sister works for CVS. (Harris, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: $30,000 Baby: U.S. Sees Boom In Fertility Treatments
Miryam Gerdine and her husband, both 44 years old, are expecting their first child in June, but the happy occasion comes with a price tag: The Maryland couple spent $30,000 on in vitro fertilization and other procedures. Delayed childbearing has allowed more women to join the workforce, but many who wait until their late 30s and 40s struggle to get pregnant. (Shah, 5/14)

Los Angeles Times: Hospitals Step Up Search For Best Scope-Cleaning Protocol
Three months after deadly superbug outbreaks sparked alarm nationwide, U.S. hospitals are still searching for how best to clean a controversial medical scope and keep patients safe. Federal regulators have declined to pull the difficult-to-clean duodenoscopes off the market, and there's no indication that manufacturers can quickly redesign the reusable devices, which are employed in nearly 700,000 procedures annually. (Terhune and Petersen, 5/14)

USA Today: Indiana Community's HIV Outbreak A Warning To Rural America
This small, close-knit community is a picture of rural America, with stubble-filled cornfields and a Main Street lined by churches, shops and sidewalks. It's also the unlikely epicenter of the largest outbreak of HIV, the AIDS virus, in Indiana's history -- and a warning to the rest of the nation. Public health experts say rural places everywhere contain the raw ingredients that led to Austin's tragedy. Many struggle with poverty, addiction and doctor shortages, and they lag behind urban areas in HIV-related funding, services and awareness. And the same lack of anonymity that gives rural towns their charm foments a strong stigma that discourages testing and treatment. (Ungar and Kenning, 5/13)