First Edition: May 22, 2015

Kaiser Health News: The Gray Areas Of Assisted Suicide
Physician-assisted suicide is illegal in all but five states. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen in the rest. Sick patients sometimes ask for help in hastening their deaths, and some doctors will hint, vaguely, how to do it. This leads to bizarre, veiled conversations between medical professionals and overwhelmed families. Doctors and nurses want to help but also want to avoid prosecution, so they speak carefully, parsing their words. Family members, in the midst of one of the most confusing and emotional times of their lives, are left to interpret euphemisms. (Dembosky, 5/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Boosts
Major insurers in some states are proposing hefty rate boosts for plans sold under the federal health law, setting the stage for an intense debate this summer over the law’s impact. In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016. The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the Oregon health exchange, seeks an average boost of around 25%. (Radnofsky, 5/21)

The New York Times: $1.6 Billion Is Offered To Hospitals In Florida
The federal government opened the door on Thursday to a compromise that could ease Florida’s budget impasse, rooted in a disagreement over Medicaid expansion and the cost of caring for the uninsured. In a letter to Florida’s top health care official, the Obama administration said that it could authorize $1 billion for the 2015 fiscal year and $600 million for the 2016 fiscal year to reimburse hospitals for treating patients who do not have insurance. The cost would be shared by the state and federal governments. The $1 billion offer is less than half of what the state requested for this year for the Low-Income Pool program, which is set to expire June 30. (Alvarez, 5/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Karen Ignagni To Be EmblemHealth CEO
Karen Ignagni, the longtime leader of the health-insurance lobbying group America’s Health Insurance Plans, will leave to become chief executive officer of EmblemHealth, a not-for-profit health plan based in New York. (Armour, 5/21)

Politico: Top Health Lobbyist Calls It Quits At Key Moment For Obamacare
Karen Ignagni was the woman who could have killed Obamacare. Instead, the nation’s top health insurance lobbyist helped President Barack Obama to pass his sweeping health reform. And she became emblematic of the compromises and controversies that still define the Affordable Care Act today. (Palmer, Haberkorn and Demko, 5/21)

The New York Times: More Money Considered For Health Agencies
A bill in the House of Representatives that aims to speed approval of drugs and medical devices would set aside $10 billion over five years for the National Institutes of Health and about half a billion dollars for the Food and Drug Administration, rare funding increases that the bill’s sponsors say will help carry out the sweeping legislation and spur biomedical innovation. (Tavernise, 5/21)

Reuters: House Committee Approves Bill To Speed New Drugs To Market
A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill to speed new drugs to the market, overcoming last-minute wrangling over how to pay for the legislation. The bill, known as the 21st Century Cures Act, requires the Food and Drug Administration to incorporate patient experience into its decision-making, streamline its review of drugs for additional uses, and consider more flexible forms of clinical trials. (5/21)

Politico: Healthcare Hackers May Have Accessed Lawmaker Info
House lawmakers were warned Thursday night that their personal data may have been compromised in a cyberattack involving health care plans from CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield. In an email to lawmakers obtained by POLITICO, House administration officials said hackers may have gained access to “limited personal information for House employees” — including members enrolled in Blue Cross Blue Shield plans set up under Obamacare. (French, 5/21)

The New York Times: CVS Health Agrees To Buy Omnicare In $12.7 Billion Deal
As the American population gets older, pharmacies and other health care providers are increasingly positioning themselves to capitalize and serve the needs of this demographic. This group often needs drugs for chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, as well as lifesaving medications for sudden conditions like infections or pneumonia. (Thomas and Bray, 5/21)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS To Buy Drug Provider For $10.4 Billion
In a bid to strengthen its foothold as a dispenser of expensive prescription drugs, CVS Health Corp. agreed Thursday to pay $10.4 billion to acquire Omnicare Inc. Omnicare is a growing player in the fulfillment of prescriptions for diseases like cancer and multiple sclerosis, where the per-patient cost of medications can range from $50,000 to $100,000 annually. (Walker, 5/21)

The Associated Press: CVS Paying $10.4B In Cash For Drug Distributor Omnicare
CVS Health will pay more than $10 billion for pharmaceutical distributor Omnicare in a deal primed to feed its fast-growing specialty drug business and tap a lucrative and growing market: care for the elderly. The acquisition announced Thursday will give one of the biggest U.S. pharmacy benefits managers national reach in dispensing prescription drugs to assisted living and skilled nursing homes, long-term care facilities, hospitals and other care providers. Omnicare's long-term care business operates in 47 states and the District of Columbia. (Murphy, 4/21)

USA Today: CVS Buys Omnicare For $12.7B To Expand Senior Care Business
The deal will dramatically add to CVS' revenue next year, and integrating the companies also will lead to savings in purchasing and other operations, CVS said. It will contribute about 20 cents to CVS' earnings per share next year, after excluding one-time transaction-related costs. (Yu, 5/21)

The Associated Press: Indiana Approves 1st Needle-Exchange Program Under New Law
Indiana approved a yearlong needle-exchange program Thursday for a rural county at the center of an HIV outbreak that spurred a new state law allowing such programs to curb the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users. State health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams' approval for Scott County includes a public health emergency declaration that will allow it to operate a needle-exchange through May 24, 2016. The southeastern Indiana county has operated a temporary needle-exchange since early April under executive orders Gov. Mike Pence signed in response to the largest HIV outbreak in state history. (5/21)

NPR: Poor Residents Benefit From Oklahoma County's Medicine Recycling
Tulsa County began recycling prescription drugs 10 years ago. More than $16 million worth of medicines have been given to the poor. Steve Inskeep talks to Linda Johnston, director of Social Services. (5/22)

NPR: In America's Heartland, Heroin Crisis Is Hitting Too Close To Home
Heroin, today, is killing more and more people in rural america. One Mexican cartel has seeded low-cost heroin around rural towns in the Southwest and Midwest, selling it cheap and easy, almost like pizza. Madison, Neb. — population 2,500 — is just a speck of a town, a two-hour drive from the big-city bustle of Omaha. But it's not far enough away to avoid the growing impact of heroin. (Calvan, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Missouri Fines Aetna For Paying For Uninsured Abortions
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday that insurer Aetna has agreed to pay $4.5 million for violations of state law that included paying for elective abortions when the women were not eligible under their policies, marking the largest insurance penalty in state history. (Ballentine, 5/19)