First Edition: October 4, 2019

Kaiser Health News and Politifact: Trump Speech Offers Dizzying Preview Of His Health Care Campaign Strategy
President Donald Trump offered a preview of what his 2020 health agenda might look like in a speech Thursday — blasting Democratic proposals for reform and saying he would tackle issues such as prescription drug prices and affordability. He outlined the pillars of his health care vision, which included protecting vulnerable patients; delivering affordable care and prescription drugs; providing choices and control; and improving care for veterans. (Luthra, 10/3)

Kaiser Health News: Why Hospitals Are Getting Into The Housing Business
Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go. So patients who are homeless, frail or live alone, or have unstable housing, can occupy hospital beds for weeks or months — long after their acute medical problem is resolved. For hospitals, it means losing money because a patient lingering in a bed without medical problems doesn’t generate much, if any, income. Meanwhile, acutely ill patients may wait days in the ER to be moved to a floor because a hospital’s beds are full. ... To address the problem, hospitals from Baltimore to St. Louis to Sacramento, Calif., are exploring ways to help patients find a home. With recent federal policy changes that encourage hospitals to allocate charity dollars for housing, many hospitals realize it’s cheaper to provide a month of housing than to keep patients for a single night. (Hawryluk, 10/4)

The Associated Press: Trump Cites His Support For Medicare, Slams Medicare For All
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Democrats of an all-out attempt to “totally obliterate Medicare” and portrayed himself as the program’s defender as he signed a directive to expand the program’s private insurance options. Trump skipped past his own proposals for Medicare budget cuts, and he ignored the fact that no Democrat is proposing to take coverage or benefits away from seniors. (Freking and Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/3)

NPR: Targeting 'Medicare For All' Proposals, Trump Lays Out His Vision For Medicare
The executive order he signed had previously been titled "Protecting Medicare From Socialist Destruction" on the White House schedule but has since been renamed "Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation's Seniors." (Simmons-Duffin, 10/3)

The Washington Post: Trump Attacks Democrats’ Health Care Plans And Pledges To Protect Medicare During Political Speech To Florida Retirees
President Trump blasted his potential Democratic presidential rivals in a highly political speech here Thursday, telling a group of senior citizens that “maniac” Democrats would rip away their health care, decimate their retirement accounts and prioritize undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens. (Olorunnipa and Goldstein, 10/3)

The New York Times: Trump Uses Health Care Announcement To Brand Democrats As Socialists
While the Medicare for All Act proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont would indeed cover all Americans under a single national health insurance program, most of the other Democratic presidential candidates want to give people the option of buying into Medicare, or a similar “public option,” but do not require it. That did not stop Mr. Trump from pitching himself in a critical swing state as the bulwark against a raid on health care benefits that members of his audience rely on. (Karni and Goodnough, 10/3)

Politico: Trump Promotes Private Medicare Coverage, Drawing Contrast With Democrats' Health Care Plans
"They want to raid Medicare to fund a thing called socialism," Trump said, standing in front of backdrop with the words "Great Healthcare For You." The speech is a part of the White House's efforts to put Trump's health care agenda at the forefront of his reelection campaign, hoping to attract swing voters uncomfortable with his attacks on the Affordable Care Act or a fully government-run health care system championed by two of his chief 2020 Democratic rivals, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Trump has recently rolled out a series of health care initiatives, including an overhaul of kidney care and proposed new price transparency measures, and plans to issue more in the coming months. (Roubein, 10/3)

USA Today: Trump Shifts Focus To Medicare Amid Ukraine, Impeachment Inquiry
Trump outlined proposed changes to provide more plan choices for Medicare, the government's flagship fee-for-service program for Americans who are 65 and older. The order aims to lower premiums in Medicare Advantage, the plan offered by private insurers that covers nearly a third of Medicare's 60 million beneficiaries. (Subramanian, Jackson and Fritze, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Targets Medicare For All In Re-Election Campaign
Mr. Trump’s pivot to health care comes as he seeks to shift attention away from the Democrats’ impeachment efforts over his July call with the president of Ukraine. The White House schedule called the Thursday event an “executive order protecting Medicare from socialist destruction.” Mr. Trump also suggested, without offering evidence, that the pharmaceutical industry might have a role in the impeachment effort. (Armour, 10/3)

Stat: Trump Implies Drug Industry Is Behind Impeachment 
President Trump is back in attack mode — and drug companies are again a clear target. In a rowdy, hourlong speech at a sprawling Florida retirement home, Trump renewed his pointed criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry, even implying they may have been behind the recent push to open a formal impeachment investigation. ...The impromptu rally remarks included some of Trump’s most vicious attacks against drug makers since his first speech as president-elect in 2017, when he claimed the industry was “getting away with murder.” (Florko, 10/3)

Politico: Trump Baselessly Accuses Drug Industry Of Fueling Impeachment Push
President Donald Trump charged Thursday without evidence that the pharmaceutical industry was behind House Democrats' impeachment proceedings, suggesting it was payback for his administration's effort to lower drug costs. "Lowering the cost of prescription drugs, taking on the pharmaceutical companies, you think that’s easy, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. ... I wouldn’t be surprised if the hoax didn’t come a little bit from some of the people that we’re taking on." Trump said. (Karlin-Smith and Owermohle, 10/3)

Stat: White House Insists Drug Prices Are Falling, But Critics Say Report Is Flawed
In a bid to seize the narrative on prescription drug pricing, the White House issued a report that criticized a steady stream of news stories for saying prices are rising and, instead, argued that an economic index shows prices have actually fallen recently. However, the effort was quickly denounced because the index does not account for all medicines, including some newer and pricier drugs. (Silverman, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Abortion Appeals Awaiting Supreme Court Action
Both sides of the abortion debate are waiting to see if the Supreme Court adds new disputes over state abortion regulations to its election-year docket. The court is expected Friday to announce new cases it will consider in the term that begins next week. ... The most significant of those pending appeals are cases involving abortion regulations in Louisiana and Indiana. (Sherman, 10/4)

The Associated Press: US Vaping Illnesses Top 1,000; Death Count Is Up To 18
The number of vaping-related illnesses has surpassed 1,000, and there’s no sign the outbreak is fading, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Doctors say the illnesses, which first appeared in March, resemble an inhalation injury. Symptoms include severe, shortness of breath, fatigue, and chest pain. Most who got sick said they vaped products containing THC, the marijuana ingredient that causes a high, but some said they vaped only nicotine. (Stobbe, 10/3)

The New York Times: Vaping Illnesses Top 1,000, C.D.C. Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that cases had occurred in 48 states and the United States Virgin Islands. This week, Nebraska, Alabama, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia and New Jersey reported deaths, which brought the total to 19 in 16 states. (Grady, 10/3)

NPR: CDC Intensifies Warnings About Vaping Illness As Cases Top 1,000
"We're worried that there are plenty of risky products still out there," the CDC's principal deputy director, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said during a briefing with reporters. "That's one of the reasons we've intensified our warnings." The agency is now warning people to avoid use of all vaping products, especially products containing THC. "It is pretty much impossible for you to know what is in the e-cigarette or vaping product that you're getting, particularly THC-containing products bought off the street or bought from social sources," said Schuchat. (Aubrey and Wroth, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Vaping-Related Lung Injuries Rise To 1,080, With 18 Deaths, Says CDC
The CDC recommends that people stay away from vaping altogether while the investigation is continuing, singling out THC-containing products specifically, as 78% of patients who self-reported their vaping products to officials reported use of THC. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. (Abbott, 10/3)

USA Today: Vaping Illness: Cases Surge To 1,080; Deaths Rise To 18
The latest survey found that 70% of the lung injury cases involved males and 37% were from users under 21 years of age. The median age of those who died was 49.5, but even young vapers might face long-term injuries, Schuchat said. (Stanglin, 10/3)

The Washington Post: CDC Reports 1,080 Vaping-Related Lung Illnesses, Including 18 Deaths 
The CDC is working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration to find the sources and causes of the outbreak and remove them from circulation. But Schuchat said that is likely to be difficult and time-consuming. “I’m not optimistic that tomorrow, we’ll be able to pull all the risky stuff off the market,” she said. (Sun, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Consumer Watchdog Agency Probes Juul And 5 More Vaping Firms
Federal law prohibits traditional tobacco companies from numerous sales tactics, including giving away cigarettes, sponsoring sports events and advertising on television, radio, public transportation and billboards. But those laws don’t apply to e-cigarettes, which first launched in the U.S. in 2007. (Perrone, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: FTC Probes E-Cigarette Sales And Promotional Methods
The information sought by the commission includes annual sales, product giveaways, characteristics of e-cigarette items, such as product flavors, advertising expenses and college-campus programs. “The goal is to assist the commission, policy makers, and the public to better understand the rapidly growing e-cigarette market,” the FTC said Thursday. (Sebastian, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: Vaping Bans Are Supposed To Help. But Could They Become A ‘Public Health Disaster’?
With multiple cities and states cracking down on vaping in recent weeks, spurred by a wave of mysterious illnesses and deaths, some public health advocates say they are energized by the sudden movement to reduce access to nicotine. On a single day in Los Angeles County this week, at least four cities advanced laws that would greatly restrict the sales of tobacco. Massachusetts also recently instated a four-month ban on e-cigarettes, while Michigan and New York outlawed flavored e-cigarette products. But, increasingly, other public health experts are warning of the unintended consequences of this political momentum. (Karlamangla, 10/3)

The Washington Post: What We Know About The Mysterious Vaping-Linked Illness And Deaths
Health officials, lawmakers and parents have been raising alarms about vaping for a couple of years, warning that products touted as healthier alternatives for smokers are instead drawing in young people with fun flavors and slick marketing — concerns the Trump administration cited this month while announcing plans to ban most flavored e-cigarettes. The caution has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as authorities scramble to understand a rash of mysterious vaping-linked illnesses that have put healthy people in the hospital with serious lung diseases. (Knowles and Sun, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: What You Need To Know About The Deadly Lung Illnesses Tied To Vaping
Health officials across the nation are are telling people to refrain entirely from vaping, whether marijuana or nicotine. Politicians have been passing laws banning e-cigarettes and other tobacco-related products. The messaging has gotten a little messy. Here’s some information to help sort it out. (Karlamangla, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Illegal Vape Name Draws Scrutiny As Illness Spreads
It’s a widely known vape cartridge in the marijuana economy, but it’s not a licensed brand. And it’s got the kind of market buzz no legitimate company would want. The vape cartridges that go by the catchy, one-syllable name “Dank” -- a slang word for highly potent cannabis -- are figuring prominently in the federal investigation to determine what has caused a rash of mysterious and sometimes fatal lung illnesses apparently linked to vaping. Most of the cases have involved products that contain the marijuana compound THC, often obtained from illegal sources. (Blood, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Court Temporarily Halts New York’s Ban On Sale Of Flavored E-Cigarettes
A New York state regulation banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products has been put on hold by a state appellate court. Judges granted a temporary restraining order Thursday that stops the state from enforcing a ban set to begin Oct. 4. They are expected to rule on a preliminary injunction at an Oct. 18 court date. (West, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Expects To Hold On To Measles Elimination Status
Federal health authorities expect the U.S. will retain its coveted status as a nation that has eliminated domestic transmission of measles, dodging a bullet after outbreaks in New York state threatened the designation. It came down to the wire for U.S. officials to be able to determine, at the last minute, that the elimination status had likely not been lost. It would have been if outbreaks in New York state were continuing. (McKay and West, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Thousands Of Schools Fall Below Recommended Measles Vaccination Rate
Thousands of individual schools in the U.S. don’t have high enough immunization levels to meet the threshold considered adequate to protect a population from measles, a Wall Street Journal examination found. While the majority of schools have relatively high measles-mumps-rubella vaccination rates of 90% or above, many schools have rates in the 70% to 80% range, and some small, private schools have rates hovering around 50%. While the U.S. overall had a fairly high and stable MMR immunization rate of 94.3% of kindergartners during the 2017-2018 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these pockets of low vaccination leave local communities vulnerable to outbreaks. (Abbott, Umlauf and Moriarty, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: What’s The Measles Vaccination Rate At Your Child’s School?
Use the drop-down feature to choose your state to look up local kindergarten immunization rates, how the state collects its data, and the number of measles cases so far this year. If your state only has county-level data available, you can see the county-level rates here. The separate county-level article also contains more information about our methodology and results. (Moriarty, Umlauf and Abbott, 10/3)

The New York Times: Why Lifesaving Drugs May Be Missing On Your Next Flight
Epinephrine, or adrenaline, is one of a handful of lifesaving drugs that are supposed to be “no-go” items for commercial passenger planes. According to federal regulations, flights are not supposed to take off without these medicines. Citing chronic drug shortages, however, the Federal Aviation Administration has granted airlines exemptions that permit passenger planes to fly without a complete medical kit if the airlines say they cannot replenish the drugs. The exemptions apply to international as well as domestic flights. (Caryn Rabin, 10/3)

Stat: Nevada Fines 21 Companies For Not Providing Drug-Pricing Data 
For the first time since requiring drug makers to report pricing data about their diabetes medicines, Nevada officials plan to impose fines totaling more than $17 million on 21 companies for failing to supply information required by a controversial state law. Earlier this week, the state Department of Health and Human Services wrote each of the drug makers that they face hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties for not submitting required information, while several others will be fined for failing to meet a deadline. Each drug maker is entitled to an informal dispute resolution before the cases are referred to the state attorney general. (Silverman, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Ohio Counties Tell Court: Don’t Let State Stop Opioid Trial
Two Ohio counties have asked a court to deny their state attorney general’s request to delay a major trial over the toll of opioids. In their filing Wednesday with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Cuyahoga and Summit counties argued the state doesn’t have a say in the matter because it’s not part of the federal case set for trial Oct. 21 in Cleveland. (Mulvihill, 10/3)

The Associated Press: States Say OxyContin Maker Purdue Should Not Pay Bonuses
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma should be prohibited from giving $38 million in employee payouts as it goes through bankruptcy, attorneys general from 24 states said in a court filing Thursday. Purdue has said it needs to make bonus payments to keep employees and maintain operations at a time of high turnover, which also is requiring the company to provide severance packages for employees heading to the exits. (10/3)

The New York Times: Medicare Shopping Season Is Almost Here
If you’re enrolled in Medicare but worry about the cost of health care, your chance to do something about it is right around the corner. Most people enroll in Medicare when they become eligible at age 65. But every fall, they have the opportunity to change their coverage during an enrollment season that runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. This is the time of year when you can switch between original fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage, the all-in-one managed care alternative to the traditional program. You also can re-evaluate your prescription drug coverage — whether that is a stand-alone Part D plan, or wrapped into an Advantage plan. (Miller, 10/4)

The Associated Press: Sanders Still Hospitalized But Expected To Be At Next Debate
Bernie Sanders remained hospitalized in Nevada on Thursday because of a blocked artery in his heart but will participate in the next Democratic presidential debate, according to his campaign. ... Sanders’ wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, said in a statement released by the campaign Thursday that her husband was expected to be discharged and fly back to Vermont before the end of the weekend. “Bernie is up and about. Yesterday, he spent much of the day talking with staff about policies, cracking jokes with the nurses and doctors, and speaking with his family on the phone. His doctors are pleased with his progress, and there has been no need for any additional procedures,” she said. (Price, 10/3)

The New York Times: Bernie Sanders Will Participate In Next Debate, His Campaign Says
Mr. Sanders’s campaign has declined to say whether he had suffered a heart attack, and his wife’s statement did not address that. On Wednesday, Mr. Sanders’s campaign said he experienced “some chest discomfort” during an event on Tuesday evening; a medical evaluation found blockage in one artery, and two stents were inserted. He has canceled a two-day college tour this week in California, and his aides have not said when he would return to the campaign trail. (Ember, 10/3)

The Associated Press: How Old Is Too Old? White House Hopefuls Confront Age Debate
The fraught debate over whether someone is too old to manage the rigors of the presidency has largely been overlooked during a Democratic primary that has put more emphasis on issues such as health care, immigration and gun control. That changed this week. The hospitalization of 78-year-old Bernie Sanders to treat a blocked artery in his heart ensures that the question of how old is too old to be president moves to the forefront of the Democratic contest. (Barrow, 10/4)

The New York Times: Cory Booker Wants To Talk About Child Poverty
“Building on the same American spirit that gave us Social Security, Medicare, nutrition assistance and so much more, we must come together to ensure that every child has a fair shot to participate in and benefit from our collective promise,” Mr. Booker said in a statement. “I know that we can do this, and as president, I will act.” A central tenet of Mr. Booker’s plan is to provide a $300 monthly cash allowance to families for each child under 5 years old through a vast expansion of the child tax credit. The proposal would also eliminate a loophole that leaves out the poorest American families, whose tax credit under the current system is limited to 15 percent of their earned income over $2,500. (Corasaniti, 10/3)

The Associated Press: Tennessee Governor Says Block Grant Opponents ‘Misinformed’
Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday downplayed recent pushback on his administration’s effort to change Tennessee’s Medicaid program into a block grant system, countering that the opposition is likely due to misinformation. “I do think that a lot of the folks who are concerned about this have been either misinformed or have not taken the time to really understand it. And there’s legitimate concern about that. We want people to understand this,” Lee, a Republican, told reporters. (Kruesi, 10/3)

The Washington Post: A Hospital’s ‘Wall Of Shame’ Used Private Records To Mock Disabled Patients. Now Officials Are Apologizing.
MyKayla McCann was shocked by what she discovered at her first day of work. Using confidential medical records, her new co-workers at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, had created an ersatz collage that was hidden on the inside of a cabinet door and labeled it the “Wall of Shame.” The records belonged to the hospital’s physically and mentally disabled patients, and described their “sexual activity, genital dysfunction, bowel movements, bodily odors and other personal maladies,” according to a 2018 report from Maine’s Human Rights Commission, which labeled the collage “objectively offensive.” (Noori Farzan, 10/4)

The New York Times: High Medical Bills Set Up Major Legal Showdown In California
In a less than a week, Sutter Health, a sprawling system of 24 hospitals and 5,500 doctors, will face a court trial over accusations that it used its dominance in Northern California to stifle competition and force patients to pay higher medical bills. Sutter, the nonprofit hospital group in Sacramento, with operating revenues of $13 billion, has long been viewed as the classic example of a hospital system that got way too big. Its network of hospitals and services enabled it to essentially corner much of the market, corralling insurers and patients so that they couldn’t go elsewhere for less expensive or better treatment, according to a lawsuit filed by Xavier Becerra, the California state attorney general. (Abelson, 10/3)

Reuters: CVS Drug Coverage Plan Based On Outside Pricing Review Is Off To A Slow Start
A CVS Health Corp health plan that uses an outside drug pricing group to help it decide whether to cover certain new medicines has gained little traction with customers, according to its top medical executive, and has drawn fierce criticism from patient advocacy groups. The company has held back on marketing the pharmacy benefit plan while it talks to these groups, CVS said. (Humer, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Bayer Executive Joins Johnson & Johnson As CIO
Jim Swanson, formerly a technology executive at Bayer AG ’s crop-science division, has joined Johnson & Johnson as chief information officer. He succeeds Stuart McGuigan, who was CIO at J&J for seven years and now runs information technology at the State Department. (Castellanos, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: Immigrant Detainee Suffers Brain Hemorrhage And Dies In ICE Custody In San Diego
A 37-year-old man from Cameroon died Tuesday in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, after undergoing treatment for a brain hemorrhage since Sept. 26 at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. Nebane Abienwi was being detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, according to an ICE news release. He was rushed to the emergency room a week ago after experiencing a hypertensive event in the middle of the night, according to the news release. (Fry, 10/3)