The New York Times: Opening Mental Hospitals Unlikely To Prevent Mass Shootings, Experts Say
President Trump called again on Thursday for the opening of more mental hospitals to help prevent mass murders like the one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Yet ramping up institutional care, experts say, likely would not have prevented most of the spree killings regularly making headlines in this country. “We’re going to be talking about mental institutions. And when you have some person like this, you can bring them into a mental institution, and they can see what they can do. But we’ve got to get them out of our communities,” the president said during a meeting at the White House with state and local officials. (Carey, 2/22)

CNN: Trump's Language On School Shooter's Mental Health Could Be Harmful, Experts Say
In a tweet Thursday, President Donald Trump described someone who would shoot up a school as a "savage sicko." At CNN's town hall on the Parkland, Florida, school shootings on Wednesday, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch described the gunman as "an insane monster" who is "nuts" and crazy." And at a White House briefing Thursday, the President again used the term "sicko." The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, struggled with depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, according to a 2016 Florida Department of Children and Families report. But having a mental health diagnosis does not mean he would become violent, many experts say. And although Trump has said he wants to focus on mental health to stop school shootings, calling Cruz a "sicko" doesn't help, those experts claim. (Christensen, 2/22)

The Hill: Dem Asks Trump Health Chief For Timeline On Gun Research 
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar what his next steps are on gun violence research after he expressed support for the idea last week. In an unexpected move, Azar told a congressional hearing last week that he backs research on gun violence at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which he oversees. Starting that research is a top goal for Democrats on gun issues, and Markey said he was “heartened” by Azar’s comments. (Sullivan, 2/22)

CQ: Top Health Official's Assertion On Gun Research Rings Hollow
The latest national debate over firearms is taking place as Congress tries to wrap up its fiscal 2018 appropriations cycle, giving gun control advocates the opportunity to highlight the spending provision that hinders researchers looking to study gun violence. The Republican-led Congress is unlikely to change the status quo, arguing that a debate over gun control ought to be separate from efforts to fund the government — even though the bills are annually used to restrict the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from spending money “to advocate or promote gun control.” (Siddons, 2/23)

The New York Times: Another Shooting, Another Gun Debate. Will The Outcome Be The Same?
Around 2:30 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, President Trump was in the study off the Oval Office when John F. Kelly, his chief of staff, arrived with news of a school shooting in Florida. Mr. Trump shook his head, according to an aide, and muttered, “Again.” Mark Barden was visiting a playground named for his 7-year-old son killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School when a friend texted him: Be careful watching television. It’s happening. Again. (Baker and Shear, 2/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Stance On Guns Puts Pressure On Congress
President Donald Trump’s calls for changes to gun laws in the wake of last week’s Florida school shooting push Congress toward a new politically fraught debate just months before the midterm elections. For more than a decade, and after multiple attacks on students, lawmakers have shied from making any significant changes to gun legislation in part because of the influence of the National Rifle Association. (Bykowicz, Peterson and Nicholas, 2/22)

The New York Times: Major Shootings Led To Tougher Gun Laws, But To What End?
Since last week’s deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., a pitched national conversation about gun policy has dominated town hall meetings, a White House summit meeting, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and the never-ending stream of social media feeds. Below is a brief review of several laws governing guns in the United States and how effective those policies have been in curbing violence. (Qiu and Bank, 2/23)

Health News Florida: Mental Health Experts Recommend Ways To Reduce Violence
After the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida leaders are considering pouring more money into mental health care and experts in the field released some suggestions on Thursday. The Florida chapter of the National Association on Mental Illness has been working with state leaders on solutions. (Ochoa, 2/22)

The Associated Press: 4 Governors Join Forces On Gun Safety, Pledge To Share Intel
The governors of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have created a coalition of like-minded states on gun control, promising to expand existing efforts to share information on illegal guns, and ultimately make progress on gun safety measures where they contend the federal government has faltered. The four Democrats announced the formation of "States for Gun Safety" on Thursday. They plan to urge other governors to join the group at a National Governors Association meeting this weekend in Washington, D.C. (Haigh, 2/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Four Governors Join Forces To Stem Movement Of Illegal Guns
A memorandum of understanding signed by the governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island creates a task force of law-enforcement members from the four states who will analyze and share information on guns purchased outside of the region that were involved in crimes in the hopes of intercepting people suspected of illegally bringing guns across the four states’ borders. The agreement also allows their law enforcement agencies to share information from their mental health registries, which aren’t included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. (King, 2/22)

The CT Mirror: CT Helps Launch Multistate Effort To Enhance Gun Controls
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and three of his northeastern counterparts unveiled a new multistate coalition Thursday to strengthen gun regulation efforts. Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island will begin sharing databases and criminal intelligence and coordinating research related to potential firearm purchases, gun trafficking and violent crime. (Phaneuf, 2/22)

The New York Times: States Mull ‘Red Flag’ Gun Seizures From People Deemed Dangerous
In the last two months, law enforcement authorities in California took a gun away from a 38-year-old man who had threatened to kill himself, his wife and their young child if she left him. They removed three weapons from a 23-year-old ex-Marine who, the authorities said, had developed a paranoia that all males wanted to harm him. And they took a handgun from a 39-year-old man whose terrified neighbors reported that he was firing his weapon in the backyard; the man, who said he thought he was aiming for raccoons and rats, was found to be intoxicated, the police said. (Johnson, 2/23)

The Hill: Oregon Legislature Passes Bill Strengthening State's Gun Laws
The Oregon legislature passed a bill Thursday banning anyone with a domestic violence conviction from owning a firearm, according to KOIN 6 local news station. The state has banned those with domestic violence or stalking convictions from owning guns since 2015, but a loophole in the law allowed abusers who aren’t living with, married to or have children with the victim to have their guns, according to OregonLive. (Thomsen, 2/22)

Modern Healthcare: Senate Agrees To White House Demands For Accountability In VA Choice Reforms 
A VA Choice program change that would require VA facilities to meet certain standards to qualify as preferred treatment centers has been added to bipartisan Senate legislation after months of work by the Trump administration, a key senator and even the Koch brothers. This tweak moves the legislation away from what Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin wanted and endorsed. It also has awakened concerns that the measure could accelerate privatization of the VA's healthcare system, particularly in light of the involvement of the political action committee of Concerned Veterans for America, a not-for-profit funded by conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch. The proposed reforms would significantly expand the private sector's role in VA healthcare. (Luthi, 2/22)

In other news coming out of the administration —

The Wall Street Journal: Indian Health Service Nominee Says He Was Forced To Withdraw
Robert Weaver, President Donald Trump’s former nominee to lead the Indian Health Service, said in a letter circulated to some tribal leaders and lobbyists Thursday that he was forced under duress to withdraw from consideration late last week. Mr. Weaver, an insurance broker and member of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, said in the letter that he was contacted by an official in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at 4:30 p.m. last Friday. (Weaver and Frosch, 2/22)

CQ: Administration Considers Moving SNAP Recipients Into Work
The Trump administration is taking “a preliminary but important step” towards moving certain adults out of the food stamp program and into the workforce by seeking public recommendations for changes, the Agriculture Department official who oversees the program said Thursday. The 45-day comment period on the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking will lay the ground for changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rules that govern the 9 percent of recipients who fall into the category of single, able-bodied adults without children, Brandon Lipps told reporters on a conference call. (Ferguson, 2/22)

Politico: Scott Walker Wants To Save Obamacare In Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, one of the nation’s most militantly anti-Obamacare governors, is making strengthening the health care law a key plank of his reelection platform as Republicans fret over potential losses in November. Walker wants to prop up his Obamacare market with a $200 million program that would compensate health insurers for high-cost patients so they don’t hike premiums for everyone. He also would enshrine Obamacare protections for people with pre-existing conditions. (Pradhan, 2/23)

The Hill: Top Dems Press Idaho On Plan To Get Around ObamaCare Rules 
Top congressional Democrats are pressing Idaho on its controversial plan to circumvent certain ObamaCare requirements. The top four Democrats on the congressional committees overseeing health care wrote to Idaho insurance commissioner Dean Cameron on Thursday asking if his moves comply with federal law and requesting a staff briefing on the state’s plans. (Sullivan, 2/22)

CQ: Top Democrats Press Idaho On Controversial Health Plans
Top Democrats from four powerful committees are requesting details from an Idaho official over proposed insurance plans that sidestep some federal health care protections. Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon, together with Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey and Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, on Thursday requested a briefing from Idaho Insurance Director Dean Cameron on the new “state-based plans.” The lawmakers — in their roles as the top Democrats on the committees overseeing health policy — also asked the state for documents and correspondence with federal regulators regarding the proposed plans. (Clason, 2/22)

And in other health law news —

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The Long Wait Ends For Short-Term Plan Rules
The Trump administration finally released a long-awaited rule that would allow significant expansion of health insurance policies that do not meet all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, both in terms of what they cover and how much they charge. The administration says it wants to broaden the availability of so-called short-term insurance plans to give people who buy their own insurance more choices of lower-cost coverage. (2/22)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Deletes Budget Request For $11.5 Billion In Risk-Corridor Funding
The HHS walked back a request for more than $11.5 billion to fund the Affordable Care Act's risk-corridor program after health insurers suing for those payments said the budget item strengthened their cases. Moda Health and Land of Lincoln Health, two of the more than three dozen insurance companies that have sued for the unpaid risk-corridor funds, stated in court documents that the federal agency's recent budget request flew in the face of the Trump and Obama administrations' argument that the government isn't obligated to pay them. (Llivingston, 2/22)

Modern Healthcare: House Kicks Off Opioid Legislative Agenda, But Appropriators Will Steer The Money
The U.S. House of Representatives is launching an intense legislative push to try to stem the opioid epidemic as the last big healthcare initiative before the election cycle, but the priorities for the new $6 billion allocated to address the crisis will fall to Congress' appropriators. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is kicking off the first of three hearings to consider a bundle of bills that focus on enforcing current law, none of which would set up additional funding streams, which means the $6 billion allocated in the 2017 budget deal is it for now. That money will be distributed over two fiscal years—$3 billion annually. (Luti, 2/22)

The Hill: House Panel Announces Opioid Enforcement Bills Ahead Of Hearing
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday unveiled eight bills it will examine during a hearing next week on enforcement-related measures to help combat the opioid crisis. Specifically, the hearing Wednesday will delve into how to help communities balance enforcement with patient safety; it’s the first of three hearings the panel will convene on opioid legislation. (Roubein, 2/22)

CQ: Republicans Outline Efforts To Address Opioid Addiction
The first hearing, which will discuss enforcement and safety-related issues, is slated for Feb. 28. Eight bills are up for discussion next week, including legislation from Reps. John Katko, R-N.Y., Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. Katko’s bill would create new class of controlled substances for drugs similar to fentanyl, an opioid often linked to overdoses. Walberg and Dingell’s bill would help reduce the number of unused controlled substances by letting hospice workers dispose of these items in patients' homes. The subcommittee will also consider bills from Reps. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., and Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., to help pharmacists detect fraudulent prescriptions (HR 4275) and from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Calif., that would help improve pain management treatment guidelines in order to detect opioid addiction earlier and better treat opioid-dependent patients. (Raman, 2/22)

The Hill: Study: Not Enough Providers To Address Opioid Epidemic In 11 States 
States in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic don't have enough doctors to address the opioid epidemic, according to a new study released this week. Eleven states and the District of Columbia lack an adequate number of providers to prescribe buprenorphine, a medicine used to prevent relapse in people with opioid addictions, according to research from Avalere Health, a health consulting firm in Washington, D.C. (Hellmann, 2/22)

And in more news —

The New York Times: Opioids Tied To Risk Of Fatal Infections
Opioids may be tied to an increased risk of life-threatening infections.Animal studies have shown that opioids suppress the immune system, but their clinical effect in human infections has not been widely studied. In a new report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at 1,233 patients with invasive pneumococcal disease, an infection that is fatal in about 10 percent of cases, with higher death rates in the elderly. They compared them with 24,399 controls. (Bakalar, 2/21)

Kaiser Health News: Ten ERs In Colorado Tried To Curtail Opioids And Did Better Than Expected
One of the most common reasons patients head to an emergency room is pain. In response, doctors may try something simple at first, like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. If that wasn’t effective, the second line of defense has been the big guns.“Percocet or Vicodin,” explained ER doctor Peter Bakes of Swedish Medical Center, “medications that certainly have contributed to the rising opioid epidemic.” (Daley, 2/23)

State House News Service: Baker Wants US To Take More ‘Aggressive’ Steps On Opioid Crisis
Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday laid out a series of areas where he’d like to see the federal government get more “aggressive” in the fight against opioid addiction. ...A member of President Trump’s opioid commission, Baker said he’d also like to see the federal government amp up efforts around recovery coaches — a treatment approach he said Massachusetts is trying to figure out how to “embed” into the health care system. (Lannan, 2/22)

Cincinnati Enquirer: HIV Testing Campaign Rolls Out In NKY;Needle Exchange To Be Decided
Northern Kentucky Health Department has launched an HIV-testing campaign as a response to a surge in the virus among people who inject drugs. From Jan. 1 through mid-February, the health department tested 167 people for HIV. (DeMio, 2/22)

The Associated Press: Drugs Likely In Deaths Of 3 Found On San Francisco Street
Public health authorities are warning against the dangers of buying drugs potentially laced with fentanyl after three men were found dead near a school in San Francisco's historic Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. It's unlikely the medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death Thursday, but the department wanted to alert health care officials and drug users, said Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Public Health. (Har, 2/22)

Bloomberg: Even For Bezos, Fixing Health Care Will Be Hard
It will initially focus on new technology to simplify and reduce costs for the three companies’ 1 million-plus employees. So far, though, it has no name, no definition and no permanent leader. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t scared investors in the health-care industry -- the announcement yo-yo’d the stocks of health insurers and drug plans. (Langreth and Tracer, 2/23)

In other industry news —

The Wall Street Journal: MiMedx, Fast-Growing Developer Of Tissue Graft Products, Didn’t Report Payments To Doctors
MiMedx Group Inc., a fast-growing tissue-graft developer, has financial ties to more than 20 doctors, according to a review of doctors’ disclosures by The Wall Street Journal, but the company hasn’t reported these payments to the government under a 2013 law. The company says its products, made from donated placental tissue, aren’t among those that require a disclosure of doctor payments. At least one of MiMedx’s direct competitors, Osiris Therapeutics Inc., regularly provides information on its ties to doctors and reported $1.03 million in such payments in 2016. (Morgenson, 2/22)

ProPublica: A Larger Role For Midwives Could Improve Deficient U.S. Care For Mothers And Babies
Now a groundbreaking study, the first systematic look at what midwives can and can’t do in the states where they practice, offers new evidence that empowering them could significantly boost maternal and infant health. The five-year effort by researchers in Canada and the U.S., published Wednesday, found that states that have done the most to integrate midwives into their health care systems, including Washington, New Mexico and Oregon, have some of the best outcomes for mothers and babies. (Martin, 2/22)

In other women's health news —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Catholic-Affiliated Racine Hospital Reportedly Ceasing Tubal Ligation
Following a report that Racine’s only hospital would cease offering sterilizations for women, Planned Parenthood and a statewide women’s health organization are criticizing what they called another restriction on health care options for women. (Schmid, 2/22)

Stat: It Beats Like The Real Thing, But Can A Heart Organoid Prevent The Next Vioxx?
It’s all part of a growing effort to overcome shortcomings of using animals or human cell cultures in research, by building more realistic human organ models. Such models have a range of uses: By observing organoids created from the cells of people with a genetic disease, for instance, scientists are trying to understand what goes wrong and when, in hopes of finding ways to prevent or fix the problem. More immediately, they are using organoids to screen drugs for safety and efficacy, ideally identifying problems before a company takes an experimental compound into expensive clinical trials — but definitely before people are harmed, as happened with Merck’s arthritis drug Vioxx. (Begley, 2/23)

NPR: New Sepsis Alert System Relies On Algorithms And A Nurse's Wisdom
A quarter of a million Americans die every year from sepsis, which is the body's reaction to overwhelming infection. This cascade of organ failure can be nipped in the bud if health care workers know it's ramping up, but that's often not easy to do. "Sepsis is a really frustrating disease," says Dr. David Carlbom, a critical care pulmonologist, and medical director of the sepsis program at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. "There's no blood test for sepsis," he says. "There's nothing you can look at under the microscope and say 'this is sepsis.' " (Harris, 2/22)

Sacramento Bee: New Eyeglasses With Tiny Fitness Tracker Make Debut
Rancho Cordova-based VSP Global embedded a tiny new fitness tracker into the temple of a new line of eyeglasses known as Level smart glasses, and the company is launching sales in the Sacramento region. The devices keep track of information such as the number of steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, and it transmits all the data via Bluetooth technology to a mobile app on smartphones. (Anderson, 2/22)

Stat: This Gel Loaded With Drugs Aims To Hit Cancer With A One-Two Punch
Scientists looking to make cancer therapies that combine chemotherapy and immunotherapy safer and more effective have come up with a new tactic to deliver those drugs: stick them in a hydrogel, inject them into a tumor, and let the drugs kick in one after the other. The idea was the brainchild of Zhen Gu, a biomedical engineer at the University of North Carolina. It’s the latest in a series of biomedical inventions from Gu, who created a “smart” insulin patch and was recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of the top 35 innovators under 35. (Thielking, 2/22)

The New York Times: Measles Cases In Europe Quadrupled In 2017
Measles cases soared in Europe last year, and at least 35 children died of the highly infectious disease, according to the World Health Organization. The virus found its way into pockets of unvaccinated children all over the continent, from Romania to Britain. The number of recorded cases quadrupled, to 21,315 in 2017 from 5,273 in 2016, a record low. (McNeil, 2/23)

Stat: A Big Study Finds Antidepressants Work In Adults, But Will It End Debate?
Seeking to end a long-running debate over whether antidepressants are truly effective, a group of researchers conducted a sweeping new analysis of hundreds of studies and determined the pills were useful in relieving depression among adults. Although effectiveness and side effects varied, the findings indicated antidepressants were, across the board, more effective than a placebo. Consequently, the results provide “the best currently available evidence base to guide the choice about pharmacological treatment” for adults suffering from depression, the researchers wrote in The Lancet, where the new study was published. (Silverman, 2/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Herbal Supplement Has Some New Yorkers Talking, Instead Of Coughing
If there’s one thing New Yorkers love more than discovering a new secret remedy, it’s telling other New Yorkers about it. “I’d been super sick for a week and half and couldn’t stop coughing,” said Alex Schweder, an architect and professor of design at Pratt Institute. That’s when his girlfriend gave him a bottle of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, an “herbal dietary supplement with honey and loquat,” according to the label. (Rovner, 2/22)

The Washington Post: WWII Veteran's Death: Nursing Home Workers Face Charges, Including Murder
The World War II vet threw one of his legs over the edge of his hospital bed, gasped for air and called out desperately to an empty room: “Help me, help me, help me.” Minutes later, 89-year-old James Dempsey, who had pressed a call button in his room, cried out again: “Help me. Help me. Help.” It was early on a February morning in 2014 — and Dempsey was dying, all alone. (Bever and Selk, 2/22)

Modern Healthcare: Tennessee Seeks $250 Million In Uncompensated-Care Funds 
Tennessee has asked the Trump administration for more money to help its hospitals offset their uncompensated-care costs. Starting July 1, the state will receive $163 million annually through 2022 to help alleviate uncompensated-care costs faced by hospitals. But state officials say that's not enough to cover these expenses and have asked for $252 million annually via a waiver request. The Obama administration called for the uncompensated-care funding cuts because it said Medicaid expansion was a better way to reduce how many patients sought care at hospitals without the means to pay for treatment. It cut the state's available uncompensated-care funding by nearly $90 million each year, going into effect this July. (Dickson, 2/21)

Boston Globe: After Health-Insurance Controversy, Most Public Workers To Avoid Large Premium Increases
Massachusetts public employees and retirees received an unusual bit of good news from state officials Thursday: their health insurance premiums are not rising significantly — and costs for many will actually decrease. The rates approved by the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission apply to hundreds of thousands of state and local employees, retirees, and their families, including teachers, transportation workers, social workers, and those in all branches of state government. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/22)

Reuters: Puerto Rico Governor Announces Independent Probe Into Maria Death Toll
Puerto Rico's governor said on Thursday he has tapped researchers at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., to lead an independent probe into his administration's controversial tally of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria. Governor Ricardo Rossello said in a statement it was "of great interest to the state to identify how many lives were lost" in Maria, announcing an investigation led by Carlos Santos-Burgoa, director of the Global Health Policy Program at GWU's Milken Institute School of Public Health. (Brown, 2/22)

Georgia Health News: Senate Panel OKs ‘Surprise’ Medical Billing Legislation
The effort to reduce “surprise’’ medical bills in Georgia took another key step Thursday with legislation passing a Senate health committee. ...The General Assembly has considered several proposals on surprise billing over the past three years, but legislative approval has proved elusive. (Miller, 2/22)

The Associated Press: Budget Cuts Could Close Kentucky's Poison Control Center
Kentucky could become the only state in the country without access to a poison control center, including the national hotline used by police, hospitals and parents more than 136 times a day for guidance on exposure to opioids and other harmful substances. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's proposed two-year spending plan eliminates $729,000 in state funds for the Kentucky Poison Control Center, or 43 percent of its $1.7 million budget. Most of the other funding comes from Norton Healthcare, the Louisville-based not-for-profit hospital system that has operated the center for decades. (2/22)

State House News Service: Latest GIC Plan For Premiums 'Kind Of Unheard Of'
About half the more than 430,000 people covered by Group Insurance Commission plans will see a decrease in their premiums in fiscal 2019 and on average there will be no increase in premiums, GIC Executive Director Roberta Herman said Thursday. (Metzer, 2/23)

The Star Tribune: Health Insurers In Minnesota Spend More On Overhead 
Administrative costs picked up again for health insurers in Minnesota during 2016, with the total tab for overhead increasing by about 7 percent to $1.81 billion, according to a new report. It was the highest annual tally during the past decade, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The report doesn’t explain what’s driving changes from year to year, nor does it draw conclusions on whether administrative spending is too high, said Stefan Gildemeister, the state’s health economist, in a Thursday interview. (Snowbeck, 2/22)

The Associated Press: Some Patients Are Being Notified Of Potential Privacy Issue
The University of Virginia Health System says it’s notifying more than 1,880 patients that an unauthorized third party may have been able to view some of their private medical information. A University of Virginia Health System news release says they learned in December that the third party may have been able to view patient information from early May 3, 2015, through most of 2016. (2/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: California AG Launches Environmental Justice Unit Focused On Poorer Communities
Frustrated by declining federal regulation of the environment and health disparities between poorer and wealthier communities, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Thursday appointed a team of lawyers to fight pollution. The four attorneys assigned to the new Bureau of Environmental Justice will focus on low-income Californians and people of color who suffer a “disproportionate share of environmental pollution and public health hazards,” according to Becerra’s office. (Fimrite, 2/22)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Mercy Health's Merger Could Shake Cincinnati's Medical Scene
In a merger that could shake Greater Cincinnati’s health landscape, Mercy Health, Ohio’s largest health care system, is joining forces with another major Catholic hospital network based in Maryland. Few details have been hammered out, such as a name, the leadership and the fate of Mercy's gleaming new Bond Hill headquarters. (Saker, 2/22)

San Jose Mercury News: Zuckerberg Plans Stanford Award To Fight Alzheimer's Disease
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will be funding five-year and three-year grants to scientists, including one that will support early-career investigators willing to pursue bold, innovative ideas to fight the diseases, Stanford Medicine announced Tuesday. (Lee, 2/22)

The Oregonian: OHSU Earns Top Distinction For Children's Trauma Care, Surgery 
Oregon Health & Sciences University announced Thursday it has become a designated level 1 center for pediatric trauma and children's surgery.OHSU's Doernbecher Children's Hospital becomes one of just five children's hospitals nationwide to earn both distinctions from the American College of Surgeons, a national medical association based in Chicago.  (Kavanaugh, 2/22)

Denver Post: 1 Child Hospitalized, 9 Other People Sick From Salmonella In Weld County
The Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment is investigating an outbreak of salmonella illness at Aims Community College that health officials are now calling a large outbreak, as they anticipate more people falling ill. Some of the illnesses have been linked to two events at the college, one on Feb. 9 and one on Feb. 13, according to a news release from the health department. The events were catered by Burrito Delight, a Fort Lupton restaurant that has been shut down during the investigation. (Hoffman, 2/22)

Miami Herald: Miami Mental-Health Worker Gets Five Years Prison For Medicare Fraud
A former drug addict who reformed his life, Sam Konell became a fixture at Miami’s criminal courthouse for decades, lobbying judges to get treatment for mentally ill defendants – and to keep them out of jail. ...This time, he was convicted of illegally steering state-court defendants to a corrupt clinic, which in turned fraudulently billed Medicare the government for over $63 million. (Ovalle, 2/23)

The Cannifornian: Booming California Cannabis Delivery Businesses Running Afoul Of Law
Nearly two months after California legalized cannabis sales, the black market for marijuana continues to flourish as communities and law enforcement struggle to crack down on door-to-door couriers delivering cheaper, unregulated weed. Only 25 percent of the cannabis consumed in the state is purchased from government-approved brick-and-mortar retailers, according to a report released this week by the Cannabis Growers Association. (Krieger, 2/22)

Urban Institute: How Far Do SNAP Benefits Fall Short Of Covering The Cost Of A Meal? 
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) aims to reduce hunger and food insecurity by supplementing the purchasing power of low-income families. This analysis explores the adequacy of SNAP benefits by comparing the maximum SNAP benefit per meal with the average cost of a low-cost meal in the U.S., adjusting for geographic variations in food prices across counties in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, DC. We find that average cost of a low-income meal is $2.36, 27 percent higher than the SNAP maximum benefit per meal of $1.86, which takes into account the maximum benefit available to households of varying sizes. The SNAP per meal benefit does not cover the cost of a low-income meal in 99 percent of US continental counties and the District of Columbia. (Waxman, Gundersen and Thompson, 2/21)

Employee Benefits Research Institute: Has Enrollment In HSA-Eligible Health Plans Stalled?
Both the number of health savings accounts (HSAs) and enrollment in HSA-eligible health plans have grown significantly since HSAs first became available in 2004. In 2017, enrollment estimates in HSA-eligible health plans vary considerably from 21.4 million to 33.7 million policyholders and their dependents. But there is one consistency between the enrollment estimates – most sources show that growth appears to have slowed in 2017, especially when looking at the market share of HSA-eligible health plan enrollment. This Issue Brief examines trends in enrollment in HSA-eligible health plans. It compares surveys of individuals, employers, and health plans. (Paul Fronstin, 2/16)

The Kaiser Family Foundation: Snapshots Of Recent State Initiatives In Medicaid Prescription Drug Cost Control
The high cost of specialty drugs and certain classes of drugs, the rapid rise in generic drug prices from some manufacturers in 2015, and the price hikes of Mylan’s EpiPen in 2016, fueled concern among policymakers and the public about rising drug costs. However, reflecting system-wide trends, Medicaid drug spending growth slowed in 2016, though recent rates of prescription drug spending growth in Medicaid are still higher than other payers. Although drug spending constitutes only 6% of Medicaid total spending, the high cost of specialty drugs continues to be a concern among Medicaid policy directors looking to control future spending. (Young and Garfield, 2/21)

JAMA: Costs Associated With Physician Billing And Insurance-Related Activities
In a time-driven activity-based costing study in a large academic health care system with a certified electronic health record system, the estimated costs of billing and insurance-related activities ranged from $20 for a primary care visit to $215 for an inpatient surgical procedure. Knowledge of how specific billing and insurance-related activities contribute to administrative costs may help inform policy solutions to reduce these expenses. (Tseng, Kaplan, Richman et al, 2/20)

Los Angeles Times: Actually, There Is A Clear Link Between Mass Shootings And Mental Illness
"Repeat after me: Mass shooters are not disproportionately mentally ill." This is the opening line of a meme that's been circulating in the aftermath of the shooting in Parkland, Fla. But this and other efforts to downplay the role of mental illness in mass shootings are simply misleading. There is a clear relationship between mental illness and mass public shootings. At the broadest level, peer-reviewed research has shown that individuals with major mental disorders (those that substantially interfere with life activities) are more likely to commit violent acts, especially if they abuse drugs. (Grant Duwe and Michael Rocque, 2/23)

Forbes: Trump Administration Restores An Escape Valve From Obamacare's Insurance Regulations
Adding in the new Obamacare escape valve is good policy, but it also means that there will be fewer people agitating for dramatic changes to our health care system. And that bodes poorly for those who remain committed to the GOP’s slogan of “repeal.” (Avik Roy, 2/22)

The Washington Post: Democrats Are Now Firmly Behind Single-Payer. Thanks, Trump And Republicans.
Today, the Center for American Progress released a single-payer health plan (or thereabouts), planting a significant marker in the evolution of the Democratic Party, and eventually perhaps the American health-care system. And we have President Trump and the Republicans to thank for it. (Paul Waldman, 2/22)

The Hill: On ObamaCare, Republicans In Congress Should Follow Trump
The Trump administration clearly has not given up on the fight to repeal ObamaCare. The Department of Health and Human Services announced a new proposed rule this week to expand the availability of short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans, showing the Trump administration is still serious about gutting ObamaCare. The question is why are congressional Republicans not following President Trump’s lead? (Jenny Beth Martin, 2/22)  

The Hill: Removal Of The Health Insurance Mandate Could Impact Our Larger Health Care System
We begin 2018 with a major change settling into the health-care industry: The removal of the individual mandate, which required all Americans to acquire health insurance coverage or risk paying a penalty. ...At this stage, it’s important for the health-care industry as a whole to talk about these changes and start to come to some consensus about them. Health-care providers will need to be on the same page as we move on to determine what can be done as an industry to mitigate the impacts of this change, and to fill the gaps in health care that it may well create.(Karen Schechter, 2/21)

Stat: Medicaid Work Requirements Are Bad For Patients And Physicians
Employment should not be a prerequisite to receive medical treatment or coverage, though some states are trying to make that happen. As a physician, I am deeply concerned by several states’ decisions to submit Medicaid waiver applications that would require enrollees to work, search for work, or volunteer in order to qualify for government health coverage. (Jack Ende, 2/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Broken Hearts And Opened Eyes
Why does it take mass shootings to move our collective outrage? This phenomenon is not just explained by news sensationalism piquing our voyeuristic interest. As physicians and public health advocates, we give priority in our efforts, research, clinical care, and time to threats that pose the most risk to health; one measure of that risk is the number of lives threatened. But unseen risks are more challenging to measure, and when widely distributed, they may be spread in such a thin layer that they are barely perceptible. (Charles A. Morris and Jonathan B. Miller, 2/20)

The Hill: Undercutting The Immunization Program Puts Both Lives And Dollars At Risk
On Monday, President Trump released his proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget. It notes an impressive achievement: For every $1 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) spends on preventing fraud and abuse, the agency saves $5. Whenever you can spend money to save money in government, it’s a no brainer for policymakers. Unfortunately, that rationale seems to have escaped the President on the issue of vaccination. (Amy Pisani, 2/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Federal Right-To-Try Legislation — Threatening The FDA’s Public Health Mission
A bill passed by the Senate would sharply curtail the FDA’s oversight of access to investigational drugs. Although its impact would probably be limited, the motivation behind it threatens to weaken the FDA’s ability to pursue its public health mission. (Steve Joffe, Holly Fernandez Lynch, 2/22)

Stat: Benzodiazepines: Our Other Prescription Drug Epidemic
We need to pay more attention to America’s other prescription drug problem — the hidden epidemic of benzodiazepine use and abuse. Between 1996 and 2013, the number of adults who filled a benzodiazepine prescription increased by 67 percent, from 8.1 million to 13.5 million. Unlike opioid prescribing, which peaked in 2012 and has decreased nearly 20 percent since then, benzodiazepine prescribing continues to rise. The risk of overdose death goes up nearly fourfold when benzodiazepines are combined with opioids, yet rates of co-prescribing benzodiazepines and opioids nearly doubled between 2001 and 2013. Overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines increased more than sevenfold between 1999 and 2015. (Anna Lembke, 2/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Our Other Prescription Drug Problem
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved benzodiazepines for a diverse set of clinical indications, including anxiety, insomnia, seizures, and acute alcohol withdrawal. These drugs are also prescribed off-label for many other conditions, such as restless legs syndrome and depression. (Anna Lembke, Jennifer Papac and Keith Humphreys, 2/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Controlling The Swing Of The Opioid Pendulum
Well before the opioid crisis was recognized and attention was directed to opioid-related deaths, clinicians cited issues related to opioids as a principal reason why they didn’t enjoy caring for patients with chronic pain. Now, many physicians and advanced care practitioners (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) have decided that the risk associated with prescribing opioids is too high. Some clinics, particularly in locations with high rates of opioid misuse, have established policies of not prescribing opioids at all. The reasons for such policies are complex. (George Comerci, Joanna Katzman and Daniel Duhigg, 2/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Can Digital Innovations Help Fight Health Inequality?
A 2017 study, based on respondents' self-assessment of personal health and health care, showed that the United States has among the highest income-based health disparities in the world (only Chile and Portugal reported a wider gulf). Another recent study showed that differences in life expectancy across income groups increased over the 2001-2014 period. While the evidence for the rising health inequity may be indisputable, there seems to be less clarity on the remedies. (Satish Nambisan and Priya Nambisan, 2/22)

The Wichita Eagle: Kansas Wise To Colyer's Abortion Move
Recently, Gov. Jeff Colyer and select state representatives announced their goal to amend the Kansas constitution, taking away the right to abortion care.First, a brief history lesson is in order. Abortion is a federally protected right under Roe vs. Wade, which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. Roe determined, 45 years ago, that the right to privacy be extended to people who need access to abortion care. After Roe was handed down, countless lives of women, who otherwise would have senselessly died due to unsafe conditions, were saved. (Julie A. Burkhart, 2/23)